Also Read
The eternal war between good and bad, the battle between goodness and evil, gains a rather contemporary dimension in the story 'the man-eater of Malgudi'. Vasu, the character depicted as a demonic one terrorizing the mankind is ideally illustrated in the book whilst echoing the fecundity of the title of the novel. R. K. Narayan with his distinct innovativeness creates the backdrop of this story whilst adding a whole fresh meaning to the term "contemporaneousness"
 |
| The Man-Eater of Malgudi |
'The Man-Eater of Malgudi' is also set at the same background of Malgudi where the name itself says so. Nataraj is owner of a small, friendly printing press in Malgudi. He is a very polite person with no enemy as such. His life is tensionless till the day he meets Vasu. Vasu is a taxidermist. Vasu brings an alarming stuffed jungle of hyenas, pythons and tigers and an assortment of dancing girls who clump up and down the printer's stairs. Vasu was creating many problems in Nataraj's life. Vasu never gives him money nor he signs any rent slip. During the story's progression, Vasu encroaches on Nataraj's life in all aspects.
The story comes to an end when Nataraj decides to organize a function on the release of a book by his friend. But very soon someone informs that Vasu is going to kill the elephant at the procession. Nataraj decides to talk to Vasu for the last time but he finds him sleeping. But on the next day Vasu was dead. Though Nataraj gets a clean chit from the police still his friends' starts avoiding him. Eventually, he knows from Rangi, a prostitute that Vasu was not murdered but he had damaged one of his nerves with his powerful hands while smashing a fly and died instantly. This 'The Man-Eater of Malgudi' is published by William Heinemann Ltd, Reader's Union, Viking adult, Penguin classics, Penguin Books Ltd, Indian Thought Publication, four square, New English Library, etc.
The Man-Eater of Malguri' is somewhat complex in its nature as R. K. Narayan loosely bases his tale on the ancient Indian myth of a boasting demon Bhasmasura who terrorizes the world of mortals. This story is mainly based on the battle between good and evil and also how these values are determined by the society. This novel also exceeds some of the boredom, horror and glory that makeup anyone's existence.