The Pattern in The Projection of Working Women in R.K Narayan's The Dark Room and Mr. Sampath

International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences
Vol-7, Issue-4; Jul-Aug, 2022
Journal Home Page Available: https://ijels.com/

Journal DOI: 10.22161/ijels
The Pattern in the Projection of Working Women in R.K

Narayan’s The Dark Room and Mr. Sampath
Jyoti Kumari
Department of English, Central University of Himachal Pradesh, Dharamshala, India.

Email. Jyotichau56@gmail.com
Received: 31 Jul 2022; Received in revised form: 20 Aug 2022; Accepted: 25 Aug 2022; Available online: 31 Aug 2022
©2022 The Author(s). Published by Infogain Publication. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Abstract— Working women is not a recent phenomenon but in India they still face a bias and prejudice
against them. This prejudice and stereotyping can also be traced into the works of literature. This paper
aims to analyze the depiction of some of the working women’s characters in the early Indian English
novels by R.K Narayan. It will try to throw light on the patriarchal ideology in the narration and projection
of working women’s characters in the select novels. How women are often put under certain labels which
work for patriarchy and specifically working women who do not conform to this ideology, have to face
more social prejudices. This paper will examine these biased patterns which are prevalent in RK
Narayan’s select novels. It will showcase how a working woman is perceived by the society and also how
the writer deals with these patriarchal ideologies.
Keywords— Family, Indian English Fiction, Patriarchy, Working Women, Workspace.
I. INTRODUCTION A working woman according to thefreedictionary.com is a

R.K Narayan is one of the most celebrated and widely woman who earns a salary, income or regular wages by
read writers of India. He is known for his stories set in getting herself employed outside her home. Women face
fictional town of Malgudi. His writing style has a societal and traditional restrictions to work in India. Even
simplicity and a humor. This paper will view the in 21st century relatively very few women are able to find
representation of working women in two of his novels, work (Flecher 3). Udit Mishra in his article, “India is no
namely The Dark Room and Mr. Sampath. The Dark Room Country for Working Women. Here’s Why” says that India
is a story about a traditional Indian Hindu wife, Savitri. is a conservative society with orthodox beliefs and
The novel portrays that how the conjugal relationship practices violence against women. And this leads to
between Savitri and Ramani becomes tensed when Ramani women’s low participation rates in the labour force.
gets into an extra marital affair with one of his co-workers According to the World Bank data for 2019, India has one
Shanta Bai. Shanta Bai is the working woman in this novel of the lowest female participation rates in the world at 21%
whose character will be analyzed. according to World Bank LFPR (Labour Force
Participation Rate). This figure is not even the half of the
Mr. Sampath is a story about a writer, Srinivas and his
worldwide average of 47%.
friend Mr. Sampath who was a publisher and later got into
a movie business. The story follows how Mr. Sampath This paper purposes to examine the patriarchal ideologies
ruins his business and his marital relationship because of against working women present in these texts. And how
his indulgence into an extramarital affair with Shanti, the these ideologies shape the representation of working
lead actress of the movie. Shanti is the subject of analysis women in literature.
in this novel.
IJELS-2022, 7(4), (ISSN: 2456-7620)

