Questions and Answers for The Vendor of Sweets
The Vendor of Sweets
Vendor Of Sweets Chapter 1 Summary
The chapter opens with the 55-year-old Jagan telling his cousin, initially referred to as the listener, that "Conquer taste, and you have conquered self." He is telling his cousin how he has given...
The Vendor of Sweets
What is a summary for chapter two of The Vendor of Sweets?
Chapter two of “Vendor of Sweets” starts with Jagan walking back home from his sweet shop. He passes by the Krishna dispensary and observes that the doctor is still busy with a patient. The lights...
The Vendor of Sweets
What is the relationship of the son and the father in The Vendor of Sweets?
The relationship between the Jagan and Mali in The Vendor of Sweets is not a very strong one. Part of the reason for this is cultural. Jagan represents the traditionalist values of Indian...
The Vendor of Sweets
Character sketch of Grace in Vendor of Sweets.
Grace is Jagan's half-American and half-Korean daughter-in-law. She tries very hard to assimilate to Indian culture and to have a good relationship with her father-in-law, Jagan. One of the first...
The Vendor of Sweets
What is the summary of chapter 6 in The Vendor of Sweets?
In The Vendor of Sweets, author R. K. Narayan brings readers back to the community of Malgudi to examine themes of tradition, modernization, and family in post-independence India. Jagan, a former...
The Vendor of Sweets
How is the cousin is presented in the book The Vendor of Sweets?
In The Vendor of Sweets, the unemployed cousin is presented as a bit of a economically unambitious individual who contributes positively to the lives of the other characters through his emotional...
The Vendor of Sweets
Explain how the theme of "tradition verses modernity" is presented in The Vendor of Sweets.
The collision between tradition and modernity can be seen in the opposition of Jagan and Mali. I think that it's clear that Mali represents the more modern approach to things. He is more inclined...
The Vendor of Sweets
In The Vendor of Sweets, the relationship between the father and the son seems not to be all right. What could be...
I think that though the strained relationship between Jagan and Mali—the father and son at the heart of R. K. Narayan’s The Vendor of Sweets (1967)—is a result of clashing personalities and value...
The Vendor of Sweets
Summarize chapter 3 of The Vendor of Sweets.
Chapter 3 of The Vendor of Sweets starts with a conversation between Jagan and his son, Mali, at the breakfast table. Mali has decided that he does not want to study anymore, and the very thought...
The Vendor of Sweets
Who is Ambika in The Vendor of Sweets?
The Vendor of Sweets deals with the tensions of modernization in India playing out through the tensions between Jagan and his son Mali. Ambika died long ago from a brain tumor. Her death, it's...
The Vendor of Sweets
Describe the theme of marriage in The Vendor of Sweets.
The Vendor of Sweets is, in many ways, a story about the ways that marriages are built to tie up two people's autonomy together and ultimately to give husbands power and control over their wives....
The Vendor of Sweets
What aspects of Jagan's lifestyle paves the way for the conflict between him and his son, Mali, in the novel The...
The Vendor of Sweets by R. K. Narayan explores generational conflict in the setting of the author’s fictional town of Malgudi in southern India. The novel features a traditional father and his...
The Vendor of Sweets
What are the narrative techniques used in The Vendor of Sweets?
In The Vendor of Sweets, R. K. Narayan primarily uses third-person point of view. The narrator speaks mainly from Jagan’s perspective, and includes long passages in quotation marks that present...
The Vendor of Sweets
Describe the conflict between two cultures in The Vendor of Sweets by R. K. Narayan.
The Vendor of Sweets is a 1967 novel written by Indian writer R. K. Narayan. The book is, essentially, a fictional biographical tale of an Indian man named Jagan who works as a vendor of sweets in...
The Vendor of Sweets
To what extent is Jagan behaving like a true follower of Gandhi?
Jagan is a passive, tolerant man. He lives his life according to the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. He is a pacifist, with a deep-seated aversion to violence and confrontation. In keeping with the...
The Vendor of Sweets
Explain the theme of order and disorder in "Vendor OF Sweets"?
The theme of order/disorder is closely related to that of the clash of generations, and of East versus West. Through hard work over many years, Jagan has built himself a nice little business. He...
The Vendor of Sweets
Describe the character of cousin deeply.
Written by R. K. Narayan in 1967, The Vendor of Sweets is a novel that tells the story of Jagan, a fifty-five-year-old sweet vendor in the fictional town of Malgudi, India. The story centers on...
The Vendor of Sweets
How can I analyze Narayan's The Vendor of Sweets as postcolonial writing?
While R. K. Narayan focuses on one family two decades after India’s liberation from British rule, he uses their case to make larger statements about the ongoing impact of colonialism. Narayan makes...
The Vendor of Sweets
How does The Vendor of Sweets represent a profile of Indian society?
The Vendor of Sweets shows us a society that is in the process of transition. In urban areas of India, some of the old certainties are being undermined by rapid economic change. Traditional family...
The Vendor of Sweets
Describe the white-bearded man in chapter 7 of The Vendor of Sweets.
The man with the white beard is a friend of men that Jagan knows. At first, he thinks the man is someone's brother. The white-bearded man appears with his friends to ask why Jagan has lowered the...
The Vendor of Sweets
What is the message of the story The Vendor of Sweets?
The question of what we consider "the message" of a novel such as The Vendor of Sweets is a question of interpretation, and there are many possible answers. A central theme in the novel is the...
The Vendor of Sweets
Can you describe the relationship Mali had with Grace in The Vendor of Sweets?
In his relationship with Grace, Mali wants to have the best of both worlds. On the one hand, he wants a Western girlfriend that he can show off as a trophy. On the other, he wants someone who will...
The Vendor of Sweets
Is there a consistency between Jagan's words and deeds in The Vendor of Sweets by R. K. Narayan?
In The Vendor of Sweets by R. K. Narayan, readers learn that Jagan used to be an activist in Gandhi's satyagraha movement. So someone would expect him to adhere to certain spiritual principles and...
The Vendor of Sweets
Who are the main characters of this book?
I think that there are a couple of characters towards whom immediate attention has to be paid in understanding Narayan's novel. The first would be Jagan, who is the "vendor of sweets." His role...
The Vendor of Sweets
How did Jagan feel about Grace in The Vender of Sweets?
Jagan's first impression of Grace was not entirely positive, but by the end of the novel, he's softened toward her and helps her have an option to leave and go home. When Jagan's son, Mali, comes...
The Vendor of Sweets
Why is The Vendor of Sweets written in the third person?
The choice of point of view is an important decision for any author as they craft a story, because it influences the reader's perception of the characters and interpretation of the plot. In his...
The Vendor of Sweets
Whose life in the novel consider the most successful, Mali or Jagan? Why?
This question highlights the central conflict and competing value systems between father and son in the 1967 novel The Vendor of Sweets by R. K. Narayan. Jagan and Mali present two models of a...
The Vendor of Sweets
How is marriage presented in the novel The Vendor of Sweets?
The Vendor of Sweets is very much a piece of writing where the theme and concept of marriage plays a central role. This piece of writing cleverly shows both modern and traditional views of...
The Vendor of Sweets
How does Jagan show interest in his son's activity in The Vendor of Sweets?
Jagan has a very funny way of showing interest in Mali's (criminal) activity. He prepares to enter into the last stage of his life, putting his business affairs in order before finally disengaging...