Sem-3, BA-ENG, English Literature III, Unit1, The Dark Room by R.K Narayan, 26.05.2021

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2 RK Narayan’s the Dark Room Dr. Mosam Sinha www.cuidol.in Unit-1(MAP-607) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

Mulk Raj Anand 3 www.cuidol.in Unit-1(MAP-607) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

Mulk Raj Anand 4 • Born : 12 December ,1905 , Peshawar • Died : 28 September 2004 , Pune • Indian writer in English , notable for his depiction of the lives ofthe poorer castes in traditional Indian society. • One of the pioneer of Indo Anglo- Fiction. • His writing career began in England,where he used to publish short reviews in T .S. Eliot’s magazine ‘ criterion ‘. • He won ‘ The Sahitaya Academy Award for his novel “ The morning face • ”H. e was honored with ‘ Padma Bhusan’ India’s third last civilian award in 1967 for his vast contribution in the field of L. iterature www.cuidol.in Unit-1(MAP-607) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

Mulk Raj Anand ‘s Novels 5 • Mulk Raj Anand admir ed for his novels and short stories. • His writings are rich with the realistic and touching portrayal of the problems of the common man. • He wrote numerous articles and essays on Marxism, Indian independence and otherpolitical issues. • His novel deals with untouchability , Exploitation, power and the suffering of the Indian masses. •He was noted for their perspective insight into the lives of the oppressed and their analysis of exploitation and misfortune . www.cuidol.in Unit-1(MAP-607) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

Novels: 6 • Untouchable – 1935 • Across the black waters -1939 • The Sword and The Sickle -1942 • Coolie -1936 • The private life of an Indian Prince – 1953 • The Village - 1939 www.cuidol.in Unit-1(MAP-607) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

Abstract 7 •R.K. Narayan is one novelist whose works have been under public scanner for long. •R.K. Narayan portrays with sympathy the sufferings of women and shows the readers how important are their roles both in family and in social life. •R.K. Narayan’s novels may be termed as mythical comedies or Modern fables, because they reflect the absurdities and incongruities of the modern Indian society in a fictional form. •He has used novel as an art form to reveal to the masses the evils inherent in their Society. www.cuidol.in Unit-1(MAP-607) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

Introduction 8 •R. K. Narayan was an Indian writer known for his works set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. •He was a leading author of early Indian literature in English, along with Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao. •Narayan's mentor and friend, Graham Greene was instrumental in getting publishers for Narayan’s first four books, including the semi-autobiographical trilogy of Swami and Friends, The Bachelor of Arts and The English Teacher. • The fictional town of Malgudi, was first introduced in Swami and Friends. • Narayan’s The Financial Expert, was hailed as one of the most original works of 1951, and Sahitya Academy Award winner The Guide, was adapted for film and for Broadway. www.cuidol.in Unit-1(MAP-607) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

Images of Women in R. K. Narayan’s the Dark Room 9 This short monograph presents a critical analysis of woman characters in R. K. Narayan’s Novel. The most interesting feature of the novel is Narayan's diligent effort to present the entire narrative from the perspective of Savitri. Hence, the world of “The Dark Room\" is the world as Savitri perceives it, and not Ramani. www.cuidol.in Unit-1(MAP-607) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

Images of Women in R. K. Narayan’s the Dark Room 10 •The novel begins on a unexciting note with a detailed account of an Indian middle-class family. •Ramani is ruling deity here, while his spouse and three children are enforced worshippers. • And this happens because of Ramani's unpredictable whims. •Whether it be his food or his office wear, Ramani’s wrath never seems to be appeased. •The children are afraid to talk loudly when their father is at home, heaving a sigh of relief the moment he steps out of the house. •So is the case with his wife Savitri. •On a superficial level, the storyline of the novel “The Dark Room” appears to be rather unwelcoming. • But on a closer analysis, we realize it to be a documentation of two levels of existence, by the two central characters-Ramani and Savitri.’ www.cuidol.in Unit-1(MAP-607) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

Summary of R. K. Narayan’s the Dark Room 11 •The Dark Room (1938) presents a picture of domestic disharmony. •Ramani, the office secretary of Engladia Insurance Company in Malgudi is very domineering and cynical in his ways. •He governs his house according to his own sweet will. •As he is always irritable, the atmosphere in his house is generally gloomy and his wife, Savitri, his children and servants are always remain in a state of terror. www.cuidol.in Unit-1(MAP-607) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

