A Multidisciplinary Research Journal - Devanga Arts College

As the population increased, the activities and the boundaries of Malgudi also expanded
necessitating the expansion of education and establishment of industrial concerns. It became, in
course of time, an attractive city. Malgudi can be taken as a representative city of the whole of
India since the process of modernization has been the same everywhere. If on one side of the
city remnants of old culture is seen, on the other side are seen posh colonies and metalled roads.
On the life of the people can be seen the impact of Mahatma Gandhi and also of the western
culture.
Iyengar tells us that as early as 1935 when the palace talkie was built:
‘Malgudi had come into line with modern age…. By brushing aside the old
corrugated sheet-roofed variety hall, which from time immemorial had entertained
the citizens of Malgudi with tattered silent films.’(362)
So, if Malgudi is the microcosm of India in its multifarious moods, it is also the real hero
of his novels. All things pass and change, men and women try to live and as they are living in
India.
Malgudi also forms the setting of The Man–Eater of Malgudi. Malgudi even forms a
part of its title, thus indicating the importance of the locality in the novel. The various events
and incidents narrated in its place in Malgudi and the action never moves out of it.
Narayan has created in successive novels the imaginary town of Malgudi, with its
collections of printing shops, schools, temples, hotels and the neighboring Mempi hills. A
Mempi hill is well described in his novel The Man-Eater of Malgudi.
Mempi village, at the foot of the hills, consisted of a single winding street, which
half a mile away disappeared into the ranges of Mempi. … The jungle studded
the sides of the hill. A small shrine stood at the confluence of the mountain road
with the highway, and the goddess presiding was offered coconut and camphor
flames by every driver on the mountain side. (39)
It is predominantly lower middle-class but has the usual beggars, spongers, tricksters,
bogus Sadhus and other never do wells.
Narayan has made use of human relationship, use of Indian myth and religious faith,
education, rural life and depiction of Malgudi as a typical Indian town in his novels and short
stories. These fantastic situations and events are true in the Indian context. Every aspect
emphasizes Indianness in his novels. The social and national way of life is influenced and