Perhaps Venkataraman’s fate reflects the truth that a new time is dawning in India– a new generation is taking the reins, and the promise of new life is in the young, not the aged who have already seen their best days. But in this tale, The Love of Dust, justice prevails, aside from the character Venkataraman losing his life. Life’s treasures must be guarded well all too often the conniving and violent bear what is precious away after the weak have patiently gathered and nurtured those treasures for years or even centuries. The value of land, and of a woman, and of wealth and community respect, are best known to those who develop a deep personal bond and then lose what they love most and must struggle to regain it. The story shows us that the path of true love never runs smooth, but loss and tribulation make one realize how precious the good things in one’s life really are. Themes of The Love of Dust comprise a few intregrated strands. The framework is quite clearly defined with very little of digression. The construction is classical, with a beginning, middle and an end. THE BACHELOR OF ARTS marks a definite advancement in Narayan's art of organizing and structuring his material. His departure from Malgudi indicates the return to 'normalcy'. The ripples in the life of Swami are caused by the 'external influence' that is Rajan. The recurrent cyclical pattern of Narayan's plot-structure is noticeable in its embryonic form in the first novel. The 'adult' interest is provided by Swami's teachers, his parents and, especially, his Granny. The story revolves round the central figure of Swaminathan and his mischievous gang with their zany doings. The early journalistic style of Narayan seems to have been carried over in a more organized form in SWAMI AND FRIENDS which, of all his novels, is the only one with separate titles for its chapters. It cannot be credited with a regular structural pattern. His first novel SWAMI AND FRIENDS is tentative and episodic in construction. This underlines the cyclical pattern of his plot-construction. The return to the normal, which, in his case, means traditional, pattern of life, reaffirms his comic vision. And it also accounts for much of the comic as well as catastrophic (perhaps too strong a word for the delicate fabric of his work) complications in the course of his plot-progression. In fact, it is the onslaught, so to say, of the outside influences and forces which constitute the motivation in most of Narayan's plots. In other words, as a good story teller, Narayan sees to it that his story has a beginning, middle and an end." The structuring of his plots, as other aspects of his craft, is governed by the particular milieu and background of a south Indian community, rooted in a cultural tradition though not impervious to change and growth. The qualities the novelist attributes to these characters determine the action, and the action in turn progressively changes the characters and thus the story is carried forward to the end. There is no hiatus between character and plot both are inseparably knit together. Techniques "Narayan's is the simplest form of prose-fiction the story which records a succession of events. The present paper also focuses on the plight of the children which generally goes unnoticed by the so called wise adult world and how the pure uncorrupt mind has to face harshness on the part of the elders in order to carve out a gentleman out of them Reading his stories give the readers a peep into his own life as a child taking into consideration the adult world as viewed by the innocent eyes of a child. Although the autobiographical strain invests all his writings, the present article is an attempt to study his short stories as reflection of his own personal experiences, particularly with reference to his childhood. His ouvre can be read as an autobiography of the author himself. This insight, however, is rooted in Narayan's own experiences as a child. His stories containing the child characters firmly establish his status as a writer with rare insight into child psychology. He is one of the very few, writing in those times, who delved deep in the world of children to find his own childhood in them. A highly acclaimed writer, master story teller, his characters and his portrayal of 'Malgudi' with coruscating virtuosity are testament to his enduring appeal to the readers and critics alike. R K Narayan is one of the best Indian writers in English sharing this status with Raja Rao and Mulkh Raj Anand.
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