SHORT SUMMARY

A young boy named Swami wakes up on Monday morning in the town of Malgudi in
South India. He rushes through his homework at his desk in his father’s room and then
goes to the Mission School, where he is bored throughout most of his classes. Swami
gets a bad grade on his mathematics homework and then, in his scripture class, gets
into an argument with his teacher Mr. Ebenezar, a Christian fanatic. Swami is offended
at his teacher’s dismissal of the value of Hinduism and arrives at school the next day
carrying a letter from his father to the Mission School Headmaster, in which his father
complains to the headmaster that the school does not welcome non-Christian boys.

Swami tells his four closest friends about the letter. These boys are Somu, the friendly
class monitor; Mani, a powerful but lazy bully; Sankar, “the most brilliant boy of the
class”; and a small boy named Samuel, nicknamed “The Pea,” who is not remarkable in
any way except that he makes Swami laugh more than anyone else. Later in the day,
the headmaster scolds Ebenezar but also tells Swami not to report incidents to his
father in the future, saying that the boys should instead turn to the headmaster with
any problems.

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On the subsequent evening, Swami and Mani sit on the banks of the Sarayu river,
discussing a classmate named Rajam who Mani wishes to throw into the river. It
becomes clear that Rajam is known in school as a kind of rival to Mani, due to his
fearlessness, intelligence, and wealth. Rajam’s father is also the Police
Superintendent. Swami insists that he supports Mani more than anyone else, and
when they return to school Swami begins acting as a go-between for the two rivals.
Eventually, they decide to meet for a fight on the banks of the river to see who is more
powerful. But when the time for the fight comes, Rajam suggests that they put aside
their differences and become friends, to which Mani happily agrees. Having always
admired Rajam, Swami is also delighted at this turn of events and glad to be the friend
of both powerful boys.

The reader is introduced to Swami’s grandmother, whom he calls Granny. She lives
with Swami’s family in a small passageway, and Swami feels safe and secure in her
company. Swami excitedly describes Rajam to Granny and, although she tries to tell
him stories of his own grandfather’s similarly impressive accomplishments, Swami
refuses to listen. On a Saturday shortly thereafter, Swami ignores his grandmother’s
requests to spend time with him and instead goes with Mani to Rajam’s house, where
they are impressed by his luxurious home, numerous toys, and the delicious food his
cook serves.

Back at school, Swami runs into his three friends Somu, Sankar, and The Pea.
However, they are unfriendly to him and make a joke about a “tail.” After school,
Swami makes Somu tell him about their joke, which it turns out refers to their calling
him “Rajam’s tail” because they believe Swami now thinks himself too good for his old
friends. The rejection by his friends is the “first shock” of Swami’s life, and he reflects
miserably on how quickly people can change. At home, he makes a paper boat and
puts an ant on it, then watches as the boat is consumed in a flood of water. As the
days continue, Swami’s friends continue to ignore him, and school becomes an
increasingly painful experience.

On another Saturday, Swami excitedly prepares for Rajam to visit his house. He
anxiously orders his father, mother, grandmother, and cook through various
preparations. The visit goes well, and Rajam even charms Granny with his stories. The
next time Swami attends school, he is again faced by his old friends mocking him, and
he slaps both the Pea and Sankar. Joined by Somu and Mani, the group goes outside,
and Swami explains to Mani that the other three call him Rajam’s tail. Mani defends
Rajam and fights with Somu until the other boys get the headmaster to break up the
fight.

Three weeks later, Swami and Mani go to Rajam’s house again, this time because
Swami told them he had a surprise for them. When they arrive, they jokingly pretend
to be a blind puppy and a blind kitten to get Rajam to let them in, only to discover
when they open their eyes that Somu, Sankar, and the Pea are also present. Rajam
serves the group food and then lectures them all on the value of friendship, offering
them each a gift if they promise not to be enemies any more. One by one, each boy
accepts his gift.

At Swami’s home, his mother has been in bed for two days and seems confusingly
changed to him. Granny tells him that he is going to have a baby brother, but he is
indifferent even when the baby is born, telling the Pea that the baby is “hardly
anything.” The Pea assures him that the baby will grow up quickly.

In April, Swami and his classmates have only two weeks before their school exams.
Swami’s father forces him to study constantly, and all of his friends are also unhappy
under the stress of studying. Swami only feels that his efforts are worthwhile when his
father compliments his work. Shortly before the exam, Swami makes a list of supplies
that he needs and, disappointed that “his wants were so few,” he makes a more
complicated list and brings it to his father. His father scolds him and refuses to give
him money to buy supplies, instead telling him to take supplies from their desk at
home.

At last, Swami’s final exam is over. He worries that he finished faster than his friends
and did not write enough for one question, but his worry quickly turns to excitement as
the other students finish and form a joyful crowd to celebrate the end of school. The
group of boys destroys paper and ink bottles, creating happy chaos until a school
administrator breaks up their celebration.

Without school in session, Swami realizes that he is closer friends with Mani and
Rajam than with Somu, Sankar, and the Pea. He also wishes to get a hoop to play with,
and gives some money to a coachman who promises to get him one, only to realize
that the coachman tricked him. Rajam forms a plan in which Mani will kidnap
the coachman’s son as revenge, but the plan goes awry when the boy gets away and
his neighbors attack Mani and Swami to chase them away. Sitting on a road outside
town and feeling frustrated, the three friends accost a young cart boy
named Karuppan, frightening him with claims that they are the Government Police
before eventually letting him go.

