A Study of the Multi Dimensional themes of R.K.Narayan’s The English Teacher.

Abstract

There are fourteen novels in the oeuvre of R.K.Narayan. The English Teacher, one among them, published in 1945, has multifarious themes in its construction. The paper attempts to explore all such themes embedded in the novel, to give a new dimension to its interpretation. Since it is published before Indian Independence, colonial paranoia is deployed as one theme. There are autobiographical elements scattered in the novel as it is a testament to the agony of the author after his beloved wife’s untimely death. Above all there is a psychological discourse as we observe conversation of spirit and their transformative effect on the narrator’s life.

Keywords: Colonial Paranoia, Autobiographical element, Conversation with Spirit and Transformative effect.