International Journal of

Linguistics and Literature (IJLL)

R.K.NARAYAN’S THE FINANCIAL EXPERT: THE CONFLICT BETWEEN

TRADITION & MODERNITY

LEENA SARKAR
Assistant Professor, Department of English, Narula Institute of Technology, Agarpara, Kolkata, India

ABSTRACT

Tradition and Modernity are two contrasting elements that predominate in almost all the novels of R.K.Narayan.
Reading his novels sparks a sense of Indianness provided with his own taste, flavour and recognition of rich cultural
inheritance. The Financial Expert is his wonderful creation, and highly resourceful for someone who is interested to delve
deep into Indian culture, enjoy its values and at the same time witness how materialism adds a new dimension in Indian
traditional culture. The paper attempts at examining Narayan‟s creation of a character who strives very hard with the
changing values of society to establish his own identity only to restart a new stride. Theory of colonialism and its effect in
the post – independence era is also perceived in the analysis of the text. Besides the theoretical perceptions, the economic
thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru also act as a background force in the novel.

KEYWORDS: Colonialism, Identity, Indianness, Materialism, Modernity, Tradition

INTRODUCTION

“Money alone is important in this world. Everything else will come to us naturally if we have money in our
purse”. (Narayan, 21) It is a statement of a financier, Margayya, the product of Malgudi, a man who is constantly in a
struggle for changing his social position by earning money. He is an eponymous character and believed to be inspired by
real life “Mysore original”. The novel narrates the story of Margayya who deals with loan matters of the poor village
peasants. He is bound to gather everyday in front of the Central Co-operative Land Mortgage Bank to carry out his
business. In Margayya‟s activities and in his demeanour business like attitude is always perceived. Pertaining to this
context the author says : “he had a busy day: filling up form, writing application, writing even petition unconnected with
money business for one or two Clients, taking, arguing, and calculating”. (Narayan, 17) Margayya keeps himself always
engaged with the bank transaction of his clients. His obsession with money-making, his progress from a self-appointed
“financial expert” to a wealthy and powerful money-lender brings fame, popularity and opulence in his life. His struggle
for success in life is to get a position in society. It is because he feels only affluence can bring respect and individual
identity in society.

Margayya‟s deep conviction is that money alone shapes the world. Money brings prosperity, happiness and
satisfaction in life. This realisation in Margayya is due to the vexation he receives in the society after the disclosure of the
fact that his family members were corpse bearers. The discrimination in society due to this fact instills in him
determination to change his destiny. He ignores the intimidation of the Bank‟s secretary. His aggressive and assertive self-
retort: “No wonder the secretary feels he can treat me as he likes. If I looked like him, would he have dared to snatch the
papers from the box? I can‟t look like a wayside barber, and that is my fate. I‟m only fit for the company of those blanket-
wrapped rustics”. (Narayan, 19) The articulation is an evocation of his enrage on the secretary as well as dejection for his
self. He feels that a person is treated with deference only when he has a sound financial position and a covetous
26 Leena Sarkar

professional designation. Margayya has neither of the two and so he is ill-treated, intimidated and despised by the Bank
Secretary. His attitude to life reflects the socio-economic condition of the society in the post- independence era. Post
independence era marks a period after Indian independence, as well as after World War II. During that time,
industrialisation paved its way in the country and society was under tremendous pressure of inflation and socio economic
transformation. Social transformation brought about a change in social values both traditional and modern. De-culturation
of India was the fall-out of the tension between India and Britain during the British regime. Western Civilisation brought in
rapid industrial and scientific developments, westernisation of life in the urban areas of the country and consumerism. This
change in the structure of the society gave rise to materialism which we witness in modern times also. R.K.Narayan
emerges into such an eventful period and his novels are a clear manifestation of India as real as Anand‟s or Raja Rao‟s. He
sees South India as a fundamentally conservative Hindu society undergoing transformation under the influence of
industrialisation and modernism.

