VS Publications
Alford Council of International English & Literature Journal(ACIELJ)
An International Peer-Reviewed English Journal
www.acielj.com Vol-1,Issue-1 ,2018 ISSN:6581-6500
___________________________________________________________________________
R.K. NARAYAN’S THE ENGLISH TEACHER:A JOURNEY BEYOND
LIFE AND DEATH
______________________________________________________________
Dr Rajeev Ranjan
M.A. Ph.D (English)
B R A Bihar University
Muzaffarpur, Bihar,India
___________________________________________________________________________
Abstract
Narayan was alone among the Indo-Anglian writers of fiction, who was the regular
practitioner of serious comedy. In art and form his novels are not ordinary light-hearted
comedies but pensive comedies. It has been considered by the critics that in his novels the
gay and the serious, the tragic and the comic are blended so artistically that many a time tear,
and laughters go together. It will be unjust to the introduction of Narayan, if we fail to put the
trinity: Raja Rao, Mulk Raj Anand and R. K Narayan, apart. We may best evaluate Narayan’s
stature as a novelist if, and when we compare him with his great contemporaries, M. R Anand
and Raja Rao. Dr. Anand is the novelist of the socio-political man; Raja Rao is the novelist of
metaphysical man; while Narayan is the novelist of the common individual man. Narayan and
Anand are different in their angle of vision.
Keywords:Metaphysical, Verisimilitude, Propaganda, Spiritualism, Supernaturalism.
The new wave of romanticism and realism that swept over Indian literature in 1920s
and 1930s had for its outstanding exponent and writer Rashipuram Krishnaswamy Narayan.
True to the ambitions and aspiration of just a simple storyteller, Narayan made the novel as
his medium, and this genre was to remain dominant for the Indo Anglian writer up to present
day. Narayan was alone among the Indo-Anglian writers of fiction, who was the regular
practitioner of serious comedy. In art and form his novels are not ordinary light-hearted
comedies but pensive comedies. It has been considered by the critics that in his novels the
gay and the serious, the tragic and the comic are blended so artistically that many a time tear,
and laughters go together. It will be unjust to the introduction of Narayan, if we fail to put the
trinity: Raja Rao, Mulk Raj Anand and R. K Narayan, apart.
We may best evaluate Narayan’s stature as a novelist if, and when we compare him
with his great contemporaries, M.R Anand and Raja Rao. Dr. Anand is the novelist of the
socio-political man; Raja Rao is the novelist of metaphysical man; while Narayan is the
novelist of the common individual man. Narayan and Anand are different in their angle of
vision. We never find in Narayan, the angry protest, satire, and revolutionary change and the
Alford Council of Interantional English & Literature Journal(ACIELJ) Copyright VS Publications Page 56
, VS Publications
Alford Council of International English & Literature Journal(ACIELJ)
An International Peer-Reviewed English Journal
www.acielj.com Vol-1,Issue-1 ,2018 ISSN:6581-6500
___________________________________________________________________________
tragic proneness of Anand. He [Narayan] is basically associated with the lower middle class
of youth India, free from agonies, political conflicts and economic depressions of Anand’s
India. While the story of the novel issecondary for metaphysical Raja Rao, it is primary for
ironic R.K Narayan. His [Narayan’s] novels present the comic vision of India, especially
South India. As K.R Srinivasa Iyengar avers:
He is of India, even of South India: .....................................the wayward movements of the
consciousness, are all the soil of India, recognizablyautochthonous.(1)
It is only The English Teacher written by R.K Narayan which shows the real incidents
happened in his actual life. This particular book makes his dream possible that he reunites
with his dead wife. The happenings in Krishana’s (protagonist of The English Teacher) life
can be easily related to the incidents in the life of Narayan. Exactly what happens with Rajam
[Narayan’s wife] happens with Susila [Krishana’s wife]. The similar struggle traced as Hema
[Narayan’s daughter] was not allowed to enter her mother’s room during illness;the same was
being thrusted on Leela [Krishana’s daughter]. The writer tries to console himself through the
projection of his protagonist’s life, and for this reason, when this novel was published in
America; it was entitled as ‘Grateful to Life, and Death.” Narayan himself accepts the
verisimilitude incidents of his own life with this novel in My, Days:
The English Teacher of the novel, Krishna, there is a fictional character in the
fictional city of Malgudi; but he goes ............................................should to some extent give
the reader a clue the book may not be all fiction; still most readers resist, naturally, as one
always does, the transition from life to death and beyond.(2)
It is very interesting to note that The English Teacher is Narayan’s last novel before
Independence. And it was necessary at that time to the writers to write ‘Quit India’ between
the lines and story of their works. Writing about the impending Swaraj was very much on the
point of the pen when the novel was being written. Not even writers but all were trying to
contribute more and finding what should be their role to get freedom. And in this atmosphere
of getting freedom by hook or by crook, it was really tough time for the writers who used to
write in English. Writing in English expressed a sense of guilt for choosing an alien language
as their medium of expression. But in this regard, Narayan never limits himself with the
themes of Swaraj, the problems of underdogs, the propaganda of untouchability, and the
disturbing equations of caste, creed and religion. After all he writes the demands of literature
and what Sir Sydney has said that the true end of literature is to teach and delight.
