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 transformation of Rosie to Nalini and finally as the mentor and guide to Velan and the villagers of Mangal, a role thrust upon him and which he reluctantly accepts.

The story of The Guide develops along a succession of time shifts. It can best be described as an aggregate of unrelated episodes. There is no linear chronological narrative and the plot structure is episodic. Narayan with his dexterous craftsmanship and use of flashback and flash forward techniques moves constantly from the past to the present and vice versa with equal ease. The plot circles freely in time and space both within and between the chapters, moving from the past to the present and back again, and from Malgudi to the Mampi Hills to Mangal in a seemingly random way. The greater part of the novel – chapters 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10 comprises of Raju’s first person  narrative – the subjective voice where Raju reflects on his past, he sees his actions objectively and can reflect upon them. This past has a direct bearing on his present condition. Only four of the eleven- chapters 1, 4, 6 and 11 focus on the authorial voice and are rooted in his present as a hypocritical sadhu. But even these are interspersed with episodes from the past. This authorial narration is objective, distances Raju through its ironic tone, unmasks his compromises and hypocrisies and locates him within a social and moral context on the basis of which we can judge him. This double narrative is furthered by Narayan’s style of narration such that despite everything Raju does, we are not able to dismiss him as an evil man. He comes forward to us as a good man, who because of certain innate defects in his character slides into unforgiveable actions. Raju’s first person narrative represents the voice of the modern individual with his desire for self–assertion while the third person authorial narrative represents the community and its demand for civic responsibility. This narrative strategy keeps the readers suspicion in check when at the end of the novel Raju in an apparent moment of redemption sacrifices his life for the benefit of the society, the entire narrative structure being in the pattern of Dante’s Inferno, Purgatario and Paradiso.

The socio-ethical life portrayed in the novels of Narayan is rooted in the ageless past of India, of which the myths are the objective correlative. The characters are allegoric reductions, as they are reduced to the role of a particular character. But the particular becomes the universal, the part becomes the whole. The generic use of the definite article ”The” both specifies and universalizes the character. In his Foreword to Gods, Demons and Others Narayan describes the archetypal context of Hindu mythological narratives:

“Each tale invariably starts off when an inquiring mind asks of an enlightened one a fundamental question…Most narratives begin in a poetic setting, generally a cool grave on the banks of a river or a forest retreat…A visitor comes from afar. After honouring the guest, the sages will ask a question,”Where are you from?”…Tell us whatever may be worth hearing. And the visitor will begin his tale.”

The Guide has all the features of the archetypal story – the cool grove in which an enquiring mind approaches the enlightened one with a  fundamental question – here Velan approaches Raju with a problem, and the consequent sequence of narratives. The significant difference with the exemplary archetypal narrative is that while the mythical guru is the bearer of moral, here this has been ironically inverted in the character of Raju. However, we do not totally dismiss him and rather accept The Guide as a tale of spiritual upliftment. Raju proceeds from egoism to altruism through psychological egoism - a representative of man in a particular aspect of life. He is a fake sadhu with a difference. He is a man who has qualms about harming others. This we find throughout the text in his relation with Rosie and later with the villagers of Mangal. The idea of renunciation as path to spiritualism as propagated by Hindu philosophy finds its reflection in the near transcendence of Raju towards the end:

“If by avoiding food I should help the trees bloom, and the grass grow, why not do it thoroughly?’ For the first time he was learning the thrill of full application, outside money and love; for the first time he was doing a thing in which he was not personally interested”(237-8)

The plot of the novel categorically falls within the four distinct stages of Hindu Philosophy – brahmacharya(student life), garhasthya(life of householder), vanaprastha(gradual withdrawal) and sannyasa(that of the ascetic). In Raju’s career these four stages correspond to his early life up to the meeting with Rosie, his life with Rosie, his term in prison and finally that of the holy man. Vinay Kirpal in his Moksha for Raju: The Archetypal Four-Stage Journey writes that “through good action, renunciation of the self and a return to life governed by dharma” he achieves ‘the balance of dharma’ which he had been guilty of upsetting through his excessive pursuit of kama and artha.” In Hindu theology, the ‘Shadaripu’ which are the six enemies of the mind - kama(lust), krodha(anger), lobha(greed), moha(attachment), mada(pride) and matsarya(jealousy) prevent man from attaining moksha or salvation. In Raju we find at various times the play of these shadaripu but his final moment of sankalpa “why not do it thoroughly?” strikes to be strong enough to change his situation. Velan and the villagers through their  bhakti as the followers of the man undertaking a noble task partakes of this salvation. However, Narayan was clear “… my novel The Guide was not about the saints or the pseudo saints of India, but about a particular person”(Narayan ”The Reluctant Guide” 10). The theme of the story is therefore not the illustration of the four stage journey of life or the making of a Hindu ascetic, but the growth of spiritual maturity. And since the protagonist is a Hindu, this development is articulated through his own cultural paradigms. Raju’s quest and the theme of the novel is the universal search of man for spiritual fulfillment and this Raju attains by his self–renunciation and sacrifice for the betterment of the community which is the highest good in the philosophical context. Rosie attains this spiritual oneness through her devotion and dedication to her art, which she performs not for any commercial purpose but as an offering to the heavenly God Shiva, the cosmic dancer.

From the social point of view, the novel depicts Indian society – it is placed at the city of Malgudi and moves to Mangal, and depicts the customs, traditions, culture, superstitions, religious faith of the people. Although Narayan’s expert storytelling gives a picture of the gradually changing Malgudi, the sacred Mempi Hills from where the Sarayu comes, the typical Indian village Mangal, his forte lies far more in its social than its topographical features. The traditional Malgudi society is caste-ridden and narrow-minded. Rosie is rejected by Raju’s mother and his Uncle in spite of being an M.A. in Economics and a talented dancer. Raju’s uncle raises his objections to Rosie in very clear terms:

“You are not of our family? Are you of our clan?” He again waited for her answer and answered himself. ”No. Are you of our caste? No. Our class? No. Do we know you? Do you belong to this house? No. In that case, why are you here?”

Narayan is aware of the class and caste in Indian life and the situations they create in human relationships but there is no in-depth exploration of this social realism in his texts. Rosie’s change of name to Nalini is a point here. The villagers of Mangal appear to be far more spiritually inclined. Narayan is critical of this blind inclination to any spiritual preacher whether fake or not and clearly voices his concern through Raju “I want you all to think independently, of your own accord, and not allow yourselves to be led about by the nose as if you were cattle.” The novel’s satirical tone becomes poignantly humourous and painful when the American television producer records this exotically oriental event to cater to ‘the taste of the East’ among his Western audience. Ironically, however the achievement justifies the necessity. The Guru may be reluctant but if he fulfills the demand of the individual or community, his task has the certification of authenticity. Raju by reluctantly accepting the role of a redeemer plays out to perfection his chosen role despite his many flaws. R. K. Narayan, remains the master narrator and story-teller of all times.