THE IMPACT OF BRITISH COLONIALISM & HISTORY OF CO-OPERATIVE BANK

In the post independence era the impact of British Colonialism is perceived in every grain of Indian soil.
Colonialism, defined by Roger Tignor: “For Osterhammel, the essence of colonialism is the existence of colonies, which
are by definition governed differently from other territories such as protectorates or informal spheres of influence.”
(Tignor,10). The British rule in India also started in this manner by formation of colonies and thereby forcing the ordinary
people to submerge their own ideologies and embrace the unruly dictates of the British people. To discuss about the theory
of colonialism, we need to consider the theory from five different angles – political, racial, cultural, linguistic and
philosophical. The text is published in 1952, so just after the second world war and after India‟s war of Independence, a
devastating political upheaval; racial discrimination for Margayya‟s ancestors were corpse bearers, cultural discrimination
for initially belonging to the poor strata of the society, these are a testament to the fact that there is the impact of
colonialism on the making of the novel.

The dichotomy between the British culture and the Indian social values, a central point of influence concerning
social structure was the opposition of individualism and group behaviour and of hierarchy and equality. Malgudi‟s central
Land Mortgage Bank, founded by a famous Registrar of the Co-operative society, has colonial origins and the policies of
the Bank tend to colonise the enterprising attitude of Margayya. If we go back to the conflict between the Secretary and
Margayya mentioned earlier we can create a tangible proof of the aforesaid statement. The history of Co-operative bank
goes back to the year 1904. In 1904 the co-operative credit society act was enacted to encourage co-operative movement in
India. However the development of Co-operative Banks from 1904-1951 was the most disappointing one. It was in 1950
the Rural Banking Enquiry Committee impressed by the low cost of establishment and operations recommended the
establishment of such banks even in places smaller than taluka towns.

The real development of Co-operative banks took place only after the recommendations of All India Rural Credit
Survey committee (AIRCSC), which were made with the view to fasten the growth of the co operative banks. The Co-
operative Banks exist in the society to extend all types of credit advance consumption loans, extend banking facilities in
rural areas, mobilize deposits, and supervise the use of loans. Mahatma Gandhi also supported the non-cooperative
movement in India. On return from South Africa, Gandhi visited the countryside India and realised the bankruptcy and
distress of Indian peasantry oppressed by excess taxation, rack renting, illegal exaction etc. Observing this, he said –very
close co-operation amongst the peasants is an absolute necessity. According to Gandhi co-operation was necessary at that
time for creation of a socialistic society and complete decentralisation of power.
R.K.Narayan’s The Financial Expert: The Conflict between Tradition & Modernity 27

CRISIS IN THE FINANCIAL EXPERT

It was Gandhi who seems to have inspired the author to write such a novel with an epicenter being “Malgudi‟s
Land Mortgage Co-operative Bank”. The crisis in the novel develops when Margayya‟s activities are opposed by the
Secretary of the Bank. Margayya following the principles of Gandhi is projected as someone who is inclined to reach out to
the poor villagers and be their financial saviour. However his vision is changed suddenly as he is perturbed by his egoistic
self to amass more and more wealth and become the business tycoon in Malgudi. In this context John Thieme grounds the
idea of text in this way-

However the values of the co-operative movement seem to have been taken over by Margayya, whose dealings
under the banyan clearly constitute a rival set of financial practices. He even keeps a set of records which
duplicates the details of the bank holds of its accounts. So from one point of view Margayya can be seen to be
subverting the bank‟s dealings through an economy which shadows and appropriates the co-operative values on
which it has been founded. (Thieme,78)

Narayan has deliberately portrayed the character of Margayya in this manner to bring out the silent clamour of the
age for money in the wake of industrialisation. The inappropriateness of his behaviour is due to his inflated ego, lofty
ambition and high aspiration.

