"What do I need to know about ... Krishna?
Brief Description Krishna is the protagonist in R K Narayan’s novel “The English Teacher”. The novel can be interpreted as a semi-autobiographical as it contains elements of Narayan’s own life; Susila’s death reflects Narayan’s wife Rajam’s fate, and Leela's real-world counterpart is Narayan's own daughter. Do Krishna and Malgudi, although fictional, represent 'India' at that time in its history?
Krishna is an English teacher at the Albert Mission College in Malgudi, India. At the beginning of the novel, he is insecure about himself and his decisions in life. He is opinionated and only thinks about himself. Later, his wife Susila and daughter Leela move to Malgudi to live with him. Eventually he becomes a kindergarden teacher. Why?
However, we see changes in Krishna’s character as the novel progresses. After Susila’s death, changes occur in Krishna’s life, caused by the Medium, the Headmaster and Leela and he achieves a sense of fulfillment in his life.
Key Quotations (You need to identify literary devices)
“Self-criticism” [PAGE 1]
He is full of criticism for himself and others (his colleagues, Brown, the houses he looks at whilst going house-hunting)—he is always finding fault in himself and others but he doesn’t actually do anything about it. Ambivalent.
“What was wrong with me? I couldn’t say, some sort of vague disaffection”, “always... a sense of something missing” [PAGE 1]
At the beginning of the novel, Krishna is insecure and lackluster; he is uncertain and confused about himself and what he wants to achieve in life. He is uncommitted to his job. He has identified that there is a problem with his life--but he does not yet know at this point that the problem lies in himself. Could a "vague disaffection" be referring to colonial rule?
“The urge had been upon me for several days past to take myself in hand” [PAGE 1] “I want to cultivate new habits...” [PAGE 4]
He likes the idea of change, but he is insecure and reluctant to try new things, to actually bring about changes, especially in his own life. He makes resolutions (e.g. to get up early and bathe in the river) but doesn’t actually follow them for any lenght of time.
"...I blinked for an answer. It was a long story and could not stand narration." [PAGE 4] When pressed for an answer, Krishna cannot bring himself to reply. This may be because he has not felt for the need to seriously think about his life and the decisions he makes; he is unwilling to answer others' questions partly because he has no answer and does not wish to know, or does not wish to think about them.
“If they paid me 100 Rupees for stringing beads... I would do it with equal fervor” [PAGE 8]
This shows that Krishna doesn’t really care about his job (no passion); he is willing to take a very boring, monotonous and pointless job just to obtain the money. It indicates that he has forgotten why he took his job (as an English teacher) in the first place; he has lost what little enthusiasm and passion he had for his job.
“I did not do it out of love for them or for Shakespeare, but only out of love for myself” [PAGE 8]
Here, Krishna confesses that he merely does the job out of love for himself and not because he is passionate about Shakespeare and English Literature. His job gives him no satisfaction or fulfillment. Who is the "for them"? Why does he feel this way?
"My dear fellows, don't trust me so much...couldn't come sufficiently prepared..." [PAGE 8]
Although the readers may have previously considered Krishna to be a self-appraising man, in this example, he is extremely humbled by the student's dedication to him. This causes him to realise that he is not doing his job to a high level, and he feels sorry for this. After this, he is carried forward 'by the sheer poetry' of King Lear, and is emotionally affected by it.
" 'She [Susila] doesn't care. If she cared, would she sell my clock? I must teach her a lesson.' " [PAGE 44] Krishna is overly attached to his alarm clock, despite its malfunctioning and erratic behavior, as ironically it represents a sense of predictability in which Krishna takes comfort. Although the idea of change appeals to Krishna, and despite his efforts to change (prior to Susila's death), he is actually unwilling to change, and to venture into the unknown.
"I wanted to take her [Susila] in my arms and comfort her. But there was almost forbidding pride within me." [PAGE 45] Before Susila's death, Krishna does not openly express his feelings, perhaps because he feels restrained by the demands of society. What demands? Why "forbidding pride"?
