Meandering: Long drawn out Structure and

Allegory: ~ ~ m b o l i cretelling
al , Technique

4.10 QUESTIONS

1. 'The t@ee levels of action in Kanthapura - political, social and relgious - are
all related to a unified concept of India. Discuss the structure of the novel in
the light of this statement.

2. What,are the mai,n features of Raja Rao's narrative technique in Kanthapura?

3. How s u c c e s s ~is
l Achakka, the narrator, in her attempt to tell the story of her
village in the context of the Satyagraha Movement?

4. - Explain how myth and symbolism are integral parts of Raja Rao's fictional
art in Kanthapura.
-- +_"_______

UNIT 5 KANTHAPURA :CHARACTERS

Structure

Objectives
Introduction
Raja Kao's Art of Characterrzation in Kanthapura
Moorthy, the Ccntral Figure
'The Wonien it( Kunthapura
Some of the Other Characters
Let 11s Sum Up
References
Glossary
Questions
Suggested Readings

X____._____.I____I__________l_l_--

--
5.0 OBJECTIVES
---- ,

The objective of this Unit is to give you a brief analysis of the following:

e Raja Kao's art of characterizatiam;

Moorthy, the central character;
The women characters;
Some of the sther figures in Kantlzapura.
o We also conclutie our discussion of Raja Rao's Kanthapura, and provide you
with a list of suggested books that might he useful in your study.

' Every novel IS built round a ~)lot,which is some actlon involving a number of
characters. In the first four Units of this Block, we have given you information on the
background, themes, structure, language and style of kbrethapura. Wkat remains is
an analysis of the characters involved in the action of the novel. So, in the fmaI Unit,
we shall give you a general rdea of Raja Rao's art of characterization in the novel. To
illustrate that art, we examine the central figure of Moorthy - his traits, strengths and
weahlesses, and the impact that he has on the other characters. We shall also discuss
the specla1 significauce of tlic women characters slrnce the story is narrated by n
woman. Some light is aiso thrown on three of the other important c b a c t a s . With
that we conclude our discassion of K~nthapcnraand its various elements.

Everything in Kanthapura proceeds fiom the point of view of Achakka, the narrator
of the novel, whether it be the story of the village or the political struggle in which
the villagers get involved. The characters too are projected from the same point of
view. Since Achakka is a respectable grandmother of the village, most of the main
characters of the novel are personally known to her, and she treats them as her
children and grandchildren. She loves to describe them in familiar terms, and has a
habit of giving their family and professional backgrounds when introducing them to Characters
the reader. Raja Rao himself has no opportunity to make direct comments on any of
h ~ characters
s as Kbnthapuru is a first person narrative. Whatever he would like to
say about a person is put in the mouth of Achakka. However, there are occassions,
when the characters make comnients on each other, or they reveal themselves through
their actions as reported by AchaY~a.

.The characters in Kanthapurci are villagers who have little experience of the city life.
They are shown to be not highly educated, not very cunning, but nrostly innocent,
simple and truthful people. Prayer, worship, and religious practices sum up the way
of life for them. That is the reason how their leaders find it easy to take them towards
politics by the path of religion. While !heir blind faith is a positive point, it has a .
negative side in making them superstitious and reluctant to give up tradition. In the
face of an appeal to give up old habits and customs, they are likely to be unreasonable
and headstrong. Human nature being such a variable thing, the finthapura
community has its quota of good and evil figures. To contrast the goodness and
nobility of Moorthy, Rangamma, Ratna and others, there are evil characters like
Bhatta and Waterfall Venkamma. The latter, in particular; has a vicious tmgue,
which is capable of turning against its victims like a waterfall of malicious words.
But, in the ultimate analysis, she is not all that bad -4s for the policeman, Bade Khan,
he is evil incarnate.