Economic sufficiency leads to social change in modern life as modernism believes in monetary success.
Industrialisation leads to expansion of horizon, which in turn leads to acquisition, not only of wealth but also of
knowledge. Urbanisation begins a new era of sophistication and class consciousness. Class struggle between rich and poor
comes out vividly in modern societies. The aforesaid discussion comes within our periphery because Margayya struggles to
efface the stigma of low class from his family. Our argument is supported by the statement - with the progress of
industrialisation capitalism sets in and people becomes more westernised , which is why low class people either monetarily
weak or socially ostracised have been looked down by people of the upper strata. The author presents the evil effects of
westernisation in the character of Balu, a representative of modern youth in that era. Since Margayya gets the child after
offering prayers to God, he pampers him a lot. He dreams of his stupendous performance in academics and wishes to spend
all his wealth after the prosperity of his family and higher education of Balu. Indirectly he tries to thrust his desire on Balu
but all his dream is shattered as Balu shows hardly any interest in education. The author here projects the character of Balu
not in a traditional manner. It seems from his activities that he is swayed by the typical modern culture which seems to be
almost devoid of values & ethics. After the declaration of the matriculation result Margayya becomes furious as his son
flunks in all the subjects. Pertaining to the result when he is questioned by his father, he fiercely retaliates. In the following
passage the unbelievable conversation goes on between Margayya and his son -

“How am I to hold up my head in public?” The boy looked detached, as if it were a problem to be personally
solved by the father, in which he was not involved. Margayya shouted again: “How am I to hold up my head in
public? What will they think of me? What will they say of my son?” …He said in a gruff tone: “How is it their
concern?”…I cannot tolerate a son who brings such disgrace on the family “The boy was pained beyond words.
“Don‟t talk nonsense, father,” he said. (Narayan,138)

Here in, the novel depicts the transformation of Balu. Balu, representing modernism eventually initiates a
rebellion against his father. When we consider the word „nonsense‟ in the above extract, we may be taken aback at the
articulation as in a traditional Indian middle-class family a son cannot address his father so offensively. So the question
arises- Is the author trying to be an iconoclast? We would argue that R.K.Narayan who worships traditional Indian society
28 Leena Sarkar

in all his novels and short stories can never be an iconoclast but definitely he is suggesting a demarcation between older
Indian culture and the new culture that evolves after the western influence and industrialisation. The character analysis of
Balu foregrounds this analogy in the text.

Balu‟s post marital life presents another picture of Balu After his marriage there is no retribution from his end. He
becomes a debauched husband, irresponsible father and a prodigal son. Understanding the trauma residing in Brinda‟s
heart, Margayya questions the whereabouts of Balu. Initially Brinda shows her reluctance but later she blurts out
everything to Margayya. Brinda‟s pent up sorrow gets an outlet in Margayya. She articulates in paranoia:

Dr Pal was his constant companion. They gathered in a house and played cars – it was the house of a man who
called himself a theatrical agent. She had learnt from their servant that there were a lot of girls also in the building.
Pal had something or other to do with these people, and picked Balu up in his car. They sat there continuously
playing cards till midnight. They chewed tobacco and betel leaves, sometimes they drank also, and men and
women were free, … (Narayan, 210)

Balu‟s bohemian life style develops the crisis in the novel. It is Dr. Pal who provokes Balu to go against his father
and the ultimate catastrophe looms large in Margayya‟s life.

MARGAYYA’S LOFTY AMBITION

From the beginning of the novel it is Margayya‟s ambition that pre dominates the theme. Margayya hates poverty,
so he devises different ways to earn huge amount of money. A combination of traditionalism and modernism is integrally
associated with Margayya‟s life. From the day of his struggle to the day of affluence, his only ambition is to keep his
family thousand miles away from the clench of poverty. There is an element of Hindu culture in Margayya‟s ambition. He
aspires to provide comfort, happiness and affluence to his family and he struggles for this peace of mind from the
beginning to the end. His desire is quite similar to the latent ambition of every husband /father in the Indian society. When
he utters: “Must have a car as soon as possible”.( Narayan,29) In the articulation there is a co-existence of two feelings-
one is Margayya‟s affection and love for his family and on the flip side his realisation of the pleasure of a westernised life.
It is a presentation of his confidence and a struggle to get an identity to be one among the elite members of the society.

