The Tale of a Raju in The Guide: From a Guide to Peace-Maker

Abstract

By nature, people love peace. But, sometimes, they reveal their devastating instincts both towards themselves and others. This phenomenon of conflict between love and hate prevails in many parts of the present world, especially in the Middle East and South-East Asia. Consequently, the extreme sufferings of humanity have impacted the creative writers of the world. This has, off late, become a popular area of literary exercise among fiction writers in South Asia. Following this trend, The Guide written by RK Narayan, portrays a bigger picture of a human and humane process peace-building that makes us constantly imagine of and get involved in establishing an ideal world. He, in the novel, proves how important it is for us to have peace in our life, which comes at the cost of self-sacrifice. This paper investigates, through theories and critiques, textuality and intertextuality, how Raju, the central character in The Guide, turns into a peace-builder, and how this peace-building puts back calm and happiness in his life as well as in the lives of others around him.