The English Teacher is full of Hindu sensibility and ideals. Narayan has frequently
sketched the Indian myths like renunciation, incarnation, re-birth and the law of Karma. He
firmly believes in the reality of Indian myths. His characters of almost all the novels,
Srinivasa, Margayya, Nagaraj or the guide Raju, Krishana or Ramani- are deeply dived into
Puranic traditions of India. In this context Mohit K. Ray writes:
Alford Council of Interantional English & Literature Journal(ACIELJ) Copyright VS Publications Page 57
Alford Council of International English & Literature Journal(ACIELJ)
An International Peer-Reviewed English Journal
www.acielj.com Vol-1,Issue-1 ,2018 ISSN:6581-6500
___________________________________________________________________________
R.K. NARAYAN’S THE ENGLISH TEACHER:A JOURNEY BEYOND
LIFE AND DEATH
______________________________________________________________
Dr Rajeev Ranjan
M.A. Ph.D (English)
B R A Bihar University
Muzaffarpur, Bihar,India
___________________________________________________________________________
Abstract
Narayan was alone among the Indo-Anglian writers of fiction, who was the regular
practitioner of serious comedy. In art and form his novels are not ordinary light-hearted
comedies but pensive comedies. It has been considered by the critics that in his novels the
gay and the serious, the tragic and the comic are blended so artistically that many a time tear,
and laughters go together. It will be unjust to the introduction of Narayan, if we fail to put the
trinity: Raja Rao, Mulk Raj Anand and R. K Narayan, apart. We may best evaluate Narayan’s
stature as a novelist if, and when we compare him with his great contemporaries, M. R Anand
and Raja Rao. Dr. Anand is the novelist of the socio-political man; Raja Rao is the novelist of
metaphysical man; while Narayan is the novelist of the common individual man. Narayan and
Anand are different in their angle of vision.
Keywords:Metaphysical, Verisimilitude, Propaganda, Spiritualism, Supernaturalism.
The new wave of romanticism and realism that swept over Indian literature in 1920s
and 1930s had for its outstanding exponent and writer Rashipuram Krishnaswamy Narayan.
True to the ambitions and aspiration of just a simple storyteller, Narayan made the novel as
his medium, and this genre was to remain dominant for the Indo Anglian writer up to present
day. Narayan was alone among the Indo-Anglian writers of fiction, who was the regular
practitioner of serious comedy. In art and form his novels are not ordinary light-hearted
comedies but pensive comedies. It has been considered by the critics that in his novels the
gay and the serious, the tragic and the comic are blended so artistically that many a time tear,
and laughters go together. It will be unjust to the introduction of Narayan, if we fail to put the
trinity: Raja Rao, Mulk Raj Anand and R. K Narayan, apart.
We may best evaluate Narayan’s stature as a novelist if, and when we compare him
with his great contemporaries, M.R Anand and Raja Rao. Dr. Anand is the novelist of the
socio-political man; Raja Rao is the novelist of metaphysical man; while Narayan is the
novelist of the common individual man. Narayan and Anand are different in their angle of
vision. We never find in Narayan, the angry protest, satire, and revolutionary change and the
Alford Council of Interantional English & Literature Journal(ACIELJ) Copyright VS Publications Page 56
, VS Publications
Alford Council of International English & Literature Journal(ACIELJ)
An International Peer-Reviewed English Journal
www.acielj.com Vol-1,Issue-1 ,2018 ISSN:6581-6500
___________________________________________________________________________
tragic proneness of Anand. He [Narayan] is basically associated with the lower middle class
of youth India, free from agonies, political conflicts and economic depressions of Anand’s
India. While the story of the novel issecondary for metaphysical Raja Rao, it is primary for
ironic R.K Narayan. His [Narayan’s] novels present the comic vision of India, especially
South India. As K.R Srinivasa Iyengar avers:
He is of India, even of South India: .....................................the wayward movements of the
consciousness, are all the soil of India, recognizablyautochthonous.(1)
It is only The English Teacher written by R.K Narayan which shows the real incidents
happened in his actual life. This particular book makes his dream possible that he reunites
with his dead wife. The happenings in Krishana’s (protagonist of The English Teacher) life
can be easily related to the incidents in the life of Narayan. Exactly what happens with Rajam
[Narayan’s wife] happens with Susila [Krishana’s wife]. The similar struggle traced as Hema
[Narayan’s daughter] was not allowed to enter her mother’s room during illness;the same was
being thrusted on Leela [Krishana’s daughter]. The writer tries to console himself through the
projection of his protagonist’s life, and for this reason, when this novel was published in
America; it was entitled as ‘Grateful to Life, and Death.” Narayan himself accepts the
verisimilitude incidents of his own life with this novel in My, Days:
The English Teacher of the novel, Krishna, there is a fictional character in the
fictional city of Malgudi; but he goes ............................................should to some extent give
the reader a clue the book may not be all fiction; still most readers resist, naturally, as one
always does, the transition from life to death and beyond.(2)
It is very interesting to note that The English Teacher is Narayan’s last novel before
Independence. And it was necessary at that time to the writers to write ‘Quit India’ between
the lines and story of their works. Writing about the impending Swaraj was very much on the
point of the pen when the novel was being written. Not even writers but all were trying to
contribute more and finding what should be their role to get freedom. And in this atmosphere
of getting freedom by hook or by crook, it was really tough time for the writers who used to
write in English. Writing in English expressed a sense of guilt for choosing an alien language
as their medium of expression. But in this regard, Narayan never limits himself with the
themes of Swaraj, the problems of underdogs, the propaganda of untouchability, and the
disturbing equations of caste, creed and religion. After all he writes the demands of literature
and what Sir Sydney has said that the true end of literature is to teach and delight.
The English Teacher is full of Hindu sensibility and ideals. Narayan has frequently
sketched the Indian myths like renunciation, incarnation, re-birth and the law of Karma. He
firmly believes in the reality of Indian myths. His characters of almost all the novels,
Srinivasa, Margayya, Nagaraj or the guide Raju, Krishana or Ramani- are deeply dived into
Puranic traditions of India. In this context Mohit K. Ray writes:
Alford Council of Interantional English & Literature Journal(ACIELJ) Copyright VS Publications Page 57