The argument brings up certain questions: Why does he indulge in doing this? Why is he so fanatic about
possessing wealth? How can he be so aggressive about earning money? All these questions highlight his vehement protest
against class consciousness. Since he suffered the evil gestures of locality for being a part of the poor family of corpse
bearers, he wants to efface the stigma by bringing in opulence. To become rich he even has recourse to a priest. He
requests him to show him the path of success- “Can you show me a way?‟‟(Narayan, 36) This development in Margayya is
just after the humiliation Margayya receives in the hands of the Secretary. In the words of M.K.Naik, This particular event
is quite similar to “Thomas Sutpen in Faulkner‟s Absalom, Absalom” (Naik, 162) and then he propitiates Goddess Lakshmi
so that she showers all her blessings on him and he becomes rich and monetarily powerful. The question arises – “Can
Margayya go to any extent to earn money?” Subsequent discussion justifies this question. When Margayya is madly in
search of an opportunity to earn money he comes across Dr. Pal. He consciously gets involved in a business of selling
pornographic book- “Bed –life or the Science of Marital Happiness.” (Narayan, 67) Initially he hesitates to be a partner in
the venture but later on he agrees as he realises that the business would be a lucrative one. Again the reiteration of the
same analogy; “This boy must grow up like a prince. The goddess willing, he will certainly…” (Narayan,52) All these
analogies establish Margayya as a modern man. It is in John Thieme‟s view: “His entrepreneurialism makes him an
untypical Narayan protagonist in some ways and his character both embodies and challenges traditional values.” (Thieme,
R.K.Narayan’s The Financial Expert: The Conflict between Tradition & Modernity 29

79) His entire struggle to provide the best comfort to family is because of the social inferiority he felt:

“There was a family secret about his caste which stirred uneasily at the back of his mind. Though he and the rest
were supposed to be of good caste now, if matters were pried into deeply enough they would find that his father‟s
grandfather and his brothers maintained themselves as corpse bearers”. (Thieme,183)

NARAYAN’S COMPARISON WITH THOMAS HARDY

In John Thieme‟s view

Malgudi is a multifaceted and transitional site, an interface between older conceptions of “authentic” Indianness
and contemporary views that stress the ubiquity and inescapability of change in the face of modernity. It argues
that Malgudi is far more than a physical locus, viewing it as an episteme that incorporates numerous ways of
perceiving India-social, spiritual, mythological and psychological among them. (Thieme, 113-116)

The Financial Expert provides a picturesque view of Malgudi. Malgudi, Narayan‟s microcosm of India is just like
Thomas Hardy, who has given a similar view of Wessex in all his novels. If we consider Hardy‟s Tess of the D’Urvervilles,
where Hardy argues how Industrial impact has changed the rural countryside and agrarian values have been replaced by
values of the industrialised society. Only from this perspective Narayan‟s view is quite similar to Hardy‟s as Narayan also
gives a picture of such a society where western values due to Colonialism gets more priority in man‟s life compared to old
culture. In The Financial Expert the impact of British Colonialism and Industrial Revolution brings much change to the
rich and ancient cultural heritage of the region. In the words of Graham Greene :

But the life of Malgudi – never ruffled by politics – proceeds in exactly the same way as it had done for centuries,
and the juxtaposition of the age-old convention and the modern character provides much of the comedy. The
astrologer is called in to compare the horoscope for a marriage, but now if you pay him he will fix them the way
you want; the financial expert sits under his banyan tree opposite the new central co-operative Land Mortgage
Bank. To push away a tumbler of milk is to insult a goddess. The caste of a great- grand- father is still of a great
importance. (Greene, 1959)

MARGAYYA AND WESTERN MATERIALISM

All the excerpts and criticism eventually converge on one argument- Although Margayya is an embodiment of
traditional values and modern principles of life, he is driven by western materialistic wave of mammon worship, he
exercises all his energy to earn money or attain financial solvency and elevates his social status and recognition by the
power of money. He works like a machine and all his machination keeps him so engrossed that simple emotions of life-
love, compassion, fellow feelings almost leaves his life. He works and works like a robot. Almost in all his novels, we find
the protagonist undergoes four types of Varnashrama-dharmas and here also in the „grihastha‟ stage initially Margayya
shows his meticulousness but later on as his greed for name, fame increases, he shows indifference towards the family. He
ignores his domestic life of bliss and happiness and does not even feel the sexual urge for himself and disregards the
passion and compassion for his wife Meenakshi. He even remains unmindful of his wife‟s agony after Balu‟s sudden
separation-

