The English Teacher, R.K.Narayan
The English Teacher by R. K. Narayan is the story of a young man teaching English in a missionary college. The story is set in Malgudi, in the twentieth century colonial India. The reason behind penning this review is because of this amazing novel which left a deep emotion in my soul. The English Teacher is not another humorous storytelling, but rather it is a solemn one comprising of emotions and tragedy together with a few tiny patches of smile. This novel, dedicated to Narayan's wife, Rajam, is not only autobiographical but also poignant in its intensity of feeling. The story revolves around the lead character, Krishna, his experiences in life, and his quest towards achieving inner peace and self-development.
This novel narrates about a simple ordinary living man, Krishna, who lives with small dreams and limited expectations. As an English teacher at Albert Mission College, Krishna has enjoyed a bachelor's life for several years, leading a mundane and monotonous lifestyle comparable to that of a cow, but this took a turn when his wife, Susila, and their child, Leela, come to live with him in a town called Malgudi. Krishna's life expands to include the blissful domesticity of living with his wife and child. This first half of the book, in which Krishna comes to learn how to love his family, is unexceptional by design, through the mundane joy of his day-to-day experiences with his family and teasing from the mundane intricacies of normal life a picture of largely untroubled domestic happiness. With their welfare on his hands, Krishna learns to be a proper husband and accepts the responsibility of taking care of his family. He felt that his life had comparatively improved, as he understood that there is more meaning to life than to just teaching in the college.
However, on the day when they went in search of a new house, Susila contracted typhoid after visiting a dirty lavatory, keeping her in bed for weeks. Throughout the entire course of her illness, Krishna constantly tries to keep an optimistic view about Susila's illness, keeping his hopes up by thinking that her illness would soon be cured. However, Susila eventually succumbed to the illness and passed away. Due to the loss of his beloved wife, Susila, Krishna broke down and even conceived suicidal thoughts. In Narayan’s words, “I feel nothing, and see nothing”. As you read it, you are almost transported into Krishna’s world which is so blurred by grief. You cannot help but feel the protagonist’s pain when his wife died. As quoted from the book ‘Nothing will make him worry or interested hereafter’, Krishna led his life as a lost and miserable person after her death. He became indifferent to the other materialistic things when he lost his most precious belonging. We may think that Krishna is a very impractical and emotional man, but back in reality, I am sure we can find ourselves inside him. A person will definitely be affected when his closest or dearest ones leave him even though it may be part and parcel in the natural course of life. We know we have to accept such hard truths in the end and move on with life, but the path towards the future is intimidating and daunting when no one is there with you.
Later on, when he received a letter from a stranger who indicated that Susila has been in contact with him and that she wanted to communicate with Krishna, he became more collected and cheerful. This led to Krishna’s journey in search of enlightenment, with the stranger acting as a medium to Susila in the spiritual world. The novel brings readers to another realm which speaks of how a person starts believing the supernatural and slowly gets involved into it. It is obvious that Krishna loved his wife too much and could not accept the fact that she has already departed, thus dwelling into such supernatural. Leela, on the other hand, goes to a preschool where Krishna gets to meet the Headmaster, a profound man who cared for the students in his school and taught them moral values through his own methods. The Headmaster placed his students as his top priority but he did not show care and concern for his own family and children, eventually leaving them on the day predicted by an astrologer as to be when he was going to die, which did not come true in the end.
Krishna got to learn through the Headmaster on the journey to enlightenment; eventually learning to communicate to Susila on his own, thus concluding the entire story itself, with the quote that he felt 'a moment of rare immutable joy'. Eventually, Krishna started believing the existence of his departed wife and how others believed him or respected his simple ideology. Susila told Krishna how in the spiritual world, that to think of a thing means to be with it, and according to the theory, Krishna and Susila can never be forced apart even by death. It is touching seeing the relationship and bond Krishna and his wife share, that it transcends the notion of life and death.
It is a brilliant piece of writing with experiences so beautifully put to words that it touches every chord inside your heart. The language is devoid of any unnecessary pompousness and grandiose that is visible in today’s authors. From the domestic details in the first half to the excruciating agony of Susila’s death and then the positivity in the supernatural second half, a great flow is thoroughly maintained with an inexplicable blend of subtle humour and strained tragedy.
This story is all about belief and faith and how plans and dreams can become meaningless when things come to an end. It will make you cry or laugh and admire the characters in the novel. It talks about realms that are not necessarily obvious like the spiritual world, but might exist. Krishna’s stint with spirituality comes to me as a ray of hope and a sort of inspiration. It is an intellectually and emotionally stimulating work and it allows readers to think. There are a few moments in the book when you ‘feel’ and not just read the writing. Many questions will be raised in your mind like was his wife really communicating with him even after her death? This is the beauty of Narayan’s writing as he compels you to think. The story is subtly done but strikingly, with the touching knowledge that such a book must have originated in Narayan's desire to be with his own wife again.
This novel will always hold a special place in my heart. It displays love in its purest form, love and kinship that bound Susila to Krishna and Susila to Leela. So pure is their love, that even mortality cannot snatch away any of its dew-drop freshness and in turn make it eternal. In a very novel way, the story shows how love can make a person a better human being.
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