K.R. Rao has this to say about Raja Rao's art of characterization in Kanthapura :

In drawing his people, Raja Rao maintains the

balance between their individuality and their
representative nature. There is no dichotomy
between people but rather a fusion of all human
differentials into the steady flow of a single
racial personality,'

Raja Rao presents his characters as sharing a common nature. Their broad acceptance
is an essential element of the spirit of India. What the British writer, E.M. Forster,
fails to understand about the national character of India is clear as daylight to Raja
Rao, and he projects this understanding through his dqiction of the characters in
Kanthapura. He does not emphasize their individual traits, but presents them as a
group with common inherited traditions and common goals. Moorthy, in spite of his
revolutionary zeal, cannot totally cut himself off from tradition and common belief.
Following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, he takes up the cause of the
untouchables, but is still beset by dotrbt if he is doing the right thing by mixing with
them. Similarly, Bhatta is not depicted 2s a person who is all bad. Some of the
villagers consider him to be 'a fine feliaw.' One has to consider him in the general
perspective of human nature that Raja Rao presents in Kanthapura. Hz makes us look
at the 'Red-man,' the master of the Slceffington Coffee Estate, not in anger, but from
a h~irnoroitsand ironic point cf view.

Any other writer would have presented Mahatma Gandhi as a superhuman figure,
unapproachable and beyond criticism. Jzyaramachar, the tIarihtficr man does project
him as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, but the villagers of Kanthapura are not
overawed by this. They respect Gandhi for his teachings, leadership, and feeling for
the down-trodden. but it does not prevent some of them fi&mcriticizing him and even
talking ill of him. Raja Rao's villagers are practical men and women. When the
repercussSons of the satyagraha hurt them, they blame it on Gandhi, Moorthy's
mother does not hesitate to curse Gandhi for influencing her son to mingle with the
Pariahs. That is again human Pature, a mother's protective instinct to see her son
prospering in society and not being treated as an outcast.

In K~nfhpzrra,Raja Rao presents life of a small village community in times of change

and turmoil. This community shares the same traditions, values, beliefs and way of
Kanthapura life. Hence, their reactions ta the ups and downs of life tend to be predictable. When
you visualize one of them, you visualize all. Yet such is the variety of human nature
that Raja Rao identifies individuals through subtle shades of difference. For mstance,
there is little in common between Moorthy, Range Gowda and Bhatta as individual
human beings. They are contrasted with the poor and the down-trodden. Apart from
distinctions of caste, Raja Rao also highlights distinctions of class. K.R. Rao rightly
concludes :

The humiliation of the poor and the outrage of the helpless

are frequently contrasted with blatant vulgarity and coarseness
of the proud and the indifferent. The amazing chivalry of some
is set beside the disturbing cupidy of others. The beautiful
valour of some women is contrasted with the banal
opportunism of others.*

5.3 MOORTHY, THE CENTRAL FIGURE

Moorthy, the central figure of Raja Rao's Kanthapura, is introduced to the reader on
a significant note. Early in the novel, the narrator is commenting on Dore, the
'University graduate,' and contrasts him with Moorthy :

He was not like Corner-House Moorthy, who had gone

through life like a noble cow, quiet, generous, serene,
deferent and brahmnic, a very prince, I tell you.
We loved him, of course, as you will see, and if only
I had not been a daughterless widow, I should have
offered him a grand-daughter, if I had one. (1 2)

This simple statement of Achakka holds the key to the figure of Moorthy in the
novel. The Hindus venerate the cow and give it the status of a mother for its milk that
nurtures us. For someone to be called a 'noble cow' is giving him high honour. It
gives us the first clue to the personality of Moorthy. He is kind and non-violent, and
cares for others. In contrast to the vicious Waterfall Venkamma, he is quiet, and, in
contrast to the greedy Bhatta, he is generous. And then he is calm, respectful and
brahmanic, a very prince among the ordinary people of ~ a n t h a ~ u rThey
a . think he
has all the good qualities, and they have no hesitation in accepting him as the~rleader
in the Satyagraha Movement that he launches in the village.

Moorthy is a self-sacrificing young man, who hzs no personal ambitions. He cares for
the others - the poor villagers, the pariahs and the coolies of the Skeffington Coffee
Estate. Moorthy has a good organizing capability. When Rachanna's fiimily IS sent
away from the Coffee Estate for raising his voice against oppression and challenging
the authority of the Redman, Moorthy immediately arranges alternative shelter for
him. But when he, later on, goes to visit the family in their hut, he finds it hard to
avoid the hospitality of Rachanna's wife. His brahmanic consciousness and
upbringing raises a doubt in his mind whether he is doing the right thing. He hesitates
to cross the threshold and tries to avoid taking the glass of milk offered to him. When
his mbther does not let him enter her kitchen for fear of polluting it, he accepts her
verdict without protest.