The house for Margayya‟s wife seemed to have become dull and lonely without her son. It reminded her of those
days when he had gone away without telling anybody, but Margayya noticed no difference because his mind was
busy formulating a new plan which was going to rocket him to undreamt of heights of financial success.
(Narayan,157)
30 Leena Sarkar

A conflation of ethics, philosophy and religious flavour contributes much to shape the beauty of oriental life. This
is not totally ignored by Margayya. The author ingeniously cobwebs the changing values over age old Indian tradition and
beliefs. When Margayya reaches the apex of financial success, he does not forget the root of his Indainness and consults
horoscope before arranging his son‟s marriage. At this time he is duped by Dr. Pal who does not hesitate to bribe to get a
ready horoscope that suits an expected match. The marriage between Balu and Brinda based on a fake horoscope
eventually ends in an unfulfilled relationship. Margayya is so concerned about his son that even when Balu leads a separate
life, we find him extremely concerned about his daughter –in-law.

PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE

It is financial success that a man desires to get in his life. Goddess Lakshmi may help someone to get meteoric
success in life and at the same time can also bring doomsday in his fortune. It is an eternal truth that financial prosperity
along with mental peace can bring eternal happiness in life. An amalgamation of insight and financial solvency can bring
constant and everlasting happiness in one‟s life. In Margayya‟s life there is dearth of insight rather we can say he lacks the
potential to think logically and rationally and this brings the ultimate catastrophe in his life. It can be supplemented from
the text; when the priest tells him “follow these rules. Will they produce results?” (Narayan, 56) The simple statement
uttered by Margayya proves his lack of insight. If he would have been a very matured and sensible man he would have
never propitiated Goddess Lakshmi to become rich. Since he lacks rationality, he lacks technical knowledge also. Everyone
knows that money begets money, so the wise way to earn more money is by investing them in some appropriate business
plan. Margayya does not show his knack of investing money instead he concentrates more on accumulating wealth. All
these immature activities bring utter disaster in his life.

The entire picture of Margayya with his materialistic ideals in life is portrayed by the author in an Indianised way.
Whatever he observes in Indian life he incorporates them in his character to give an Indian appeal. The reference to
Goddess „Lakshmi‟ and „Saraswati‟ is symbolic as it evokes a theist picture of a traditional society. Although he is inspired
and exasperated by the western materialism, he fails to situate himself totally into it. The scepter of western materialism, an
outcome of Industrial revolution looms large on him and has a deep impact on his life. Narayan adroitly creates Margayya
who, to some extent, has the superficial views of oriental ideals deeply rooted in his cognitive level, and that have labored
hard to make him Indian Margayya. Narayan‟s presentation of Margayya is slightly different from other character. He is
almost torn between two worlds, oriental and occidental. His acceptance of Lakshmi is a representation of his shallow
behaviour since a truly religious minded man can never believe in propiation. This advocates the simplicity and
lightheartedness in his character. Had Dr.Pal been unsuccessful to convince him, he would have never come across such a
trauma in his life.

TRANSITION FROM GANDHIAN ECONOMIC THOUGHT TO NEHRU’S ECONOMIC THOUGHT

From the cognitive level of understanding, the author exposes Margayya‟s entrepreneurial attitude almost in most
of his interactions. The protagonist in all of his activities depicts his special affinity towards capitalist tendency of the
society. We would all agree that post independence era is an era of immense change in our socio-economic perspectives.
Margayya, the protagonist of the text is the spokesman of the author and he seems to be away from the idyllic countryside
and agricultural community. Although Narayan is an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi, his protagonist is more interested in
money and affluence but less in emotional entanglements. At this juncture we observe a transition from Gandhian
economic thought to Nehru‟s economic thought. If we carefully analyse the speech of Margayya the abovementioned fact
will be revealed. The speech goes in this way:
R.K.Narayan’s The Financial Expert: The Conflict between Tradition & Modernity 31

