The Vendor of Sweets is a novel written by R. K.
Narayan that analyzes the clash between modern and traditional Indian
culture. The book centers on the relationship between Jagan, a sweets vendor
and strict follower of Gandhi’s asceticism, and his son, Mali, who rejects his
father’s values in favor of more liberal Western ideas.
Jagan
is 55 years old at the beginning of the novel and lives a life of strict
asceticism, eating only wheat,
greens, and honey, even cutting salt and sugar from his diet. He closely
follows the Bhagavad Gita,
a core Hindu scripture that Gandhi referred to as his “spiritual dictionary.”
Formerly politically active, and in fact jailed for demonstrating during
India’s revolution, he now lives a quiet life as a widower and successful businessman.
He believes strongly in naturopathy, and has in fact written a book on the
subject, the publication of which is long-delayed by the printer.
Jagan’s wife, Ambika, died many years ago due
to his insistence on treating her with natural remedies. Though he practices
personal asceticism, he makes his living indulging others’ desire for sweets,
and showcases greed by squirreling away a portion of his profits before
taxation.
Jagan’s
son, Mali, is his only child, born after ten years of marriage and a pilgrimage
to the temple of Santana Krishna at
Badri Hill to seek help conceiving. Mali watched his father attempt to cure his
mother’s brain tumor with natural remedies instead of modern medicine, and
blamed his father for her death. Now a young man, Mali is intent on becoming a
writer. Without consulting his father, Mali drops out of college and steals
some of his father’s money to move to America to attend a writing program.
Though hurt by his son’s rejection of his way of life, Jagan soon begins bragging
about his son in America. He receives letters, mostly impersonal, over the next
few years as Mali further distances himself from his father’s culture. In one
letter, Mali even admits: “I’ve taken to eating beef; and I don’t think I am
any the worse for it”. This indicates a clear rejection of his father’s
Hinduism.
After three years in America, Mali writes
that he is arriving home with another person. He appears with Grace, a
half-American, half-Korean woman that Jagan assumes is Mali’s wife. Though
shocked, Jagan takes a liking to her, as she is warm and kind to Jagan in ways
that Mali is not. She tries to take up the duties of a traditional Indian
daughter-in-law: cooking, cleaning, and even decorating the house. She
transforms Jagan’s house, westernizing it to such an extent that he feels
uncomfortable.
Mali expresses his desire to start a factory
producing novel-writing machines. It will automate the writing process, making
India’s literary output challenge the West. Mali asks for a loan from his
father to start the factory. Jagan is horrified at the idea, as he believes
that great writing comes from a connection to God. Jagan sees Mali’s machine as
an attempt to sever that link. In addition, Jagan comes to suspect that
“Grace’s interest, friendliness and attentiveness” are “a calculated effort to
win his dollars.” Though he tries to simply ignore the issue, or resist through
Gandhian “non-violent non-cooperation,” Mali and Grace force him to give a
concrete answer. Jagan instead offers to let Mali take over his sweets shop,
but Mali sneeringly responds that “better plans than to be a vendor of
sweetmeats.”
As he is processing Mali’s strange business
venture and rejection of his traditional lifestyle, Chinaa Dorai, a sculptor
seeking patronage to complete a sculpture of goddess Gayatri, visits Jagan. The
sculptor brings him to the isolated grove where he lives and works. As Jagan
visits and views the work in progress, he feels that “sweetmeat vending, money
and his son’s problems to blur.” When Chinaa Dorai asks if Jagan will buy the
grove to support his work, he resists at first but eventually agrees, saying:
“Yes, yes, God knows I need a retreat. You know, my friend, at some stage in
one’s life one must uproot oneself from the accustomed surroundings and
disappear so that others may continue in peace.”
In
a discussion with Grace, Jagan soon discovers that she and Mali are not married
after all. He is shocked and hurt, feeling that they have tainted his ancestral
home. He feels so disconnected from his home and tarnished by his son’s moral
laxness that he decides to retire and abandon his home and business and escape
to the grove, thus fulfilling the Hindu tradition of Vanaprastha—withdrawal
from the material world and passing on of responsibilities to the next
generation.
As
Jagan prepares to leave, his cousin tells him that Mali has been arrested for
drunkenness, violating prohibition laws. Jagan’s resolve to retreat remains
unchanged, and he in fact asks that the cousin to do what he can to ensure that
Mali stays in prison long enough to learn his lesson. He hands over the keys to
the business and sets aside some money for Grace to buy a plane ticket home as
he retreats to the grove.
