The theme of renuncoation in R.K. Narayana’s fiction

Pages:66-67
Ashish Sangwan (The theme of renuncoation in R.K. Narayanas fiction)

In the Vendor of Sweets, Jagan’s resolve to leave home and start living in nature surroundings in the forest across the river has been treated ironically. The writer exposes the duplicity and sham behaviour of the protagonist in regard to his obsession with concepts like Brahmacharya, abnegation of greed for money and a penchant for the Gandhian way of living based upon simplicity and non-violence. Jagan’s nagging double mindedness while going to his wife, Ambika after marriage makes one laugh in one’s sleeve. He takes a mat and sleeps in the night away from his wife in the open with an excuse that he feels too suffocated inside the room due to heat. The following lines mockingly reveal his state of mind :