Guru Raj, money is the greatest factor in life and the most ill – used. People don‟t know how to tend it, how to
manure it, how to water it, how to make it grow, and when to pluck its flowers and when to pluck its fruits. What
most people now do is to try and eat the plant itself. (Narayan,132)

The analysis of money and the metaphorical expression where in „water‟, „flowers‟, „fruits‟ are brought into
discussion clearly reveal an in-depth understanding of the fact. It is possible only if one is engrossed in monetary matters
and influenced by the economic principles of life. It seems Margayya is more influenced by Nehru‟s economic ideals
compared to Gandhian economic ideals. In O.P.Mishra‟s view: “Nehru made an advocacy of national self-sufficiency as
opposed to Gandhi‟s idea of village self-sufficiency and village swaraj. Nehru stood for a modern Indian society having
international economic and fiscal cooperation as against Gandhi‟s ideal of pastoral society and swadeshi”. (Misra, 122)

Nehru propagates the theory of industrialisation in India which comes to the forefront by effacing agrarian life
style. Nehru was fully “conscious of the fact that industrialisation, establishment of basic and heavy industry,
encouragements to large-scale industries were fundamental to the economic development and modernisation of the Indian
economy.” (Misra, 84)

If we consider the articulations of Margayya then we can establish that he believes both in Gandhian and
Nehruvian economic ideals. His modern life makes an advocacy of Nehru‟s economic ideals and his traditional life makes
an advocacy of Gandhian ideals. He is totally imbued with this combined ideology of Nehru and Gandhi. His aspiration to
become a true businessman, his incessant struggle to achieve it and his temperament always proclaims professionalism. His
attitude towards business is worth mentioning: “In business we neither conclude a deal or we don‟t, but there is no room
for mincing words. If we don‟t want it here, I can take it somewhere else”. (Narayan, 99)

These analogies of Margayya depict his attitude to life, on the flip side these also depict the intrusion of the author
in the narrative structure of the novel. The narrative intrusion of the author brings out the amorphous image of the
prevailing Indian society. The first part of the novel shows Margayya as a man beset with household works, an andocentric
image. Then his financial dealings start and he motivates himself to promote the value of money and how important it is to
fulfill one‟s ambition of acquiring wealth. This intensifies the situation and he becomes a fanatic, devoid of marital bliss,
only engrossed in matters of accumulating wealth. Finally he starts philosophising and due to his incessant struggle he
reaches the zenith of success for an ephemeral period. His precipitous fall is for his own avarice and abnormalities. The
rise and fall in Margayya‟s life is an epitome as in the words of Thieme , “He is an interstitial figure, whose business
ethics distance him from the older scribal culture, personified in other novels of Narayan‟s middle period by protagonists
such as Srinivas (Mr. Sampath) , Sriram (Waiting for Mahatma) and Natraj (The Man-Eater of Malgudi)”. (Thieme, 82)

TRADITIONALISM

Besides the financial matters, Narayan also evokes some traditional features in the text. Margayya prides himself
on being an absolutely a “Self-made man, professing egalitarian values and a disregard for „status‟. (Narayan, 181) So, to a
much greater extent than a character like Srinivas, whose fundamentally traditional way of life is challenged by the advent
of outside forces, Margayya is himself a figure who embodies the co-existence of ancient and modern values-here
specifically in the context of Brahmin attitudes to money.”(Thieme, 82) This is definitely a prophecy of the egalitarian
values in build in Margayya. Margayya initially embarks on the business of selling pornographic book for financial
prosperity but it is self- realisation that deters his progress in business. He starts contemplating on the issue that he is not
contributing anything for the betterment of the society. It is from his magnanimous self, this realisation emanates. Now the
question arises, why did the author bring this reformation in Margayya? Margayya leaving an extremely lucrative business
32 Leena Sarkar

and then starting an absolutely new business is quite unthinkable but the narrative intrusion of the author brings about this
change. It is because here the author emphasises Gandhi‟s philosophy. Regarding Gandhi‟s economic philosophy O.P.
Misra grounds certain ideas –

