R K Narayan's The Guide
The sky was clear. Having nothing else to do, he started counting the stars. He said to himself, 'I shall be rewarded for this profound service to humanity. People will say, 'there is the man who knows the exact number of stars in the sky. If you have any trouble on that account consult him. He will be your night guide for the skies'.'
Reality exists only through experience, and it must be personal experience. (Gao Xingjian. Soul Mountain) [1]
R K Narayan propagates Oriental philosophy in all his novels and The Guide [2] is no exception. In Hindu philosophy realisation of the truth comes after going through the acid test of illusion or 'maya'.* I would add that the ability to perceive 'reality' is the end product of experience. Followers of Lord Krishna regard humans as souls composed of Krishna's highest energy, with bodies of 'maya,' his lowest, material, and illusory energy. This belief also entails taboos against gambling, using intoxicants, eating meat, and engaging in illicit sex. Performing God's work with no thought of reward will result in the purification of the illusory 'maya'.
The illusion in Raju's life is Rosie, who entices him away from the daily grind of normal life. When Raju sees her for the first time, he describes her,
complexion not white, but dusky, which made her only half visible, as if you saw her through a film of tender coconut juice.
Much later, in Chapter 9, again she is described thus,
Her face was partially illuminated by a shaft of gaslight from a lamp hanging from a tree.
Thus Raju never views Rosie in the real world but almost in a dream, and Rosie becomes the 'mohini'* of the novel. Her meeting Raju on the railway platform is significant since until then the railway has been his life, but with Rosie's entrance his familiar world will be disrupted. He will be tempted to discard his attachment to the railway for a far greater and passionate attachment.
Rosie's role as the 'mohini' in Raju's life is confirmed by her obsession with snakes. The animal imagery has been well used by Narayan. The role of snake-women as enchantresses is common in the Indian mind-frame. Moreover, we have the conversation between Rosie and Raju's mother, (a traditional Indian woman steeped in religious and folk beliefs), to reinforce this notion:
Everything was so good and quite - until you came in like a viper.
This initial stage is followed by a realization of loneliness. Truman reaches out to the girl at college whom he sees at events, but with whom he is never able to speak because, subconsciously, he realizes that she is more substantive, and as we — the omniscient viewer — learn, she is a window to the reality. Truman longs for reality, although he does not know it. He only knows that he is not totally happy in "paradise." She is a
She had white blood in her. Her face was very Indian, but her skin was light. She hated being "white" and loved the summer because she would tan and make her look more Indian. She had a husband from the Crow Dogs, which were full-blooded. They were the Sioux of the Sioux.
"The way to find the 'real' world is not merely to measure and observe what is
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” -Philip K. Dick
During the confrontation during the poker game, which immediately ends it, readers are exposed to the reality of Stella and Stanley’s
The perciption of reality is different for everyone. For example, I think that reality is something that is well natured and enjoyable, and another may say that reality, for them, is something they have to work hard and suffer for. The film Matrix shows perception of reality through Neo and...
"BR: In every sense we create our own reality, and this goes much further than most people aware of or are willing to admit. The reason most people can't see this is because everyone is creating their own reality, but 99.9% of them are creating the same one-using
At home in Nepal, Ama was Lakshmi’s role model, and even though she wasn’t able to provide Lakshmi with the luxuries that their neighbors had, “her slender back, which bears all troubles- and all hope- was still the most beautiful” to Lakshmi (McCormick 7). Even though she was not dynamic, I fell in love with how she inspired Lakshmi through her trials and her representation of the strong, hard-working women in Nepali culture. There were also a few other static characters, most of which I did not like at all. Her stepfather, Auntie Bimla, Uncle Husband and Auntie Mumtaz were the figures of authority that Lakshmi associated with her tortured existence in India, but in the midst of the hardship, there were characters that provided just as much light to Lakshmi’s life as there was darkness. For example, the young tea vendor lifted Lakshmi’s spirits with his polite gestures of free tea when she couldn’t afford it, as well as keeping her on the right path when Lakshmi was tempted to buy alcohol to soothe her misery (McCormick 224). Along with Lakshmi’s friend Shahanna, he too was taken away and I was convinced of Lakshmi’s impending doom even more than she herself probably was. All seemed dark until the second American came with his “digital magic”. By using his camera to show her pictures of rescued girls, this brave man was able to convince Lakshmi
The act that Rose has pushed for so long eventually fails. With nowhere to go, June abandons her stage career to get married to one of the stage boys. Rose, Herbie, and Louise find word of this at a train station, on the way to another act. Rose takes this as a complete shock, and doesn’t know what to say. In fact, she sits on the bench at the rail station traumatized, and doesn’t move for minutes. Furthermore, while this is going on, Herbie and Louise repetitively try to convince Rose to quit the show business so that they can settle down as a family. This seems to hurt Rose, who ignores these requests and tries to formulate, in her song “I had a dream”, a plan for Louise to be the new star (1:19:55). Throughout the scenes examined before, Rose’s individualism and self-oriented actions have shown through, but not to this degree. Rose wants to make Louise the star and Louise responds to this by hiding and hugging Herbie, both with a look of dismay on their face. Herbie and Louise are second to Roses ambitions, that point is made clear. Roses actions speak volumes as well. When speaking about her future plans for success, Rose looks upward almost like she can see the peak, and then looks back down at Louise almost as if to include a forgotten, now an important piece of the puzzle. This is also one of the starkest times that Rose has subjected Louise, against her wishes, just
...nd willingly obliges as she feels a man “pushing himself between her thighs,” only gasping for air, not complaining (McCormick 103). The fact she doesn’t know what is happening at every moment around her proves how unregulated and truly horrible the life she has ahead of her is, and how utterly unprepared for the world Lakshmi was when she left her remote village.
who offers the statement 'human reality is what it is not and is not what
...mbers due to an unfortunate circumstance and struggles to b accepted once again and regain her dignity. An-Mei’s daughter Rose also learns a lesson of acceptance as well as self-worth when it comes to the end of her marriage. Rose was never accepted by her husband’s wealthy family from the beginning due to her Asian heritage however her husband loves her so dearly that he marries her regardless of his parent’s opinions. As their life together progresses, Rose finds herself worrying less and less about making herself happy and losing her own opinions which ultimately cause her husband to lose interest in her. As they file for divorce rose continues to try to save the marriage but soon realizes with the help of her mother that she is better than that and should stand up for herself for once. In the end this newly gained self-confidence is what saves her marriage.
Reality is a big topic of discussion in philosophy. How you view things may not be how they really are. A schitzophrenicÕs reality is different from the reality of a ÒsaneÓ persons. Therefore I deem reality to be based on experiences, and perceptions. Something you deem to be wrong may be the same thing your friend deems to be right. So does this mean that there really is no one true reality?
In terms of reality and being, there are many different parts. By looking through matters of ideas, altered perception and virtual realities, we have explored the parts of philosophy that prove to be complicated, yet interesting. Plato and Aristotle were both dead set on the idea that things should be seen as they actually are, and that humans perceptions on reality will always be different than what actually is. Because each person works differently and processes things differently, we are led to believe that reality is also different for each
and pale. Her hands were placed on top of her lap and she wrung them