"What a fool I was not to have asked his name or precise directions!" [PAGE 103] This behavior seems typical of Krishna's character; due to his impulsive nature, he follows the boy who eventually leads him to the medium, but does not have the sense to stop and ask for directions or even the boy's name. Although Krishna finds the boy soon after, the boy's name is not mentioned at all, and from this we can infer that Krishna did not deem the boy to be important after he had fulfilled his purpose (i.e. led Krishna to the medium)
"You are very bad in English” (to an English student),“What is the matter with you?” (to the Headmaster) [PAGE 129] He is very blunt and judges people too harshly. He voices his opinions without thinking about how they might harm the other person’s feelings. Krishna believes he is wise and therefore he does not like it when people contradict him. Why is he so confrontational?
"The repetition of ideas uttered a hundred times before" [PAGE 174] Even at the end of the novel, when writing his resignation letter, Krishna cannot be individual or different from others. This is reminiscent of a previous episode in the novel when Krishna plagiarises a Wordsworth poem, passing it off as "entirely different" because according to him, "he [Wordsworth] had written about someone entirely different from my subject."
“I have no use for money” [PAGE 175]
Krishna has made the transition from the materialistic to the spiritualistic; he no longer has interest in the material world (he forfeits his 100-Rupee job and accepts a 25-Rupee salary instead). He has discovered that spiritualism (his spiritual contact with Susila) has helped him move on with his life and has helped him to realise what he really wants. Krishna is getting closer to reaching the state of Nivana. Socio-economic.
"I am retiring not with a feeling of sacrifice for a national cause, but with a very selfish purpose. I’m seeking a great inner peace"
Krishna now finds a purpose in life. Despite being a 'selfish cause', Krishna is finally seen to look for inner peace by allowing himself to work in a place where he can fully embrace his true self, instead of being undermined by western preferences. What does he mean "national cause"? Why might Narayan write this phrase?
His purpose in saying this was due to the fact that he Krishna who is portrayed as Narayan is seeing India to have missed their own cultural believes and has been influenced by the western world. Because of this, he called himself aswell as others like himself "cultural morons." Because of this, his "national cause" is to become an example to india into realising their soul purpose and who they really are. Krishna wants to put an end to this and start small. At the end of the story, Krishna has resigned his job for a job at the headmaster's school teaching children about the India's cultural value.
His role in the novel The novel is written in a first person narrative style, therefore Krishna serves the role of the narrator. However, there are times when the reliability of the narrator should be called into question. For example, to what extent should we believe the communication that Krishna has with Susila through the mystic? From a westernised, scientific perspective, this is fanciful fiction, whereas individual readers may well take this literally (and justifiably, should their beliefs fit). Do bear in mind, though, that Narayan himself wanted to communicate with his own dead wife: by allowing Krishna to do so, is he fulfilling this desire through his writing?
He represents both R K Narayan himself and also the average Indian man who has been under the influence of British colonial rule. He was educated under the English educational system and eventually found a job in it. It is mentioned in the novel that Krishna has lived in the college's hostel for 10 years by the time he leaves. This again reflects his unwillingness to change, or to depart from the sense of security which he is accustomed to.
As the novel progresses, Krishna makes several important decisions. Susila's death, the medium, the Headmaster and the children's school are all catalysts for change which allow Krishna to reassess and change his life. He makes a notable transition from the material world to the spiritual world, leaving a life of unhappiness despite a good salary and a respectable teaching position, to do what he wants to do to. He also rejects the "curse of adulthood" and rediscovers the world of children. In addition, he begins to reject British/Western values, choosing to embrace the traditional Indian/Eastern society instead.
Arguably, Krishna is also viewed as a teacher to himself throughout the novel despite his imperfections. Although Narayan places Krishna in the role of a student learning from the people in his life, he also concludes at the end that perhaps the person who would teach Krishna the most is himself (Krishna) as he is the one who actually made the changes in his life, something no one else could fully do for him. Furthermore, Krishna is also a teacher to the reader in that he represents humanity in the purest way possible. The fact that human beings are imperfect suggests that perhaps true fulfillment is achieved not only by changing one self, but finally accepting that one cannot be perfect, just as Krishna has in the end of the novel.
