ENG524: INDIAN ENGLISH NOVEL

Que-1 How does Indian novel evolve in the field of literature?

5 Marks

Ans.-The Place of Novel in Indian English Literature :- Indian authors poets, novelists,
essayists, dramatists have made significant contribution to world literature since the pre-Independence
era, the past few years have seen a massive flourishing of Indian English writing in the international
market. Indian writers writing in English have conquered the world.
Rise and Development of Indian English Novel :- The first Indian novel published in English was
Rajmohans Wife in 1864 written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. In the beginning the novel
established itself both in quality and quantity with a direct impact on the social and religious aspects
of life. The second attempt of writing fiction was done by Toru Dutt in the form of Bianca or The
Young Spanish Maiden which was of course of posthumous publication. Ramesh Chandra Dutt
translated two of his novels into English from Bengali namely The Slave Girl of Agra and The Lake
of Palms. The earliest Indian novels were written in Bengali as Bengal was the first region to come
under the domineering influence of the British.
Development of Novel in Pre-Independence Period : -Major novels of this period was as follows.
Toru Dutts unfinished novel Bianca or The Young Spanish Maiden, Krupabai Satthianadhans
Kamala : A Story of Hindu Life and Shevantibai Nikambes Ratnabai : A Sketch of a Bombay High
Caste Hindu Young life. Among other novels published during this period were Ram Krishna Pants
The Boy of Bengal (1866), Tarachand Mookerjees The Scorpians or Eastern Thoughts (1868) They
were later followed by Mulk Raj Anands Untouchable (1935) and Coolie (1936) Raja Raos
Kanthapura (1938) having for their theme the Gandhian philosophy. Among the writers of fiction, R.
K. Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao are known as the Big Three. K. S. Venkataramani,
Bhattacharya, Nayantara Sahgal, Kamala Markandaya, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Anita Desai have also
achieved considerable name. Amongst these novelists, R. K. Narayan has distinguished position
with his major novels like The Guide Swami and Friends, The Bachelor of Arts and The Vendor of
Sweets having the background of Malgudi. Malgudi is Narayans Casterbridge. The novel The Guide
is adopted to the screen into English and Hindi. Raja Rao is a child of the Gandhian Age. He has
written novels like Kanthapura, The Serpent and the Rope and The Cat and Shakespeare. Mulk Raj
Anand is another popular novelist with two novels Untouchable and CoolieApart from these
novelists,. K. A. Abbass InquiLab: A Novel of Indian Revolution (1955) is a more ambitious work,
Development of Novel in Post-Independence Period : Bhabhani Bhattacharya, Manohar
Malgonkar and Kushwant Singh who made their appearance during the nineteen fifties and the early
sixties. The experimental novel with a specific Indian orientation of which Raja Raos Kanthapura
was an early example, also flourished though with inevitable individual variations, in the hands of
Sudhin Ghose, G. V. Desani and M. Anantanarayanam. And the fiction of B. Rajan illustrates the
strains of both realism and fantasy. A notable development is the emergence of an entire school of
women novelists among whom the leading frgures are Ruth Prawer Jhabwala, Kamala Markandaya,
Nayantara Sangal and Anita Desai. By the end of the sixties and in the early seventies newer voices
are heard; the most striking of them being Arun Joshi and Anita Desai. Bhabhani Bhattacharya is the
social realist of this period strongly influenced by Tagore and Gandhi and his fictional theory as well
as practice show affinity with Anand. His novel Goddess Named Gold (1960) is a slow moving
allegorical exercise in which a fake magic talisman raises great expectations which are finally
frustrated. Manohar Malgonkar is a realist who believes that art has no purpose to serve except pure
entertainment. His novel A Bend in the Ganges (1964) is an ambitious novel with the setting of
partition. The realism of Khushwant Singh is of an earlier variety. His first novel, Train to Pakistan
(1956) is the story of the impact of partition on a small village on the Indo-Pakistan border with
pitiless real description and the swift tempo of the narrative technique.