Summary of R. K. Narayan’s the Dark Room 12 •Savitri is a true symbol of traditional Indian womanhood. Savitri, whose place is in the dark room (kitchen), is a timid, silent suffering and sacrificing Indian wife. •She is very beautiful and deeply devoted to her husband. Ramani, however, does not respond to her sentiments even with ordinary warmth. • Through they have been married for fifteen years; his wife has received nothing from her husband but rebukes and abuses. • Even his children get more rebukes from him than expressions of his fatherly love. www.cuidol.in Unit-1(MAP-607) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

Summary of R. K. Narayan’s the Dark Room 13 •Soon there arrives at the scene a beautiful lady, Shanta Bai, who has deserted her husband and joined Engladia Insurance Company. Ramani succumbs to her beauty . •Ramani spends nights in Shanta Bai’s company. Savitri feels disturbed but she “decided that it would be better to suffer in silence than to venture question.” •When Gangu, a teacher tells her about Ramani’s unfaithfulness, she sulks only in self-pity. “Perhaps I am old and ugly. How can I help it? •I have borne children and slaved for the house.” She pathetically prepares herself to win him back by reviving her charm. •How pathetically she longs that he may come and “love her as boisterously as he loved her in the first week of their marriage.” www.cuidol.in Unit-1(MAP-607) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

Summary of R. K. Narayan’s the Dark Room 14 •All her dreams are shattered. Her fury is implacable. •Her anguish born of self-pity and impotent anger is heart rending: “I don’t possess anything in the world. •What possession can a woman call her own except her body? • Everything else that she has is her father’s, her husband’s or her son’s.” •Seeing no way of correcting her erring husband, Savitri revolts against him and in utter frustration and disgust, she leaves her husband’s house with an intention of committing suicide. www.cuidol.in Unit-1(MAP-607) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

Summary of R. K. Narayan’s the Dark Room 15 •Savitri goes to the river and throws herself into it. •The timely arrival of Mari, the blacksmith and burglar, who while crossing the river on his way to his village, sees her body floating on the river and at once rescues her, and saves her life. •Mari’s wife Ponni on knowing her plight persuades her to come to their village. •There, Savitri embarks upon an independent living of her own by working in the temple. www.cuidol.in Unit-1(MAP-607) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

Summary of R. K. Narayan’s the Dark Room 16 •As she cannot bear the querulous priest of the temple and as her own homesickness and tormenting anxiety for her children nag her, she becomes restless. •She realizes the futility of her attempt to escape from her bonds with the temporal world and returns to her husband’s hateful home to sulk in the dark without much effect on Ramani. •In this respect, she may be contrasted with Gauri, the heroine in Anand’s The Old Woman and the Cow. •Savitri has neither the courage nor the independence of spirit that Gauri shows. •Gauri leaves her husband’s house once and for all, adopts the profession of a nurse and never returns home. •Ramani stands in sharp contrast to Krishna (the protagonist of Narayan’s The English Teacher) who is a self-sacrificing husband. www.cuidol.in Unit-1(MAP-607) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

Conclusion 17 •R. K. Narayan is one novelist whose works have been under public scanner for long. • Critics have been vocal both against him for him. His simple narrative art form has even been contemptuously termed simplistic by a few contemporary Indian writers. •Yet, one cannot simple ignore his major contribution in development of Indian novels written in English. •R.K. Narayan’s novels may be termed mythical comedies or Modern fables, because they reflect quart authentically the absurdities and incongruities of the modern Indian society in a fictional form. •He has been used novel as an art form to reveal to the masses the evils inherent in their Society. www.cuidol.in Unit-1(MAP-607) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

Conclusion 18 •R.K Narayan, in this novel portrayed the Indian characters such as, Savitri, Janamma, who are submissive. •Most of his novels deal with the south Indian milieus. •There are some debates on R.K Narayan that, he has not written any work on political and freedom struggle of India. •As like Mulk Raj Anand wrote on the themes of inequality, slavery protest against the British. www.cuidol.in Unit-1(MAP-607) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

Conclusion 19 •R. K. Narayan created the characters which are symbolic. • In this tale, R. K. Narayan again takes us back to Mysore and into the enchanting world of his fictitious town, Malgudi, where we are introduced to Savitri and Ramani. • As in many of Narayan’s novels, conservatism and reform are contrasted with the quiet irony and subtle humor which have become so characteristic of this author. www.cuidol.in Unit-1(MAP-607) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

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