In his analysis of the role of Moorthy, the central character of Kanthapura, Para~jape
writes:

Kanthapura is really a novel about a village rather than about a single

individual; nevertheless, Moorthy, the Brahmin protagonist of the villagers'
struggle against the government, is a prototypal hero. Moorthy is the leader
 of a political uprising, but for him as for Gandhi whom he follows, politics Characters
provides a way of life indistinguishable from a spiritual quest, Action is the
way to the Absolute. In Gandhi, he finds what is Right Action. Thus, for
3
him, becoming a "Gandhi man" is a deep spiritual experience ...

The people of his community refer to Moorthy as a 'Gandhiman'. This is a dubious

term, since it is used by both the followers as well as the detractors of Gandhi. For the
followers of Gandhi, it is a meritorious and noble term, but, in the eyes of his
detractors, it is a derogatory term. It all depends on who is using it and in what
context. Very early, Moorthy comes under the influence of the charismatic influence
of Mahatma Gandhi, when he listens to him at a public meeting in the city. From that
day onwards, he models his life on that of the Mahatma. He hies to imitate Gandhi in
every respect. Whatever action Gandhi initiates in his struggle against the British
rulers, Moorthy duplicates it at the village level. He reads the Gita, plies the spinning
wheel, and even mimics Gandhi's Dandi March by leading the picketing of the toddy
shop. When his followers suffer from police atrocities, he is once again beset by self-
doubt, and goes on a fast unto death, which he is later persuaded to give up. This
action of Moorthy makes him out to be a parody of Gandhi.

Rangamma, a respectable and wise woman of Kanthapura, speaks of Moorthy the

good, Moorhty the religious, and Moorthy the noble. At the time of the convening of
the Congress Committee in the village, Range Gowda equates Moorthy with Gandhi,
and everybody present laughs. Range Gowda admonishes them :

'There is nothing to laugh at, brothers. He is our

Gandhi. The state of Mysore has a Maharaja, but
that Maharaja has another Maharaja who is in London
and that one has another one in Heaven, and so
everybody has his own Mahatma, and this Moorthy,
who.. .. is now grown up and great, and he has wisdom
in him and he will be'our Mahatma', and they all
said, 'So he is !' (109)

This is as good an interpretation of Moorthy's status in his own village community as

there could possibly be.

In the ultimate analysis, Moorthy proves to be a weak Gandhian when his nationalism
is transformed into Jawahar La1 Nehru's socialism. But he is a genuine son of the soil
who retains his simplicity and sincerity even after all the experience that he goes
through. The state of his mind may be compared to that of the common Indian before
freedom. The happenings in Kanthapura are centred round the personality of
Moorthy, and his mental growth parallels the transformation of Kanthapura from a
sleepy village to a hotbed of active satyagraha. Following the basic Gandhian
ideology, Moorhty avoids a direct confrontation with non-belief and criticism.
Moorthy tries to preach the Gandhian precept of universal love, which ought to
include one's enemies too. But Range Gowda, the strong man of Kanthapura, rejects
the Gandhian ethic of love, which, according to him, is meant only for the superior
human beings, not for the common people. Moorthy makes no attempt to counter
Range Gowda's criticism, but, at the same time, accepts his help in spite of his lack
of faith in Gandhi. One might as well conclude with Esha Dey :

In the final criticism of Gandhi and his pact

with M n which necessitates the withdrawal
of the agitation that wipes out Kanthapura, Moorthy's
bitterness echoes the frustration actually felt by a
Kanthapura Moorthy admits to as much in the letter that he writes to Rafrra from priwn. (256)

Kaitthapura is one of the best Gandhian novels in English. Its hero, Moorthy,
represents in theory and practice the ~kndhianprinciples of Ahimsn and Sgty)'~l,o~.ah~
Accordingly, as we said before, he is somewhat an idealized characier. S.C. Iiarrex
rightly points out