https://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijels.74.46 311
Kumari et al. The Pattern in the Projection of Working Women in R.K Narayan’s The Dark Room and Mr. Sampath
II. DISCUSSION their affair but Ramani defends himself through the
There is a prominent pattern in the projection of these narration of the novel. But she has no direct encounter with
women’s characters concerning their family backgrounds, the readers. She is at a distance and presented as a third
moral values and working capabilities. Shanta Bai was person about whom readers get to know from other
married to one of her cousins who was a drunkard so she characters or the omniscient narrator. Shanta Bai’s
left him and pursued her studies. She does not have any character does not speak like other major character speak
family. After getting the job she lives alone in the office. for themselves in the novel.
She does not show any concern about taking care or 2.2 Mr. Sampath
nursing the kids. She does not follow the traditional norms Shanti is an actress in the novel Mr. Sampath. She has
for women as wives. She does not uphold any moral values been chosen for the role because of her beautiful face and
as she gets into an affair with a married man. Shanti in Mr. not for her acting abilities. As Mr. Sampath says at the
Sampath also has same kind of character. She also lives time of her appointment, “Of course; we can call her up.
alone. Her family is not mentioned. She is a widow. She Her face struck me as the most feasible type for Parvati”
also gets into an illegitimate affair with Mr. Sampath. (Narayan 127). She comes late for the rehearsal as
2.1 The Dark Room Sampath tells that she takes extra three hours to get
The representation of working women in their work spaces dressed up. It represents her unprofessional nature and her
is also biased. Shanta Bai is represented as amateurish and obsession with her beauty without any concern for her
not even ready to learn. She is seen as nuisance in the work. She has been married to a forest officer but she got
office by other male workers. The patriarchal ideology separated and later became a widow also. She also has a
prevalent in the Engladia Insurance Company in the novel kid, whom she has left with some of her relatives as the
can be seen when company advertises to take women to readers come to know later in the novel. Sampath tells
train in office and field to assist insurance policies on everyone that he and Shanti are cousins but they were
female lives. The employees joke about how women’s indulged in an affair. Sampath wants to marry her. She
applications are for harem. As the accountant Kataiengar becomes a distraction to one of the characters, Ravi in the
says, “A nice treat the boss has arranged. You can have novel. Ravi tries to molest her on the sets during the shoot.
your pick for the harem between fifteenth and the This also shows the violence which women face in their
twentieth. Don’t miss the office at any account” (Narayan workspaces. This incident leads to the devastation of the
48). He further asks, “Do they want to convert the film as well as the set. Shanti was so depressed that
company into a brothel?” (Narayan 49). It shows how Sampath takes her to Mempi hills for a rest. But Sampath
women and their profession is perceived by the male finds it hard to live with her fits and hysteric temperament.
counterparts. Women are viewed as sex objects only. As he puts it, “Well I didn’t much mind her physical
Shanta is a beautiful woman who has left her husband as condition. It was her temperament that disgusted me. She
he was a drunkard. She is referred as houri, fairy, fresh was quarrelsome, nagging…. wouldn’t leave me in peace.”
rose and “something to relieve the drabness” in the office (Narayan 214). Her personality is described as awful and a
by her co-workers. As she joins the office other employees kind with which a man cannot live.
feel distracted by her presence itself. Shanta Bai has been
appointed to the post with the recommendation of Ramani, III. CONCLUSION
so he expects a thanks from Shanta for his
To conclude the nature of representation of the working
recommendation and also for, he arranged a room for her.
women by RK Narayan in these novels, there are some
But instead she was dissatisfied by her salary. She was
basic similarities between these two characters named
portrayed as an overambitious and a thankless person.
Shanta Bai and Shanti which come forward. Their
Shanta Bai has been given a month to show progress but as
character attributes, family background and their morals
the narrator tells, “Shanta Bai had been in the office for a
are similar to each other. They come from parallel
month and yet she exhibited no aptitude for canvassing
background and also come across as similar to each other.
work” (Narayan 66). Instead, she develops an illegitimate
Both of the characters have broken marriages, they are ill
affair with Ramani to progress in her job. This leads to yet
tempered and incompetent for the assigned jobs. In both of
another stereotype against working women that they use
the novels RK Narayan has not given them space to narrate
men to progress and not their abilities and skills. She is
their side or to defend themselves against these
represented as a very temperamental person. She shows
projections. This representation leads to the stereotypical
tantrums and puts on acts of breakdown to gain sympathy.
and a biased image of working women in these novels. It
Ramani and Shanta Bai both were equally responsible for
stereotypes that working women are incapable of having a
IJELS-2022, 7(4), (ISSN: 2456-7620)

Kumari et al. The Pattern in the Projection of Working Women in R.K Narayan’s The Dark Room and Mr. Sampath
successful marriage, can not and do not want to take care

of their kids and not at all family oriented. They do not
adhere to the moral codes of the society in order to climb
the ladder of success. It forms a rift between a traditional
Indian woman who holds her morality high and a family-
oriented person and a working woman who has none of
these specific features of an Indian woman.
REFERENCES
[1] Flecher, Erin K. et.al. (2017). “Women and Work in India:
Descriptive Evidence and a Review of Potential Policies.”
CID Working Papers Series, 339, Harvard University,
Cambridge.
[2] Narayan, RK. (2013). The Dark Room. Indian Thought
Publications.
[3] … . (2009). Mr. Sampath. Indian Thought Publications.
IJELS-2022, 7(4), (ISSN: 2456-7620)


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International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences

Vol-7, Issue-4; Jul-Aug, 2022

Journal Home Page Available: https://ijels.com/

The Pattern in the Projection of Working Women in R.K

Department of English, Central University of Himachal Pradesh, Dharamshala, India.

I. INTRODUCTION A working woman according to thefreedictionary.com is a

IJELS-2022, 7(4), (ISSN: 2456-7620)

IJELS-2022, 7(4), (ISSN: 2456-7620)

successful marriage, can not and do not want to take care

IJELS-2022, 7(4), (ISSN: 2456-7620)

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