THEMES IN THE NOVEL THE VENDOR OF SWEETS - R.K.Narayan

THE VENDOR OF SWEETS THEMES

MARRIAGE

Marriage is one of the most predominant themes of the novel The Vendor of Sweets.

The novel deals with the clash between the traditional and modern concept of marriage. Throughout the novel, we see that the various views about marriage are interwoven into the lives of characters.

After the death of Ambika, Jagan’s wife and Mali’s mother, both Jagan and Mali have different views on marriage. Her death is caused by the Jagan’s insistence upon to cure her brain tumor with natural remedies. Jagan rules over his wife, which is absolute because their marriage is brought by traditions in the Hindu culture.

 Mali soon realizes his authoritative nature of his father that results in her death. He can never forgive his father for her mother’s death. In the novel, a traditional wedding is shown as males having authority and dominance over the female partners.

Mali gives away the life of traditional life in India and moves to America to study writing. Over there, Mali falls in love with an elegant woman Grace. Grace and Mali return to India and starts living with Jagan. Initially, Jagan thought them to be married, yet when he learns that both are partners and lover but are not legally married, he was in a great shock. Moreover, he also notices that Grace is not ruled by Mali as he would rule Ambika. 

To Jagan, this sort of relationship was very different. Jagan, a man of traditions must come to terms of the changing time. The conflict between the traditional view of marriage and the modern concept of partnership is portrayed by the novel.

GENERATION GAP:

Jagan, in his youth, opposes British rule. He sticks to his old conventional and traditional ideals, however, when he is a grown old man, he fails to see his son sharing the same beliefs as his. The fault is not apparent in the novel, whether it is Jagan’s that he adheres to his traditions or of Mali, moving with the change.