Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Vendor of Sweets is a novel by R. K. Narayan that was published in the year 1967. It is set in the fictional town of Malgudi and the novel sketches the biography of a fictional character named Mr. K. V. Jagan who is a sweet vendor in Malgudi. It is a story of the clash between the traditional Indian ethos and emerging modern Indian culture. Jagan’s wife dies at an early age due to his negligence and then Jagan raises his son Mali as a single parent. R. K. Narayan himself raised his daughter after his wife’s untimely death. The novel also shows the flaws of Gandhian ideals while satirizing the hypocrisy of Gandhian followers.
Characters:
Jagan is a 55 years old sweet vendor of Malgudi. He is a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi though he has his own flaws and hypocrisy. His wife Ambika, suffered a brain tumor while their son Mali was just a teen. Being influenced by the Gandhian idea of Naturopathy and ‘Swadeshi’, Jagan refused to take medical help for his wife while he continued to offer Ayurvedic treatment to her. As a result, she died at an early age. Mali was still a child when his mother died, however, he has some memories of how his father’s patriarchial mindset and too much belief in the supremacy of naturopathy over modern medicine aggravated his mother’s condition. These memories create tension between the father and son. Mali willingly goes against the wishes of his father and cheats on him to collect money for going to the U.S.A. where he gets completely modernized and westernized. When he returns home, Jagan finds him doing everything against his native culture. He dislikes Malgudi and wishes to modernize it. Chinna Doari is a hair dryer, spiritualist, and sculptor. He engages Jagan in helping him build a sculpture of Goddess Gayatri. The cousin is a popular man of Malgudi who helps everyone and is loved and respected by them. Jagan decides to hand over his shop and other assets to him before he retires. Grace is a half-American, half-Korean girlfriend of Mali who comes to India with him. Initially, Mali introduces her as his wife to Jagan. Jagan is very upset about his marriage with a foreign girl but gradually, he starts liking Grace and realizes that Mali isn’t treating her properly. He feels that Mali is doing the same mistakes that he did with his wife, Mali’s mother. He talks to Mali trying to help Grace. Later on, he comes to know that Mali and Grace aren’t even married. Grace continues to mix up American culture with her Korean origins and Indian culture that she came in touch with due to Mali.
Summary of The Vendor of Sweets:
The novel is set in Independent India. Jagan is a sweet vendor who owns a shop in Malgudi. He is an ardent fan of Gandhi and follows Gandhian asceticism. He eats only wheat, green vegetable, and honey and cuts sugar and salt from his diet. He firmly believes that indulging in sugar is both unhealthy and contrary to Gandhi’s teachings but he earns his living selling sugary confections to others. He believes in Bhagwat Geeta yet, he has no qualms in skimming a portion of each day’s profits, hoarding it away so that he will not have to pay taxes on his unreported income. His wife Ambika died in her youth because of a brain tumor that could have been treated with modern medical help. But being a follower of Gandhi, Jagan insisted on naturopathy for her treatment and rejected any form of allopathy to cure her. Jagan had written a book on naturopathy through the publication of the book was overdue by the printer. His adamant insistence on naturopathy resulted in her demise while his son Mali was still a teenager. This incident filled Mali’s heart with a strong resentment against his father. He blamed Jagan for his mother’s death. Jagan also felt that he was a bit negligent about his wife. Anyhow, he continued his sweet shop and devoted himself to the upbringing of Mali as a single parent. Meanwhile, he is helped by a man of Malgudi who claims his cousinhood with everyone in Malgudi. He becomes a bridge between Mali and Jagan as he can respect Jagan’s traditional outlook while acknowledging Mali’s rebellious views.
Mali is now a grown-up person who aspires to be a poet and writer. He still has a strong feeling of resentment against Jagan who wishes him to complete his education and secure a good future. Mali decides to drop out of college and steal some money from his father’s shop to go to the U.S. where he has to attend a writing program. Instead of taking his father in confidence, Mali steals money from the sweet shop. He manages to get his passport and a ticket to the U.S. Jagan is shocked when Mali declares that he is leaving his education halfway and going to the U.S. to fulfill his dreams.