If Christ emphasized moral well-being of man and Karl Marx (1818-1883) attached the first importance to
material development of man it was Mahatma Gandhi who laid equal emphasis on moral and material progress of
man. His economic philosophy is directed towards the moral and spiritual development of all human beings rather
than towards a blind pursuit of economic growth. (Misra, 14)

Narayan, being an Indo-Anglian novelist is highly influenced by the philosophy of Gandhi. The elaboration of
Michel Pousse in this context is extremely appropriate:

Life is never ending quest for truth. That word has never been easy to define in the Gandhian context. It is
generally equated with sincerity of heart (even “soul force”). This necessarily implies the discovery of one‟s self.
Man must question his place in society and cast off social arte facts. Only then will he be able to re-establish the
pristine and essential link with God necessary to answer the question “Who am I?” and hence the question that
naturally ensures “What am I?” (Srinath, 62)

These self-introspecting questions eventually bring a change in the perspective of Margayya. From the beginning
he exhibits a very low self-esteem for having low background. It is for this reason he furiously retaliates at Shastri to
establish the fact that he does not believe in discrimination of human beings under the pretext of high or low status. It is an
exhibition or proclamation of his magnanimous self. His generous attitude to every one never brings in him superiority
complex even during his excessive financial prosperity. The attitude of Margayya is inevitably an evocation of Gandhian
economic theory. The author endorses the ideas laid down by Gandhi. Gandhi believed in „Sarvodaya‟ or Gandhian
socialism. Defining socialism he said:

Socialism is a beautiful word and so far as I am aware in socialism all the members of society are equal, none low,
none high. In the individual body, the head is not high because it is the top of the body, nor are the soles of the
feet low because they touch the earth. Even as members of the individual body are equal, so are the members of
society. This is socialism. (Misra, 44)

Narayan projects the idea of Gandhian Socialism through Margayya‟s philosophy. Gandhi promulgated the theory
of socialism to augment the concept of social and economic equality. Narayan tries to foster this concept in the
magnanimity of Margayya.

BALU’S CHARACTERISATION

The author‟s characterisation of Balu is just the reverse of Margayya. He is an epitome of a prodigal son and
Margayya‟s overriding obsession about his son‟s education becomes meaningless. Balu presents the ill-effects of modern
and industrialised society. Balu‟s action presents him as a dedicated enemy of education. He eventually goes against his
father and finally forces him to provide him a share of his property. Balu‟s violent and forceful demand gets a reflection in
these lines: “I want a share of the property –my share of the property” (Narayan, 205).The usage of the pronoun “my” is
symbolic; it shows the transformation and erosion of values with the passage of time. The contrast can be observed in both
the generations. When Margayya‟s father died he was compelled to live in one half of the house and the other half was
occupied by his elder brother. Prior to the division of property none of them were discussed or consulted, hence it was
almost like destiny‟s decree. Contrasted to the earlier generation Balu, representative of the modern generation
R.K.Narayan’s The Financial Expert: The Conflict between Tradition & Modernity 33

aggressively challenges his father and combats with him verbally to get his share of property. The hypocrisy of the fact is
that Balu being the only son of Margayya by default would inherit the property over and above this he loses his self control
and embarks on the venture. The paper attempts to deal with the inconsistency, flippancy and impulsiveness of the modern
generation. This is not a generalised statement but an overall view of Balu‟s character. In the words of Makarand
Paranjape:

Indian modernity is thus neither anti-traditional nor necessarily pro-western. It is, instead, a complex
interplay of multitudinous forces which are sometimes complimentary and sometimes contradictory.
Reform, revival, resistance, conflict, collusion, collaboration, capitulation, compromise, adoption,
adaptation, synthesis, encapsulation, hybridity, and multiculturalism are all part of the India‟s experiment
in modernization. (Paranjape, 2005)

