Culture as a Remedy: in R. K. Narayan's The English Teacher

Abstract

R.K. Narayan's The English Teacher examines the cultural importance with the context to colonialism in India through the character Krishna, deployed in the English Teacher. An educated and culturally conscious Krishna follows western way of life. Krishna studies and teaches English in Albert Mission College run by westerners, from where, he gets material succession and fulfills material desires. When he realizes that, only the material succession is not the source of inner peace, happiness and cultural dignity. Realizing this fact Krishna abandons western life, resigning from his highly paid job at Albert Mission College and joins hands with New Children's School headmaster aiming to begin to preserve Indian culture through the new education system in India. While being lecturer at Albert Missing College Krishna experienced cultural domination by his boss Mr. Brown, for not being able to teach correct pronunciation to students. Pronouncing a word wrongly is not the big sin for Krishna but he takes this issue as a cultural hegemony of westerners over Indians. Krishna believes that the education system must be creative but it should not like swallowing and vomiting system, which he followed at Albert Mission College. After experiencing humiliation and domination from colonizers, Krishna realizes that western culture as the root cause of despair and dismay in his life as Stuart Hall believes on "culture brings change in the human situation". Ultimately, Krishna's decision to quite from Albert Mission College and join local school is returning from western culture to his original culture, which works in his life as a remedy, providing him happiness and Shanti. Key words: Cultural remedy, colonization, root culture, cultural hegemony, alienation, individualism, spiritualism, inferiority complex