After a few months, Jagan receives a letter from Mali in which he comes to know that Mali eats beef by choice and he likes it and thus, shows complete rejection and disdain towards his father’s beliefs. After three years, Mali realizes that he has no future in America and decides to return back to India. Jagan receives another letter informing him about the return to Mali with another person. Despite knowing that Mali has rejected all the traditions, Jagan is happy about his return. Mali reappears with Grace, his girlfriend who is half-American and half-Korean. Jagan is bewildered by her presence. He assumes that Mali married Grace without taking his consent and he is sad about this. Since Grace isn’t an Indian, nor a Hindu, Jagan feels animosity towards her. However, she is warm and kind to Jagan in ways that Mali is not. She is not only trying to manage her ethnic Korean culture along with American culture, but she also tries to learn Indian culture and starts taking up the duties of a traditional Indian daughter-in-law: cooking, cleaning, and even decorating the house. Jagan is habitual of self-reliance as he is living alone for many years, taking care of his kitchen and home. Grace’s interference makes him feel awkward. Yet, she is warm enough and Jagan is willing to have a healthy relationship with Grace because she becomes the bridge between the estranged father-son duo. Jagan notices that Mali doesn’t treat Grace well and this reminds him of his own behavior toward his late wife. He talks to Mali about this and suggests he treat Grace well but Mali ignores him.
Jagan faces another problem when Mali announces that he is planning to establish a printing press of his own and asks for money to do so. He says that he will establish a publishing company that will allow India to compete with western countries in the literary arena. Jagan shows no interest in Mali’s lofty ideas and tries to ignore his demand for money. Jagan believes that great writing can only come through the inspiration of God but Mali’s idea of automated “novel-writing machines” challenges his belief. When Mali insists he invests in his company, Jagan adopts ‘non-violent non-cooperation and tries to avoid investing his money. However, Mali and Grace confront him strictly and asks him to clearly answer if he will help Mali in establishing his company or not. To his, Jagan answers that the best he can do is to leave the sweet shop to him. Mali mocks him and sneeringly responds, "better plans than to be a vendor of sweetmeats.”
Jagan is disturbed by Mali’s demand and he even starts doubting that Grace’s warmness, friendliness, and attention are intended efforts to win his money. He starts spending more time outside the home and one day, he meets a hair dryer named Chinna Dorai who tells him that he is a sculptor and trying to finish a magnanimous idol of goddess Gayatri for a long. Chinna takes Jagan to a groove to show him the unfinished sculptor. Jagan feels a strange sense of tranquility and peace at the groove. Chinna asks him to become his patron and buy the groove so that he may complete his work. Initially, Jagan is not interested in Chinna Dorai’s request but then he thinks that his own life with Mali and Grace is no better and he realizes that Mali will never work at the sweet shop. Thus, he decides to help Chinna Dorai in completing the idol of Goddess Gayatri and becomes his patron.
When Jagan returns home, Grace starts a conversation with him. She informs him that contrary to his belief, she is not married to Mali and he is not treating her well. Jagan is shocked to know all this. He is too disturbed by knowing that his son is keeping a woman without marrying her. He decides to leave the house immediately and start living in the groove. He retires from the sweet shop too and declares that he has chosen ‘Vanaprastha,’ or renunciation from the materialistic world.
While Jagan is preparing to leave his home and settle in the groove, the cousin visits him and informs him that Mali has been arrested by police for drinking liquor, violating prohibition laws. Jagan takes this news with calmness and says that a 'dose of prison life is not a bad thing' for Mali as the harsh punishment may make him realize his mistakes and he may turn towards the right path after that. He offers the keys and ownership of his sweet shop to the cousin and writes a cheque to him to manage the arrangement of bail of Mali. In addition, he sets aside some money for Grace to buy a ticket for her return and departs for the grove to help Chinna Dorai.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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