The Bachelor of Arts
| Author | R. K. Narayan |
|---|---|
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Nelson |
Publication date | 1937 |
| Publication place | India |
| Media type | |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-09-928224-0 (2000 ed.) Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
| OCLC | 6305101 |
| 823 | |
| LC Class | PR9499.3.N3 B3 1980 |
| Preceded by | Swami and Friends |
| Followed by | The English Teacher |
The Bachelor of Arts (1937) is a novel written by R. K. Narayan. It is the second book of a trilogy that began with Swami and Friends and ended with The English Teacher. It is again set in Malgudi, the fictional town Narayan invented for his novels.
Plot summary
The story explores transition of an adolescent mind into adulthood. It revolves around a young man named Chandran, who resembles an Indian upper middle class youth of the pre-independence era. First, Chandran's college life in late colonial times is described. After graduation, he falls in love with a girl, but will be rejected by the bride's parents, since his horoscope describes him as a manglik, a condition in which a manglik can only marry another manglik and if not, the non-manglik will die. Frustrated and desperate, he embarks on a journey as Sanyasi. On his journey he meets many people and he is also misunderstood as a great sage by some villagers. Due to the compunctions and the realizations, he decides to return home. He takes up a job as a newsagent and decides to marry, in order to please his parents, thinking of the discomfort he had caused them earlier.
The story portrays the heartbreak which a youth faces. After Malti, the girl with whom Chandran falls in love with after graduating from college, is married to someone else, Chandran is absolutely heartbroken to the extent that he goes to Madras and starts living on streets.Famished,delusioned and full of self pittance, he ends up wandering from one place to another like a sanyasi. After 8 months, he thinks of what mess he has become and thinks about his parents and decides to go back home. Even after returning home, he is still unable to take Malti out of his head completely and though he tries hard, the pictures and memories of her keep on haunting him for a long time. After a long time, his father comes to him with a proposal for marrying another girl Sushila. Chandran is still skeptical about love, marriage and initially refuses but later decides to see the girl. When he goes on to see the girl, he ends up falling in love with her.