Brief Description
Krishna is the protagonist in R K Narayan’s novel “The English Teacher”. The novel can be interpreted as a semi-autobiographical as it contains elements of Narayan’s own life; Susila’s death reflects Narayan’s wife Rajam’s fate, and Leela's real-world counterpart is Narayan's own daughter. Do Krishna and Malgudi, although fictional, represent 'India' at that time in its history?
Krishna is an English teacher at the Albert Mission College in Malgudi, India. At the beginning of the novel, he is insecure about himself and his decisions in life. He is opinionated and only thinks about himself. Later, his wife Susila and daughter Leela move to Malgudi to live with him. Eventually he becomes a kindergarden teacher. Why?
However, we see changes in Krishna’s character as the novel progresses. After Susila’s death, changes occur in Krishna’s life, caused by the Medium, the Headmaster and Leela and he achieves a sense of fulfillment in his life.
Key Quotations (You need to identify literary devices)
- “Self-criticism” [PAGE 1]
- “What was wrong with me? I couldn’t say, some sort of vague disaffection”, “always... a sense of something missing” [PAGE 1]
- “The urge had been upon me for several days past to take myself in hand” [PAGE 1] “I want to cultivate new habits...” [PAGE 4]
- "...I blinked for an answer. It was a long story and could not stand narration." [PAGE 4]
- “If they paid me 100 Rupees for stringing beads... I would do it with equal fervor” [PAGE 8]
- “I did not do it out of love for them or for Shakespeare, but only out of love for myself” [PAGE 8]
- "My dear fellows, don't trust me so much...couldn't come sufficiently prepared..." [PAGE 8]
Although the readers may have previously considered Krishna to be a self-appraising man, in this example, he is extremely humbled by the student's dedication to him. This causes him to realise that he is not doing his job to a high level, and he feels sorry for this. After this, he is carried forward 'by the sheer poetry' of King Lear, and is emotionally affected by it.He is full of criticism for himself and others (his colleagues, Brown, the houses he looks at whilst going house-hunting)—he is always finding fault in himself and others but he doesn’t actually do anything about it. Ambivalent.
At the beginning of the novel, Krishna is insecure and lackluster; he is uncertain and confused about himself and what he wants to achieve in life. He is uncommitted to his job. He has identified that there is a problem with his life--but he does not yet know at this point that the problem lies in himself. Could a "vague disaffection" be referring to colonial rule?
He likes the idea of change, but he is insecure and reluctant to try new things, to actually bring about changes, especially in his own life. He makes resolutions (e.g. to get up early and bathe in the river) but doesn’t actually follow them for any lenght of time.
When pressed for an answer, Krishna cannot bring himself to reply. This may be because he has not felt for the need to seriously think about his life and the decisions he makes; he is unwilling to answer others' questions partly because he has no answer and does not wish to know, or does not wish to think about them.
This shows that Krishna doesn’t really care about his job (no passion); he is willing to take a very boring, monotonous and pointless job just to obtain the money. It indicates that he has forgotten why he took his job (as an English teacher) in the first place; he has lost what little enthusiasm and passion he had for his job.
Here, Krishna confesses that he merely does the job out of love for himself and not because he is passionate about Shakespeare and English Literature. His job gives him no satisfaction or fulfillment. Who is the "for them"? Why does he feel this way?
Krishna is overly attached to his alarm clock, despite its malfunctioning and erratic behavior, as ironically it represents a sense of predictability in which Krishna takes comfort. Although the idea of change appeals to Krishna, and despite his efforts to change (prior to Susila's death), he is actually unwilling to change, and to venture into the unknown.
Before Susila's death, Krishna does not openly express his feelings, perhaps because he feels restrained by the demands of society. What demands? Why "forbidding pride"?
