The Guide is a novel written
in English by the Indian author R. K. Narayan. Like most of his works the novel is based in malgudi, the fictional town
in South India. The novel describes
the transformation of the protagonist, Raju, from a tour guide to a spiritual guide
and then one of the greatest holy men of India.
The novel brought its author the 1960 Sahitya Akademi
Award for English, by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National
Academy of Letters.
Railway Raju (nicknamed) is a
corrupt guide who falls in love with a beautiful
dancer, Rosie, the neglected wife of archaeologist Marco . Marco doesn't like of
Rosie's passion for dancing.
Rosie, encouraged by Raju, decides to follow her dreams and start a dancing
career. They start living together and Raju's mother, as she does not approve
of their relationship, leaves them. Raju becomes Rosie's stage manager and soon
with the help of Raju's marketing plans,
Rosie becomes a successful dancer. Raju, however, develops an inflated sense of
self-importance and tries to control her. Raju gets involved in a case of fraud
and gets a two year sentence. After completing the sentence, Raju passes
through a village where he is mistaken for a sadhu
(a spiritual guide). Reluctantly, as he does not want to return in disgrace to Malgudi, he stays in an abandoned temple. There is
a famine in the village and Raju is expected to
keep a fast in order to make it rain. With media
publicizing his fast, a huge crowd gathers (much to Raju's resentment) to watch
him fast. After fasting for several days, he goes to the riverside one morning
as part of his daily ritual, where his legs sag down as he feels that the rain
is falling in the hills. The ending of the novel leaves unanswered the question
of whether he did, or whether the drought has really ended.The last line of the
novel is 'Raju said "Velan, its raining up the hills, I can feel it under
my feet." And with this he saged down'. The last line implies that by now
Raju after undergoing so many ups and downs in his life has become a sage and
as the drought ends Raju's life also ends. Narayan has beautifully written the
last line which means Raju did not die but saged down, meaning Raju within
himself had become a sage.
GAYATHRY.SVI-D
S4243
0 Comments