R. K. Narayan’s The Guide: A socio-philosophical narrative in the Indian Context
Literature and criticism are inextricably linked because no literary work is fully unfolded and explored without criticism. The first critic of any literary text is the writer himself who in his text leaves intentional and deliberate hints to the readers to meditate upon. Narayan’s The Guide is no exception. The Guide is the simple story of a man ’Raju’ who rises from humble origins (Railway Raju) to become a successful tourist guide in Malgudi, meets the archeologist Marco and his wife Rosie, becomes an agent through his association with Rosie (later known as Nalini), a talented dancer who is abandoned by her husband because of her relation with Raju, forges her signature and is sent to jail and then in a strange combination of circumstances is forced to adorn the figure of a “ guru ” – a swami in response to the devotion of a simple villager from Mangal Velan. Narayan’s play with the word ‘ guide ’ is clear as Raju moves from being a guide to tourists, a guide in the transfor