Moorthy is a y m g Brahmin and former student,

and is indepe~dent-mindedwith respect to marriage;
he becomes leader of the vilSage Congress (l~mri.ttee
and is excommunicated from the Brahin Rrotherh~od
for putting in practice Gandhi's iil.,totehi+blepolicy. Moorthy
bef5ind.s the local Pariahs, mixes with them, and works
for their educational advancement. He treats them as
equds in the political struggle and fights for their
social and economic rights as human beings. T~leeffect
on his orthodox mother of his excommunication -- she
dies of shame and guilt - is indicative of t k mmoral
intensity with which EIindu communal mores arc
felt and practised by its orthodox members.5

With reference to Moorhty's speech on Ahimsa and Savagraha that he makes to &e
villagers after Mahatma Gandhi's arrest. Harrex writes,
If Kanthapura has a message, it is this. And in
Moorthy's speech Raja Rao captures the profound
spirit, the gentle firmness, the oratory of the heart
in plain speech and homely understanding, which
Gandhi's public person epitomiseda6

Though Moorthy 1s the central figure of Kanahapui.{l, among the other characters,
women have an equal role to play with their male counterparts. Again, since the
narrator is Achakka, we get to know t ! story
~ of the various happenings in and
around Kanthapura, more from the p i n t of view of women than from that of men.
The women take a prominent part in all the rc:igious gatherings and prayer rneet~ngs,
and also in the polltical activities, They take care of the households, feed the men.
and look after the children. At the sans time, thqy &rethe ones \x ho are interested it1
maintaining the rituals and traditions. Jayaramazbav' s spec-?el1'/( ' t r k t h a about
Mahatma Ghandi fires their ~ranag~nation to such an extent that they willangly becw~nc
active volunteers in the Satyamha Movement led by Mc~orthy.
The river ha& is the regular meeting place of the village women, and they gar'ner
there every morning. Besides attendmg to their bathag and washing, they aIco gpt a
chance to exchange gossip and news of the latest happenings. Waterfail Vcmk~mma
has a vicious tongue, and she enjoys using it against everybody else. Shc is
parhcularly vociferous against Moorhty and his mother, Narsamma, for the fclm.t.r's
mix~ngwith the pariahs. But, in her heart of hearts, Venkamma is not so v e v Gad, IT
one day she quarrels with Narsamma, the next day she makes it up :
And when Narsamma saw her at the river ilie
next day, Venkamma was as jolly as ever and
she said she had a bad tongue and thzt one dzy
she would ask Carpenter Kerrchaqya tn saw ~t
out, ..., and they all talked together happily
and they came back home, t3eir baskets on their
 Among the nobler women of the viilage there are Rangamma and Ratna. Both of Characters
them Sght shoulder to shoulder with Moorthy, Range Gowda and others against the
British oppression. When the Congress Committee is formed in the village, Moorthy
says they need a woman 01; the Con~rnitteebecause the Congress is for the weak and
the lowly. Everybody's choice is Rangamrna, and she accepts the responsibility
relusrantly on popular demand. Later, \vhen Moorthy is arrested and taken away,
Rangamma comes to ?he f~refrontand arranges for newspapers to be delivered from
the city so that the villagers remain informed about the activities of the Congress in
the rest of the country. When the news comes that Moorthy has been released and
will return to his village, Rangamma organizes proper welcome for him. She also
f c m s a special group s f the women volunteers, and names it 'Sevika Sangha', for
their aim is to serve the community. Thq men of the village arc not very keen for the
Sevika Sangha since they feel that the wornen will neg1ec.t them and the household
affairs by remaining too busy,in their political and social activities. But this does not
discollrage the women led by Rangamma from continuing on their chosen path.
When she too is arrested, Ratna takes over the mantle of leadership from her.

