O/L ENGLISH LITERATURE SUPPORT MATERIALS BY RCF
A Model Answer on the Novel Vendor of Sweets by R.K. Narayan (Prescribed for O/L English Literature)
Vendor of Sweets is an allegory about good and evil. Discuss.
An allegory is a literary composition with a hidden moral lesson. The Vendor of Sweets is also an allegory, as it represents the conflict of the Good and the Evil while narrating an interesting story. These allegorical implication of the story become clear, if we compare and contrast the charaters of Jagan, the unheroic-hero, and Mali, who represents evil in the novel.
Jagan is passive and tolerant, motivated by the teachings of Gandhi and the Hindu scriptures while Mali is possessed by the demon of Evil and this evil within him compels Jagan to run away from his house and escape from worldly evils in retreat in a secluded garden on the other side of the river.
First, Mali steals ten thousand rupees from the hard-earned money of his father and then goes to America without his permission. He wastes the money there and then returns with grace and demands over two Lakh Rupees for setting up a story-writing machine. He lives in sin with Grace, for he is not married to her and thus spoils the purity of a Hindu home. Thus, his behavior appears to be evil from the beginning.
Mali’s novel-wiring machine too seems to have allegorical dimensions of evilness. It is used as a substitute for imagination and it will be used to turn out novels in a factory mode with money as it’s sole aim. The machine is also used as a foil against the rich literary tradition of India and it is also the main reason for the rift between the father and the son.
Jagan, on the other hand, is a devout Hindu, a thorough-going nationalist and a staunch Gandhian follower. He spins his chakra every day, believes in Nature cure through natural diet. In his dealings with his son, Jagan shows a certain amount of tolerance and kindness and bears all his misdeeds out of love. As a businessman also Jagan proves himself to be a conscientious businessman as he uses purest stuff for his confectionaries although he shows a certain amount of hypocrisy and cunningness typical of a businessman. Thus, we may consider Jagan as representing Good in this novel.
In the end, Jagan finds that he can no longer endure Mali and his sinful life. However, he does not kick out Mali as he follows the Gandhian way of non-violent non-cooperation or passive resistance. The accidental meeting of a Sanyasi makes him give up the secular life and retreat to a secluded garden on the other side of the river with a pond and blue lotus in it. Here he can pass the rest of his days in peaceful meditation. “At sixty one is reborn and enters a new janma” he thinks.
Mali goes to Prison for keeping liquor in his possession – a punishment which will do him some good, according to Jagan. Thus finally the good triumphs over evil, with poetic justice meted out to Mali.