‘Narayan presents Krishna as a wholly admirable character in this novel.’ How far do you agree with this opinion?

This statement is true to a certain extent. Narayan presents Krishna’s character as admirable in many different ways, both spiritually and as a husband and father, yet there are many areas, mostly in the beginning of the novel, where Krishna is portrayed as self-centred, a lacklustre and quite pompous.

Krishna’s character can be interpreted as admirable in many ways by the reader. For example, one can admire his unquestionable love for his wife, as he “smelled her letter before opening it.” His love is shown through his actions as well as themes such as jasmine in the novel, which may represent the love he feels towards Susila, hence “the scent of jasmine surrounded her and her possessions.” Krishna’s romantic gestures, such as writing a poem about her as “[his] muse” and constantly describing her as “a vision” or “fresh and beautiful…shining.” Therefore, the reader may admire this aspect of Krishna’s personality.

The reader may also admire Krishna’s change in habits as he becomes more spiritual, “seeking great inner peace” and communicating with Susila in the spiritual world. By the end of the novel, Krishna realises that “[he] has no use for money” and resigns from his job because his life is full of “ideas uttered a hundred times before.” Because he has finally begun to “cultivate new habits” the reader may admire his determined nature and acceptance of the Indian culture rather than dismissing it.

However, Krishna is also portrayed as extremely selfish in the novel, as he “dreaded [Susila’s] arrival” at first, as it was interfering with his own routine. Additionally, Krishna wanted a room “all for [him]self” and is then awkward when Susila realises that the phrase was merely a euphemism for the fact that he wanted to “be free from [her] presence.” When Susila sells his clock, Krishna is also portrayed as selfish as well as slightly immature, when he says, “She doesn’t care. If she cared, would she sell my clock? I must teach her a lesson.” The reader may be slightly irritated at his vindictive tone and pompous attitude. The clock represents a sense of predictability and familiarity within his life that comforted him and was stolen from him; however his reaction by “throwing money on the bed” seemed extremely hyperbolic. Moreover, at the beginning of the novel, Krishna also appeared to be quite hypocritical when he “looked at [his friend’s] body with pity” when he would not wake up to go exercise. Krishna himself had only just started this ‘routine’ and his pitying tone seemed very supercilious.

Krishna was also presented as a lacklustre, procrastinating and avoiding his responsibilities as a teacher, which the reader may disapprove of and certainly not admire. Krishna “hadn’t prepared even a page of lecture” and admits to both the students and the reader that they should not “trust [him] so much…couldn’t come sufficiently prepared.” Krishna also admits that “[he] did not do [his job] out of love for them or for Shakespeare, but only out of love for [himself].” Here, Krishna’s arrogant tone depicts his character as self-centred. He constantly pities himself and his life, and “if they paid [him] 100 Rupees for stringing beads together [he] would do it with equal fervour,” which clearly emphasises the fact that he is not motivated to do his job despite “want[ing] to be a poet” and claiming to love literature.

Narayan also presented Krishna’s character as someone who doubts and mocks their own culture, instead believing in the foreign ways and cultures of the English. This is shown when Krishna says, “they are called bathroom tiles…only used in civilised countries…” clearly emphasising his disdain towards India, and how only low-class people would use tiles for a bathroom inside a restaurant. Susila disapproves of this statement, and in turn, so does the reader as she says, “people who want…shall use them there if they like.” Krishna also mocks Susila’s spirituality as she prays, and refers to her as “a yogi.” This illustrates his Western attitude towards religion and spirits, and some readers may not admire this trait in Krishna. Despite Krishna’s egotistical character, he is also full of “self-criticism” which may frustrate the reader as he “feels a sense of something missing” and analyses his day.

Narayan also induces disapproval rather than admiration in the reader when Krishna tries to “clear any misconception that [he] was interested in Susila,” and was “a very determined man” when they were arguing over his clock. When Krishna feels guilty, he tends to resort to arrogance to regain composure, which makes the reader feel uncertain and ambivalent over his feelings towards her. On the other hand, his arguments with Susila also universalise the story so that Narayan’s readers can relate to the couple well and therefore be more immersed in the novel.

Fundamentally, Narayan does not present Krishna as wholly admirable, as there are occasions throughout the novel where the reader may feel a sense of frustration or disapproval of his actions and attitudes, within his relationship with his family, his procrastination at work and his overall outlook on life and Indian culture.