' During all the encounters with the police, the women of Kanthapum do not stay at
home. but join the men in their defiant protest marches. They get beaten up with
lathis and suffer broken bones, yet they do not give up the struggle. Ultimately, most
of the houses in Kanthapura are destroyed and the village is reduced to rubble. Some
of the men perish and others leave their homes to find shelter elsewher;, ?he women
too ieave *fiepeople of Kashipura, a neiglioouring village welcome them. Achakka
proudly says :

They hung garlands on our necks, and

cailed us the pilgrims o f the Mahatma. (253)

5.5 SOME-OF
-
THE OTHER CHARACTERS

Apart from Moorthy and the women characters, there are a few men who bear special
mention from among the main figures of Kanthapura. They are Range Gowda,
Bhatta and Bade khan. Pate1 Range Gowda is a Sudra, and has a prosperous nine -
beamed house in the Sudra quarter of the village. He is a big, sturdy man, a veritable
tiger among the villagers. With his tongue, his hand and his bnin, he has amassed
solid gold in his coffers and solid gold on his arms. His three daughters live with him
and his sons-in-law work with him though they own as much land as he does. His
words are the law in the village. villagers believe if the Patel says it, 'even a
cocotlut - leaf roof will become a gold roof.' (14). Range Gowda is an honest man,
and he helps poor peasants. ? l e villagers respect him all the more since he is a terror
to the authorities. It is not for nothing that he is known as the Tiger. When Bade
Khan, the policeman, comes to the village for the first time. he goes to Range Gowda
to ask for accomodation to live in but the Pate1 does not oblige him. On the other
hand, he is one of the first volunteers to join Moonny's struggle against the
authorities. At the end of the novel, it is he who brings the final news of the
transformation of Kanthapura. He tells Achakka.

I drank three handfuls of Himavathy water, . ...:

and I turned away. But to tell you the truth,
Mother, my heart it beat like a drum. (258)

Whatfa is a scholarly Brahmin, well-versed in the reiigious lore of Hinduism. Wealthy

and possessing vast lands, he does not how what it is to be hnd and charitable
toward others, He rs a money - lender, and when some poor wretch fails to repay his
debt, Bhatta quietly acquires his fields to add to his own blg estate. Blinded by
orthodoxy and tradition, he does not see any good in the winds of change that come
to Kanthapura with the Gandhian revolution started by Moorthy. Bhatta conspires
against Moorthy and has him excommunicated from the Brahmin community for his
Pariah leanings. The villagers fear him but do not respect him as they respect Patel
Range Gowda. Towards the end, Bhatta sells his lands in the village and goes to live
his last days at Kashi.

Bade Khan, a typical policeman under the British regime is evil incarnate. Corrupt,
cruel and ruthless, he has no human qualities. Jayaramachar is not allowed by the
authorities to return to Kanthapura after he narrates the Harikatha about Mahatma
Gandhi. Two days later, Bade Khan comes to live in the village. When Range Gowda
declines to provide a house for him, he swears to punish him and the other villagers.
He goes off to the Skeffington Coffee Estate, where he is alloted a hut to live in.
From that day, he misses no opportunity to torment the villagers for rising to the call
of Mahatma Gandhi. Bade Khan and his fellow policemen terrorize the people of
Kanthapura and end up with destroying the village. But they are not able to suppress
the patriotic spirit of the people, which remains burning in them wherever they go.
Bade Khan is presented by Raja Rao as an example of how low a person in authority
can fall once he is given unbridled power to deal with people as badly as he can. He
is a virtual rahhas of the British (Ravana), and has no rival to the title of the chief
villain in Kanthapura. Bade Khan is a symbol of the British tyranny over the helpless
masses.of India. The British colonisers willingly made use of the services of native
people like him to enslave the Indians.

5.6 LET US SUM UP

The story in Kanthapura is narrated by Achakka, a grandmother of the village. All

the characters that figure in the novel are projected from her point of view. She has
her own special way of looking at men and women of the village, and if the author
has any comments to make on individual characters, he puts them in Achakka's
mouth. The figures in Kanthapura are mostly simple-minded and unsophisticated
villagers who look at the new winds of change that come to their village with a sense
of surprise and suspicion.

