Question: Comment On The Use of Irony and Humour in R.K. Narayan's Swami and Friends. Answer: Childhood Means Simplicity. It Is Carefree. Playing in

Question: Comment on the use of irony and humour in
R.K. Narayan’s Swami and Friends.
Answer: Childhood means simplicity. It is carefree. Playing in

the sun, with naked feet running over green grass without
carrying weights on shoulders, a child’s life is the most
euphoric times of one’s life. It is envied by all adults who miss
living outside the constraints of their new monotonous lives.
One even craves to re-live his or her childhood memories once
again. R.K. Narayan’s Swami and Friends brings out a story of a
ten year old boy, Swaminathan, who is prone to all typicality of
a child’s behaviour. He, at his youthful age, is not yet fully
equipped to understand the practicalities of a world that
surrounds him. He only seeks fun which he gathers by
participating in mischief with his friends. The humour can be
described as the straightforward and the combination of
innocence mixed with the desire to be taken more seriously. In
many ways, the main character Swami thinks and acts like a
small adult, trapped in a child's body. Swami's fears and
anxieties in contrast to the so-called real stress of adulthood
create a universal laughter. He is fascinated by toys,
daydreams in class, disdains schoolwork, and hence is so
relatable to all readers of the novel because it creates nostalgia
of having being engaged in similar activities. This relativity with
the protagonist and the other characters of the story is what
makes this piece of Narayan’s work so lovable. The reader is
not laughing at Swami or his circumstances, but laughing for
him, from a place of understanding and delight. But one does
not realise how difficult and complex can a life of a child get. At
a first glance, Swami is viewed as a young playful boy who has
enormous amount of fun with his friends Somu, Mani, Sankar
and Samuel, ‘the four that he liked and admired the most in his
class’ (Narayan, ’Swami and Friends’, 6). His everyday is a new
ravishing episode of a comic that entertains any follower of his.
Swami’s life takes a dramatic turn when Rajam, the
Superintendent’s son, comes into picture. Swami thinks of
Rajam being a sophisticated and supreme fellow and tries hard
to earn his friendship by constantly impressing him at every
chance he receives. He perceives Rajam to be of high
standards and fails to behold his flaws of neither being
affectionate, loyal nor faithful. He distances himself with his
other friends who also begin calling him ‘Rajam’s Tail’ and
quarrels with them without realising how weak their friendship
has grown. Swami also takes his parents and granny for
granted. On getting to know Rajam will be at his place, Swami
requests his father’s room to receive him, asks his mother to
prepare nice food, orders the cook to wear a clean lungi and
also tells his granny, ‘...when he is with me you must not call
me or come to my room...fact is, you are – well, you are old...’
(Narayan, ’Swami and Friends’, 41) Swami places Rajam on the
top of his priority list. After he impulsively joins a rebellion
against the Biritish, he breaks windowpanes and is transferred
to another school and misses the cricket drills because of
excessive homework in the new school which displeases Rajam
who forced Swami into participating in the team. At this point of
time, in a moment of desperation he runs away both from
school and home. When he returns home, learns that he had
indeed missed the cricket match, and discovers that Rajam
stubbornly refuses to see him after this. Friendship at that age
is nothing more than peer pressure and this is a fact that
Swami cannot fathom. School is a place where life is tough.
Constant pressure from all directions finally tells on Swami and
he bends. The irony lies in the fact that he brings two worlds
together merely to gain attention of a new friend, for whom he
becomes inconsiderate of his old friends and family, and that
one friend doesn’t even forgive him. Also, the bigger irony is
that a child’s life is not as easy as one assumes it to be.
Bibliography
 Links :
1. http://harishankar.org/reviews/Fiction/Swami-and-Friends-
by-R-K-Narayan.html
2. https://wmich.edu/dialogues/texts/swamiandfriends.htm
3. http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/comment-rk-
narayans-humour-novel-swami-friends-291378
 Books :
1. Swami and Friends by R.K. Narayan, Published by

Indian Thoughts Publication
Submission by:
Harshita Mehta

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R.K. Narayan’s Swami and Friends.

Answer: Childhood means simplicity. It is carefree. Playing in

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