Que-2 Evaluate the Guide as one of the masterpieces in Indian literature. 5 Marks

Ans:- The Guide is a 1958 novel written in English by the Indian author R. K. Narayan. Like
most of his works the novel is based on 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.
R. K. Narayans fiction, deceptively simple and elusive in terms of literary theory and
technique, is distinctive for its voice, its fusion of the comic with the sad, and its
philosophical depth. He is famed for his lightness of touch and a style that is lean, lucid,
undecorated, but wonderfully expressive and full of understated surprises
The plot construction of The Guide has been designed after the fashion of the fictitious
biography. This is a life history of the hero who grows up into manhood and gets involved in
a love-affair with another mans wife. Raju, the central character, grows up near a railway
station, and becomes a shopkeeper, and then a resourceful tourist guide. He meets Rosie, a
beautiful dancer, and her husband, whom Raju nicknames Marco, because the man dresses in
a thick jacket and helmet as if undertaking an expedition, like Marco Polo.
The Guide deals with the life and career of Raju who comes from a small village in India
called Malgudi. He is a tourist guide popularly known as Railway Raju. In the course of the
novel, Raju assumes the persona of a guide several times and in various circumstances. Being
well-mannered and intelligent, he is a favourite among the tourists and an example for other
guides. However, soon he is able to seduce Rosie, a beautiful dancer who is a lonely wife of a
scholar named Marco. Marco dumps her after knowing about her affair with Raju. It is Raju
who launches her as a dancer, manages her affairs ably and as a result her fame spreads far
and wide. Eventually, through a series of events, Raju makes and loses a fortune, forges a
signature, finds himself in jail, and through ironic circumstances, becomes one of Indias
great holy men.
Indeed, there are multiple puns on the word guide as Raju goes on from being a tourist
guide, to Rosies guide to the spiritual guide of the villagers of Mangal. Narayan is a
penetrating analyst of human passions and human motives, which makes him a great critic of
human conduct. His language and presentation is lucid and his sense of humour is
unparalleled. Narayan has very artistically presented the theory of renunciation, and
liberation or Moksha in The Guide through his protagonist who is initially entrapped in the
illusory world but finally attains the ultimate universal truth. Go through the novel and only
after finishing it youll discover why it is considered a classic in the history of Indian English
literature.

Que-3 'kanthapura' is mirror to the then Indian social system comment.

5 Marks

Ans:- A Kannada novelist who had wrote many things about India is none another than Raja Rao.He
was an Indian writer of English language novels, short story and essays. His novels are still esteemed
because of the realistic presentation of the past. Kanthapura was his first novel. The novels in which
we can see his magnificent works were Kanthapura (1938) and The Serpent and the Rope (1960). The
Serpent and the Rope was a semi-autobiographical.
Raja Rao doesnt miss the rhythm of Indianness throughout the novel. In whole novel we find
everything related to India and people of India. Raja Rao had included all the elements of Indian and
Western spirit. So the novel had proved Raja Rao an extra ordinary novelist. Kanthapura is a
documentization of philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi and the theory of Hinduism, the spirit of
nationalism and an acknowledgement of common people in India. The structure of the novel also put
a lime light on the women and Dalits and how they were treated in the society and how because of the
British rule they enjoyed certain privileges which were otherwise next to impossible.
Raja Rao had played the role of social critic in the novel and he was constantly in talk with his
readers, which proved the quality of his writing skill and his mentality. He shows the glory of India
threw the mother tongue of India like Hindi and Sanskrit. He had created a microcosm of fiction.
Kanthapura shows the mirror image of the contemporary Indian society. In the beginning of the novel,
the concept of freedom and nationalism is alien to the villagers. Alans Kohn said about nationalism:
Nationalism in India is not as a vehicle of individual liberty but as adoration of collective power.
The element of spirituality is brought through the use of myths and legend. It is the work of social
realism. The life here is symbolic.
In Kanthapura Moorthys character is reflects the character of Gandhiji and Gandhiji was
compared with the figure of god Rama. R. s. Singh had said upon this: It may be clarified at outset
that Kanthapura, is not an allegory because the comparision between Gandhi-British rule and RamamRavana situation is not collaborate and complete. It is only a convenient comparison. A villager born
and brought up in Indian Tradition understands easily a contemporary problem if it is explained
through the widely-known fables, legends and religious stories of god, demons and superman The
stories of Ramayana are repeated in our village. Therefore, it is but natural that a novel dealing with
political awareness takes into consideration the rural vocabulary and obsessive images. Thus the
novel ends as it is the end of Kalyuga with the Pralay. All the villagers left the Kanthapura and
settle in Kashipura. It also indicates about civilization and modernism to the India. Raja Rao had
written a marvelous story on freedom for the history of Indian writing. Kanthapura also came out as a
symbol of our glorious literature. We can say that it is an historical navel by Raja Rao.