Kanthapura is all about the life of a small village community. The leader of this
community is Moorthy, a shadow of Mahatma Gandhi who inspires him to teach the
villagers the path of satyagraha and non-violence. Moorthy is a self-sacrificing young
man with no personal ambition. Without any distinction of caste and class, he cares
for all the villagers, and tries to help them in whatever ways he can. In spite of being
a high caste Brahmin, he mingles with the untouchables and sympathizes with them
in every way. Moorthy is good, religious - minded and noble, and the villagers regard
him as their Mahatma;

Women have an equal role to play in Kanthapura along with their male counterparts.
In actual [act, they are more active in their social and political roles while looking
after the children and the households. Apart from Achakka, three other women have
some prominence over the others; they are Rangamma, Ratna and Venkamma. The
first two are good Gandhians and they'organize the Sevika Sangha in the village,
when Moorthy and some of his associates are imprisoned. They also lead the women
in protest marches. Venkamma has a vicious tongue, but she is not really bad at heart.
The three men of prominence after Moorthy are Range Gowda, Bhatta and Bade
Khan. Range Gowda is a noble and well - to - do Sudra of the village, who acts as the
Pate1 for collecting the taxes. He does not think well of Bhatta and Bade Khan, who
are two of the bad characters in the novel. Bhatta is a learned Brahmin, possessing
vast lands, and he lends money in order to grab the fields of the poor and needy. He is
 opposed to the Gandhian revolution. Bade Khan is a ruthless policeman posted to the Characters
village to prevent the people from succeeding <n their satyagraha.

5.7 REFERENCES

1. Rao K.R. The Fiction of Raja Rao. Aurangabad: Parimal Prakashan, 1980.
p.62.
2. Ibid., p.64.
3. Paranjape M. The Best of Raja Rao. New Delhi: Katha, 1998. p.ix.
4. Dey Esha The Novels of Raja Rao. Prestige, 1992. p.3 1.
5. Harrex S.C. The Fire and the Offering: The English-language Novel of India
1935-1970, Vol. 11. Calcutta: Writers Workshop, 1978. p. 160.
6. Ibid., p.161.

5.8 GLOSSARY

Dichotomy: Division into two parts

Chivalry : Courtesy and bravery
Cupidity: Greed and covetousness
Banal: Commonplace, trivial
Dubious: Doubtful, undetermined
Charismatic: Graceful and attractive
Ethic: Morality; (in this case love for all)
Vociferous: Making a loud noise
Segregation: Grouping apart, separating

5.9 QUESTIONS

1. How would you assess Raja Rao's art of characterization in Kanthapura?

2. What are those qualities that go into the making of Moorthy, the central
figure in Kantltnpura?
3. What do you think of the women characters in Kanthapura, and what is their
role in the action of the novel?
4. Write a short essay on some of the male characters - other than Moorthy - in
Kanthapura.

5.10 SUGGESTED READINGS

I It is not necessary to go through all the books mentioned below. But, if possible and
if you have access to a well - equipped library, you would do well to have a look into
some of them.
1

I
Primaty Material
I Raja Rao: The Cow of the Barricades and Other Stories.
i Bombay : Oxford University Press, 1947.

The Serpent and the Rope. New Delhi : Hind Pocket

Books, 1968.
Kanthapura
Secondary Material

C.D. Narasimhaiah: Raja Rao. Delhi : Anlold-Heinemann, 1973

Esha Dey: The Noveis of Raja Rao. New Delhi : Prestige, 1992.

J.P. Sharma: Raja Rao :A C'i'sionaty in Indo-Anglian Fiction.

Meerut : Shalab. 1980.

K.K. Sharma, ed.: Perspectives on R ~ j uRao. Ghaziabad : Vimal

Prakashan, 1980.

K.R. Rao: . The Fiction o J ' R ~ j Rao.

a Aurzngabad : Parimal
Prakashan, 1980.

K.RS. Iyengar: Indian Wriring in Er~glish.New Delhi : Sterling,

1985.

Makarand Paranjape: The Best ofRuja Ruo. New Delhi: Katha, 1998.

M.K. Naik: Raja Rao. New York : Twayne, 1972.

Meenakshi Mukherjee: The Twice-Born Fiction. New Delhi : He'memanil

Educational Boo'ks, 1971.

P.C. Bhattacharya: Indo-Anglinn titerntzlve and the Works of Rajii Rim.

Delhi: Atma Ram and Sons, 1983.

Raja Rao: A Study of His Novels. New Delhi: ,

Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, 1991.

S.C. Harrex: The Fire and the Clfiiring : The English-kavrguagc

hovel of Inilia 1935-1970, Vol. 11. Calcutta : Writers
Workshop, 197 8 ,