The Vendor of Sweets: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Vendor of Sweets" is a novel set in the fictional Indian town of Malgudi, focusing on the complexities of familial relationships and cultural change through its major characters. The protagonist, Jagannath (Jagan), is a prosperous widower who embodies Gandhian values and leads a life of asceticism, despite his wealth as a sweet manufacturer. He struggles with a disconnect from his son, Mali, a modern and restless young man who challenges Jagan’s traditional beliefs and ultimately seeks to pursue a life in America, taking significant financial risks in the process.
Mali's actions, including stealing from his father and disregarding familial ties, create tension, highlighting generational conflicts and differing worldviews. The Cousin serves as a pivotal figure, facilitating communication between Jagan and Mali while also representing opportunistic social dynamics. Grace, Mali’s American wife, embodies the cultural clash, as her presence complicates Jagan's understanding of family and tradition. Additionally, the character of The Hair Dyer introduces themes of aspiration and artistic legacy, representing a potential pathway for Jagan to transition from his old life. Together, these characters navigate a rich narrative exploring the intersection of tradition, modernity, and personal identity.
The Vendor of Sweets: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: R. K. Narayan
First published: 1967, in Great Britain as The Sweet-Vendor (U.S. edition, 1967)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Malgudi, India
Plot: Comic realism
Time: The 1960's
Jagannath, called Jagan, a manufacturer and seller of sweets in the fictional town of Malgudi in southern India. A prosperous widower, Jagan has almost reached the age of sixty, at which Hindus are expected to enter into a life of detachment from worldly affairs. Deeply imbued with Gandhian values, he reads from Bhagavad Gita, lives ascetically, and engages in numerous dietary experiments. Jagan is a parsimonious and wealthy businessman who secretly counts his earnings in a daily ritual and hides his profits. He makes and sells a product that he thinks is bad for people but rationalizes that he uses the purest of ingredients. Jagan deeply loves his son Mali but is unable to understand or communicate with him. Repeatedly disappointed by Mali's behavior, he lacks the confidence to confront his son and solve the problems of their relationship. When pressed to invest in his son's business idea, he tries avoiding Mali but finally must abandon his old way of life.
The Cousin, an unemployed man-about-town who survives by sponging off of others and ingratiating himself with his benefactors by offering them advice and the latest gossip. A contemporary of Jagan, The Cousin serves as the primary channel of communication between Jagan and his son Mali, and from him Jagan learns of Mali's plans and behavior.
Mali, Jagan's restless, modernistic son, who abandons his college studies, steals ten thousand rupees from his father's hidden cash box, and flies off to America for three years to learn how to write novels. He returns to India with Grace and tries to persuade his father to invest large sums of money in a joint venture with an American firm, which will create machines that can write stories. Mali has little love or respect for his father, considers his country and countrymen backward, and behaves in a scandalously modern fashion.
Grace, Mali's half-Korean, half-American wife. She tries to be a good daughter-in-law and encourages Jagan to support Mali's business plans. Jagan discovers that it was Grace who wrote all the letters he received from America that he thought were written by his son. When Jagan learns from Grace that the couple has never married, he feels that his home has been tainted and isolates himself from both of them.
The Hair Dyer, formerly an apprentice to a master carver of temple statues, who dreams of carving two religious statues to complete his late master's unfinished work. He looks to Jagan to give him the financial support he needs to finish the project. He supplies the new challenge and phase of life that will permit Jagan to end his old way of life.