Que-4 How does KA Abhas comment in his Inquilab on the freedom fighting movement? 5 M
Ans:- Inquilab is the story of the great revolution that ultimately brought independence to India It
contains several soul stirring character young in mind and spirit who poured their bubbling youth to
twist and break the heavy chains of imperialism. It represents a magnificent cross- section of the
entire Indian nation during its most critical period.
The novel has three important themes - the political theme, the historical theme, and the love story of
Anwar and his Salmah, the daughter of Prof. Saleem of Aligarh University.
The struggle for Independence had its own landmarks. The Jallinwalla Baag incident, the No tax
Campaign in Gujarat, the Dandi March, the Civil Disobedience Movement, the mammoth
processions, the innumerable lathi charges and heroic sufferings are all so vividly portrayed that
Inquilab becomes a living monument to the great fight for Independence. Abbas describes vividly the
scene of the young and old fighting for their independence:
On the surface level, it is the story of Anwar and his love for Salmah, the daughter of Prof. Saleem at
Aligarh University. Since Anwar has his own principles, he does not compromise with Prof. Saleem
and Salmah marries Manzoor Ahmad, Deputy Superintendent of Police. On the deeper level, it is the
story of Struggle for Freedom. First, it is to be noted the whole novel speaks of the great departed
leaders. Lokmanya Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, Motilal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose,
Patel brothers and many others that are living today. Each one of these leaders is represented in his
own ideological setting ultimately indicating how the course of the National Movement was
influenced by each of them at different times.
Secondly, the struggle for Independence had its own landmarks. The impact of Gandhis personality
may be felt in passive Resistance Movement against the Rawlett Act in 1919, the Khilafat and nonviolent, non-cooperation Movement of 1920-21, Salt Satyagrah and Civil Disobedience Movement of
1930. All the movements propelled by Gandhian philosophy of truth and nonviolence found
expression in the works of contemporary Indian novelists. The rise of Muslim League as a political
party representing Muslims of the sub- continent added a new dimension to our Freedom Movement.
In addition to these movements propelled by Gandhi, there are The Jallianwalla Baag incident, the No
tax Campaign in Gujarat, the mammoth processions, the innumerable lathi charges and heroic
sufferings that are all so vividly portrayed that Inquilab becomes a living monument to the great fight
for Independence.
Thirdly, in a lucid and picturesque style and with an unusual warmth and sympathy, Abbas proceeds
with the narrative from which emerge more than a dozen of powerful and unforgettable characters
Anwar and Ratan, Akbar Ali and Kaka Rameshwar Dayal, Amjad Ali and Rauof, Salmah, Raaz,
Osman, Subban, Roy, Yeshwant, Asha Shah, Prof. Saleem, Mazoor Ahmad, Dr. Ansari, Anjum and,
many more