The Guide, the Regional Novel:
The Guide presents a true social picture of India and especially of the villages of South India. The novels of R. K. Narayan are Malgudi novels. The Guide is one of the regional novels. A regional novel emphasises the unique features of a particular place; the physical features, people, life, customs, habits, manners, traditions, languages and life style of that locality.
Malgudi:
Malgudi is the only locale in the novels of R. K. Narayan. It is an imaginary town placed on the literary map by him. Malgudi is one of the characters of his novels. A critic remarks that Malgudi is the real hero of the ten novels and several short stories of Narayan, that underneath the seeming change and human drama there is something the soul of the place that defies, or embraces, all changes and is triumphantly and unalterably itself. The people of this town grow out of it, live in it and belong to it. In The Guide Malgudi is a town situated on the bank of the Sarayu river. The heart of Malgudi is the Market Road which intersects Race Course Road. There are various streets, lanes and by-lanes. In the Guide there are Kabir Street and Kabir Lane. In Kabir Lane Raju's teacher, who keeps the Pyol School, lives. There is the road leading to the river-front known as Sarayu Street. Other streets are Anderson Lane, Kulam Street, Smith Street and Abu Lane etc. There are two schools in Malgudi, the Albert Mission School inculcating Christianity on Indian children, and the Board High School. Raju joins the Board High School. In the Guide there arises a need for college. There are a municipality, a town-hall and a club. In the Guide Malgudi has acquired a railway station and a taxi- stand. The town seems to have more and more extensive. The approximate distance between Malgudi and Madras is also hinted in the Guide. The Memphi Hills overlook Malgudi. There are dense bamboo jungles on the hills, where wild elephants wander. There are also tea-estates on these hills. There is the Forest Rest House known as the Memphi Peak House. All these details about Malgudi give a touch of Indian reality to the Guide.
- Must also read: Love, Sex and Marriage in the Novel The Guide by R.K. Narayan
Indianness:
In the Guide, the vicissitudes of Raju's fortunes provide an excellent opportunity to R K. Narayan to satirise the nouveau riche (a person becoming suddenly rich and displaying his riches) of post war independent India. The story of a sinner like Raja an impresario (dance manager) becoming a saint, is a story that has the magnanimity and grandeur of the Indian scene. The Guide has a' unique Indian rural setting-an ancient temple, surrounded by hills, the river Sarayu flowing in front of it." Then there is the village Mangala. Raju who pretends to be a mahatma and goes on fast to bring rain to the drought-stricken wasteland is peculiarly Indian. India has many such "Sadhus" and "Dharmatmas" practising hypocrisy and fraud in the name of religion and ultimately meeting their tragic doom, like Raju. The continued absence of rain evokes fantastic speculations from the villagers who do so like Indian rural people. One villager wants to know if the rains fall because the movement of aeroplanes ruffles the clouds while the other seeks to know if the atom bombs are responsible for drying up the clouds. This reveals a humorous and funny aspect of the reality of the ignorance of the Indian people.
Indians have been religious minded since times immemorial. They have boundless faith in Sadhus and Mahatmas. Raju plays the role of such a sadhu. Raju, as a holy man, is representative example of what happens in India. Raju is a fake Swami like Indian Sadhus. The scenes described outside Raju's temple are also true to Indian life. Raju sits on a raised platform over which a soft rug is spread. He sits in an attitude of holy meditation. Men and women, especially the women have vast faith in Raju, the mahatma. He advises them on all practical subjects. They feel elated if they spend a few minutes at the feet of Raju. In the end Raju sags in the water of a river and meets his tragic end after he has fasted for twelve days for bringing rains to the drought affected village. The story of Raju the saint is the representative story of many fake Indian Sadhus.
- Must also read: R. K. Narayan's Vision of Life in His Novel The Guide
Economic Condition of India:
The novelist has no explicit intention to emphasise the economic condition of India but it gets referred to. The picture of Indian masses with their attending poverty has been shown in the crowds that gather round Raju, the Swami. They are poor and uneducated. They are superstitious and ignorant. They live in misery. Velan is also poor.
All the characters in The Guide belong to the lower middle class or poor class. They are the poor villagers, the low shopkeepers, the low wages earners, guides and low workers. On the other hand, there are rich people also. They are the moneylenders, rich lawyers, rich owners of theatres and circus companies and aristocrats.
The irrigation depends on the rain. The village Mangala is often faced with drought and famine in the absence of rain. There are no schools and teachers in the village, even the people of Malgudi are poor and cannot educate their children due to lack of money. Raju remains uneducated due to the poor economic condition of his father. Those who become wealthy become victims of the evils of money. They start drinking gambling and even cheating for which they are punished also. Raju forges Rosie's signature and is convicted.
- Must also read: The Guide by R.K. Narayan As A Social Tragedy
