![]() ![]() ![]() Conflicts between tradition and modernity can also be glimpsed in the tensions that exist between the characters over caste, as well gender. Nods to the great changes wrought by industrialization and modernization, for instance, can be perceived in the novel’s depiction of the railway line that comes to the town of Malgudi. ![]() Narayan’s novels-and the The Guide in particular-touch on many of these upheavals and transformations, although obliquely. In the aftermath of independence, trends such as modernization and industrialization continued to accelerate. Modernization and industrialization, in addition to colonialism, led to tensions over deeply-ingrained traditional social and cultural hierarchies such as caste, a severe system of social stratification rooted in the Hindu religion. The first half of the 20th century was consequential not only because of the widespread political upheaval, but also because of the cultural and social upheaval that followed in its wake. In 1947, shortly after the end of the Second World War (1939-1945), India gained its independence. The rise of Mahatma Gandhi, the activist and proponent of nonviolent civil disobedience who became a leader of the movement beginning in the 1920s, portended the end of the British Empire in India. Although commencing as early as the mid-19th century, the Indian movement for independence reached its peak in the first four decades of the 20th century. The Raj had been established in 1858 as a continuation and further entrenchment of British commercial and colonial interests in the subcontinent. Most notable among these events was the Indian movement for independence, which sought the end of the British Raj (or rule) in India. Narayan experienced many of the major upheavals that shook Indian society during that time. By the time he died in 2001, his status as one of India’s most important English-language writers was firmly established.īorn at the beginning of the 20th century and living through to the end of it, N. ![]() His fictional work-almost entirely set in the fictional town of Malgudi in southern India-often reflects a comic-ironic mode in its treatment of themes such as the conflict between tradition and modernity, materialism, family, and Hindu mythology. Settling in the city of Mysore in southern India, Narayan continued publishing into old age. As his reputation grew, he also traveled more, visiting Australia, the United States, and England, where he finally got to meet his patron Graham Greene in person. However, he continued writing, and by the late 1940s began garnering a wide readership as well as more financial stability. His early career, however, was a struggle: in spite of the patronage of one of the most important writers of the time-the British author Graham Greene, who had read his work and recommended it to his publishers-Narayan’s early novels did not sell well, and he faced financial difficulties. From a young age, Narayan developed a taste for literature, and after a short stint as a teacher following his university studies, he decided to devote himself to writing full-time. Narayan spent most of his childhood in the city under the guardianship of his grandmother, who looked after him because his father’s occupation as headmaster necessitated constant moves between locations. Born in the south Indian metropolis of Madras (now Chennai), R. ![]()
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