So following these overall interpretations, Balu‟s character brings out some negative traits of his personality and
also highlights the heterogeneous characteristics, that predominate the life of every individual in this era. If we bring in the
comparison of „Balu‟ with „Mali‟ of The Vendor of Sweets then we find some similarity between them. In The Vendor of
Sweets the conflict between Jagan & Mali arises in the third chapter when Mali goes against the system of education just
like Balu in The Financial Expert. Mali disregards the education system to sail across the seas to reach America, his
destination. A very minute introspection of Mali‟s character ensconces how Mali is portrayed in the novel. Mali believes in
affluence and he appreciates western tradition, culture and their life style. The buoyancy of his spirit is due to the western
influence. The novel also foretells the eternal conflict between the Oriental and Occidental as observed in The Financial
Expert.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

If we consider the genre of short stories of R.K.Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand, Khuswant Singh, Khwaja Ahmed
Abbas, and Malgonkar, we observe that most of the stories present glimpses of Indian life and society in the process of
change. If we take for instance Mulk Raj Anand‟s AVilage Idyll we find a picture of contemporary Indian society where
society itself has demolished social barriers in matters of love and suggests an incipient acceptance by society of the
individual‟s own choice in respect of marriage. R.K.Narayan‟s The White Flower and Seventh House deal with the hold of
horoscope and astrology as a decisive factor in Hindu marriages. Like all other social evils, the system of dowry, which is a
corollary of the institution of marriage in India, is a malignant tumour that is eating into the vitals of Indian society. In
Arun Joshi‟s The Foreigner the encounter of cultures does not come up directly, but it is evident in the conflict of tradition
and transition and in the juxtaposition of the materialistic, empirical national view of life and the spiritual stance of life.

CONCLUSIONS

So we can say that the conflict between tradition and modernity is almost a recurrent motif in the post-
independence fiction and short stories. The Financial Expert is almost deluged with multifaceted ideas ranging from the
influence of materialistic culture to restoration of older social order in the family. Although Margayya‟s economic collapse
is accompanied by his physical collapse, reconciliation in the family is very well observed. The novel concludes with
Margayya‟s statement: “I am going on with it, as soon as I am able to leave this bed.” (Narayan, 218) He expresses his
intention to resume his work under the banyan tree once he is physically fit to take the strain. So the end reaffirms/
reinforces the importance of family as Margayya asks Balu to give him his grandson. A complete family picture is
portrayed at the end of the novel. Hence the narrative of the novel bestows three identities of Margayya – he gets a social
position with material prosperity, he realises his falsehood‟s significance when he thrashes Balu for his unpleasant
34 Leena Sarkar

behavior and bohemian life style and at the end the last identity of a grandfather, a pillar of the family, who prefers
emotional attachment with his grandson. To end with the words of M.k.Naik “The end shows a chastened but by no means
broken Margayya preparing to resume his first humble occupation. This ironic reversal brings home to him the age-old
lesson that prosperity and peace do not always go together”. ( Naik, 162)

REFERENCES

1. “Graham Greene (1959) Introduction to The Financial Expert. New York:The Noonday Press.

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www.makarand.com/acad/The Reluctant Guru.htm (accessed 15April2013)

3. Mukherjee Meenakshi(1984) Caliban‟s Growth : Impact of Colonialism on Commonwealth Fiction. In Amur G.S.
and Desai S.K. (eds) Colonial Consciousness in Commonwealth Literature. Mumbai: Somaiya Publications,
p.216.

4. Naik M.K. (1982) A History of Indian English Literature.Delhi: Sahitya Akademi.

5. O.P. Misra(1995) Economic Thought of Gandhiand Nehru: A Comparative Analysis. New Delhi: MD Publication
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6. Pousse Michel (2005) Narayan as a Gandhian Novelist. In Srinath C.N.(ed) R.K.Narayan : An Anthology of
Recent Criticism. Delhi: Pencraft International,p.62.

7. R.K.Narayan(2005) The Financial Expert (1952). Madras: Indian Thought Publications.

8. Thieme John (2007) The Cultural Geography of Malgudi. The Journal of Commonwealth Literature Vol42 No.2 :
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9. Thieme John (2010) R.K.Narayan: Contemporary World Writers. New Delhi: Viva Books Private Limited.

10. Tignor Roger (2005) Preface to Jurgen Osterhammel’s Colonialism: A Theoretical Overview. Markus Weiner
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