The Painter of Signs
 First edition (US) | |
| Author | R. K. Narayan |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Abner Graboff |
| Publisher | Viking Press (US) Heinemann (UK) |
Publication date | 1976 |
| ISBN | 0-670-53567-2 |
| Preceded by | My Days |
| Followed by | A Tiger for Malgudi |
The Painter of Signs is a 1976 novel by R. K. Narayan.
Plot
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One of Narayan's later works, the Painter of Signs is a bittersweet novel that looks at the lives of Raman, a painter of sign boards, and Daisy, a social worker interested in curtailing India's population growth. The story is set in Malgudi, like many of Narayan's works and the Sarayu, Ellaman street and The Boardless Hotel are significant landmarks in the novel. At its very core, The Painter of Signs is Raman and Daisy's progressive love story in a conservative town in South India.
Raman is a sign-painter who takes the art of calligraphy very seriously. He devotedly tries to create the perfect signboard for all his customers, taking great care in the styling of words on the board. Made using the "best rosewood" from the Mempi mou
One of Narayan's later works, the Painter of Signs is a bittersweet novel that looks at the lives of Raman, a painter of sign boards, and Daisy, a social worker interested in curtailing India's population growth. The story is set in Malgudi, like many of Narayan's works and the Sarayu, Ellaman street and The Boardless Hotel are significant landmarks in the novel. At its very core, The Painter of Signs is Raman and Daisy's progressive love story in a conservative town in South India.
Raman is a sign-painter who takes the art of calligraphy very seriously. He devotedly tries to create the perfect signboard for all his customers, taking great care in the styling of words on the board. Made using the "best rosewood" from the Mempi mountains and linseed oil of the finest quality, Raman believes that his signboards are a notch above his rival Jayaraj's. Living with his aunt, a conservative old woman who likes to ramble about mythological stories and old family gossip, on Ellaman Street, Raman goes through periods of frustration at his aunt's periodic interest in his going abouts and feelings of guilt for ignoring her affection and presence. Not orthodox himself, Raman neither sports a tuft like others from his caste and has no inhibitions in easting meat when necessary, although he doesn't enjoy its taste very much. He looks down on superstitions and old-fashioned notions of religion and caste and spends his time reading ancient copies of books on science and history though he has a tendency of quoting from the scriptures and making associations to events in the scriptures with his own life.
Daisy, a young woman devoted to improving the lives of women and the standard of living of the country through strict family planning, hires Raman to make a signboard for her office. For no reason whatsoever, Raman finds himself bewitched by her beauty, and more so by her precision, authority and her devotion to her career. It so happens that he has to accompany Daisy on a three week campaign in the villages around Malgudi to identify potential sites where he can paint signs about family planning and population control and he finds himself further attracted to her firmness, simplicity, and her tendency to shun luxuries and comforts of any sorts. He finds that his resolve to remain unmarried, seeing marriage as commonplace and unnecessary, is weakening.
The story goes on to outline Daisy's complicated past and her eventual admission of a mutual attraction for Raman. The two start spending the nights together, and decide to get married in the "Gandharva" style, the simplest form of marital union. Daisy seems to be unaffected by the relationship though, and is tells Raman that she will not change her last name, or house-keep for him. Raman mulls over the eventualities of such a wedlock, but is steadfast in his affection and love for Daisy and constantly tells himself that her needs and wishes shall be more important than his. His aunt, upset over her nephew's unorthodox afflictions - especially at his decision to marry out of caste - asks him to arrange a one way trip to Benaras for her. His repeated beseechings to her to stay and bless him and Daisy have no effect. On the morning that Daisy is to move in to Raman's house on Ellaman Street, she changes her mind about Raman, feeling that her sense of purpose and her independent existence may be affected by married life. She decides to leave Malgudi for a three year family planning initiative in villages all over India that have an alarming birth rate. Confused, befuddled Raman tries his best to convince her, telling her that his house on Ellaman street will be open for her whenever she decides to return.
The Painter of Signs is preoccupied with the complications of human characters and human relationships. As Raman finds himself being torn between his Aunt and Daisy, the traditional way and the modern way, we see the protagonist as being "in-between" in the town of Malgudi. At the end of the novel, Raman's aunt left for Benares on a pilgrimage and Daisy left the town of Malgudi to pursue her career which means that Raman is left alone in Malgudi. This depicts the fact that it seems as though Raman cannot facilitate either women or what they represent (traditionality and modernity respectively), thus presenting the problematic themes of human character and their relationships with one another.
ntains and linseed oil of the finest quality, Raman believes that his signboards are a notch above his rival Jayaraj's. Living with his aunt, a conservative old woman who likes to ramble about mythological stories and old family gossip, on Ellaman Street, Raman goes through periods of frustration at his aunt's periodic interest in his going abouts and feelings of guilt for ignoring her affection and presence. Not orthodox himself, Raman neither sports a tuft like others from his caste and has no inhibitions in easting meat when necessary, although he doesn't enjoy its taste very much. He looks down on superstitions and old-fashioned notions of religion and caste and spends his time reading ancient copies of books on science and history though he has a tendency of quoting from the scriptures and making associations to events in the scriptures with his own life.
Daisy, a young woman devoted to improving the lives of women and the standard of living of the country through strict family planning, hires Raman to make a signboard for her office. For no reason whatsoever, Raman finds himself bewitched by her beauty, and more so by her precision, authority and her devotion to her career. It so happens that he has to accompany Daisy on a three week campaign in the villages around Malgudi to identify potential sites where he can paint signs about family planning and population control and he finds himself further attracted to her firmness, simplicity, and her tendency to shun luxuries and comforts of any sorts. He finds that his resolve to remain unmarried, seeing marriage as commonplace and unnecessary, is weakening.
The story goes on to outline Daisy's complicated past and her eventual admission of a mutual attraction for Raman. The two start spending the nights together, and decide to get married in the "Gandharva" style, the simplest form of marital union. Daisy seems to be unaffected by the relationship though, and is tells Raman that she will not change her last name, or house-keep for him. Raman mulls over the eventualities of such a wedlock, but is steadfast in his affection and love for Daisy and constantly tells himself that her needs and wishes shall be more important than his. His aunt, upset over her nephew's unorthodox afflictions - especially at his decision to marry out of caste - asks him to arrange a one way trip to Benaras for her. His repeated beseechings to her to stay and bless him and Daisy have no effect. On the morning that Daisy is to move in to Raman's house on Ellaman Street, she changes her mind about Raman, feeling that her sense of purpose and her independent existence may be affected by married life. She decides to leave Malgudi for a three year family planning initiative in villages all over India that have an alarming birth rate. Confused, befuddled Raman tries his best to convince her, telling her that his house on Ellaman street will be open for her whenever she decides to return.
The Painter of Signs is preoccupied with the complications of human characters and human relationships. As Raman finds himself being torn between his Aunt and Daisy, the traditional way and the modern way, we see the protagonist as being "in-between" in the town of Malgudi. At the end of the novel, Raman's aunt left for Benares on a pilgrimage and Daisy left the town of Malgudi to pursue her career which means that Raman is left alone in Malgudi. This depicts the fact that it seems as though Raman cannot facilitate either women or what they represent (traditionality and modernity respectively), thus presenting the problematic themes of human character and their relationships with one another.