This behavior seems typical of Krishna's character; due to his impulsive nature, he follows the boy who eventually leads him to the medium, but does not have the sense to stop and ask for directions or even the boy's name. Although Krishna finds the boy soon after, the boy's name is not mentioned at all, and from this we can infer that Krishna did not deem the boy to be important after he had fulfilled his purpose (i.e. led Krishna to the medium)
He is very blunt and judges people too harshly. He voices his opinions without thinking about how they might harm the other person’s feelings. Krishna believes he is wise and therefore he does not like it when people contradict him. Why is he so confrontational?
Even at the end of the novel, when writing his resignation letter, Krishna cannot be individual or different from others. This is reminiscent of a previous episode in the novel when Krishna plagiarises a Wordsworth poem, passing it off as "entirely different" because according to him, "he [Wordsworth] had written about someone entirely different from my subject."
Krishna has made the transition from the materialistic to the spiritualistic; he no longer has interest in the material world (he forfeits his 100-Rupee job and accepts a 25-Rupee salary instead). He has discovered that spiritualism (his spiritual contact with Susila) has helped him move on with his life and has helped him to realise what he really wants. Krishna is getting closer to reaching the state of Nivana. Socio-economic.
- "I am retiring not with a feeling of sacrifice for a national cause, but with a very selfish purpose. I’m seeking a great inner peace"
Krishna now finds a purpose in life. Despite being a 'selfish cause', Krishna is finally seen to look for inner peace by allowing himself to work in a place where he can fully embrace his true self, instead of being undermined by western preferences. What does he mean "national cause"? Why might Narayan write this phrase?His purpose in saying this was due to the fact that he Krishna who is portrayed as Narayan is seeing India to have missed their own cultural believes and has been influenced by the western world. Because of this, he called himself aswell as others like himself "cultural morons." Because of this, his "national cause" is to become an example to india into realising their soul purpose and who they really are. Krishna wants to put an end to this and start small. At the end of the story, Krishna has resigned his job for a job at the headmaster's school teaching children about the India's cultural value.
His role in the novel
The novel is written in a first person narrative style, therefore Krishna serves the role of the narrator. However, there are times when the reliability of the narrator should be called into question. For example, to what extent should we believe the communication that Krishna has with Susila through the mystic? From a westernised, scientific perspective, this is fanciful fiction, whereas individual readers may well take this literally (and justifiably, should their beliefs fit). Do bear in mind, though, that Narayan himself wanted to communicate with his own dead wife: by allowing Krishna to do so, is he fulfilling this desire through his writing?
He represents both R K Narayan himself and also the average Indian man who has been under the influence of British colonial rule. He was educated under the English educational system and eventually found a job in it. It is mentioned in the novel that Krishna has lived in the college's hostel for 10 years by the time he leaves. This again reflects his unwillingness to change, or to depart from the sense of security which he is accustomed to.
As the novel progresses, Krishna makes several important decisions. Susila's death, the medium, the Headmaster and the children's school are all catalysts for change which allow Krishna to reassess and change his life. He makes a notable transition from the material world to the spiritual world, leaving a life of unhappiness despite a good salary and a respectable teaching position, to do what he wants to do to. He also rejects the "curse of adulthood" and rediscovers the world of children. In addition, he begins to reject British/Western values, choosing to embrace the traditional Indian/Eastern society instead.
Arguably, Krishna is also viewed as a teacher to himself throughout the novel despite his imperfections. Although Narayan places Krishna in the role of a student learning from the people in his life, he also concludes at the end that perhaps the person who would teach Krishna the most is himself (Krishna) as he is the one who actually made the changes in his life, something no one else could fully do for him. Furthermore, Krishna is also a teacher to the reader in that he represents humanity in the purest way possible. The fact that human beings are imperfect suggests that perhaps true fulfillment is achieved not only by changing one self, but finally accepting that one cannot be perfect, just as Krishna has in the end of the novel.