Soon thereafter, Swami’s father begins making him study again even though school is
out. Feeling sorry for Swami after a long day of work, however, his father also brings
him along to visit his club in the evening. Swami enjoys the visit until he realizes that
the coachman’s son works at the club. He becomes increasingly fearful that the boy
will attack him, not even trusting his father to protect him, and cannot relax until they
leave.

In August, Swami and Mani find themselves in the midst of a protest for Indian
independence. Moved by the speakers, Swami and Mani swear to support India against
England and boycott English goods, with Swami even burning his cap when someone
suggests that it’s foreign-made. The next day, Swami is nervous about not wearing a
cap to school, but finds a crowd of protesters blocking entrance to his school. The
group says that school is canceled due to the imprisonment of an Indian political
worker, and Swami gets caught up in breaking windows and destroying property at
both the Mission School and the nearby Board School. Eventually, the protest moves to
a square in town, where Swami sees Rajam’s father order his policemen to violently
disperse the crowd, a sight that shocks and frightens Swami. Later, his father
expresses sympathy for the protesters but scolds Swami for losing his cap, saying it
was made in India all along. The next day in school, the headmaster punishes all of the
students who participated in the protest and Swami angrily runs away in the middle of
class.

Six weeks later, Rajam finds Swami to tell him that he forgives his political activity and
to invite him to form a cricket team. Swami has transferred to the Board School, while
his group of friends back at the Mission School has broken up: Somu was held back,
Sankar moved away, and the Pea started school late. Swami agrees to join the cricket
team, and he and Rajam call themselves the M.C.C. With Mani, they write a letter to a
sporting goods company ordering supplies. Although the company writes back asking
for a deposit, the boys continue believing that their supplies will arrive and begin
practicing with improvised equipment in the meantime. Swami quickly reveals himself
to be a good bowler and earns the nickname Tate, after a famous bowler.

Swami discovers that the workload at the Board School is heavier than he is used to
and also that it requires him to participate in daily afterschool drill practices.
Consequently, Swami leaves school too late to attend cricket practice on time, which
makes Rajam angry. One evening, Swami is concerned about his grandmother, whom
he ignored earlier in the day when she said she didn’t feel well. He is relieved to find
that she is well, but she disappoints him when she does not know what cricket is.
However, Swami decides to educate her rather than scolding her. When Swami
continues to be late to practice, Rajam decides to confront the Board School
Headmaster and convince him to let Swami leave school early. Although Swami
protests, he insists, and leads Swami to the headmaster’s office. The headmaster
ignores their request and Rajam eventually gives up his effort.

The M.C.C. schedules a cricket match against another local team, but Swami is still not
able to get enough practice time. With only a week left before the match, he decides to
try and get a pass from a physician named Dr. Kesavan. Dr. Kesavan proclaims Swami
healthy but agrees to tell his headmaster that Swami should get to miss drill practice.
Delighted, Swami skips drill practice every day to attend cricket, only to find at the end
of the week that the doctor never spoke to the headmaster. The headmaster threatens
to cane Swami, but Swami throws the cane out the window and runs away. Swami
fears that his father will be too angry to let him live at home without attending school,
so he decides to run away. He goes to the Mission School and, after reminiscing about
how much he loved being a student there, he finds Rajam to say goodbye. However,
Rajam convinces Swami to run away only briefly before participating in the match and
then leaving for good.
The narration’s perspective switches to Swami’s father, who wanders the town alone
late at night, looking for Swami. Swami has not been seen for hours and his mother
and grandmother are sick with worry, with his father growing anxious as well. After
looking everywhere else he can think of, Swami’s father fearfully peers into the Sarayu
to see if Swami has drowned. Not finding him, he continues to walk along the rail lines.

The narration returns to Swami, who is wandering on a quiet road far from home. He
reflects that he was foolish to leave over such a trivial problem and wishes to be back
home with his family. He decides to return home but unwittingly goes the wrong way,
becoming more and more lost until he at last begins to hallucinate in despair, thinking
that he is being attacked by animals. He falls unconscious after a fantasy of winning
the cricket match. The next morning, a cart man named Ranga finds Swami in the road
and takes him to the District Forest Office, where an officer named Mr. Nair helps
Swami figure out who he is and where he is from. Soon, Swami’s father takes him
home with the assistance of Rajam’s father, where he is content to celebrate among
his family until Mani arrives and informs him that he has missed the cricket match.
Having thought that the match was the next day, Swami is devastated. Mani also says
that Rajam is furious, so Swami resolves to speak with Rajam the next day and repair
their friendship.

Ten days later, Swami still has not spoken with Rajam due to fear of his reaction.
However, he has learned that Rajam’s father has been transferred and the family is
about to move away. Swami searches his possessions for a going-away present for
Rajam, settling on a book of fairy tales, and resolves to go to the train station in the
morning to give it to Rajam. Swami goes to the station but is again too intimidated to
talk to Rajam, who gets on the train without saying goodbye. Panicking, Swami asks
Mani for help and the two boys run alongside the train, finally giving Rajam the book.
Rajam seems to say something to Swami, but his words are lost under the noise of the
train. Mani tells Swami that Rajam has his address and will write, but Swami is unsure
if Mani is telling the truth.
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Intro

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Chapter 1

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Swami and Friends Characters

Swami
Swami is the ten-year-old protagonist of the novel. Swami is a schoolboy living in 1930, in the

fictional town of Malgudi in the South of India under British colonial rule. At the start of the

novel, Swami is a typical child who seems outwardly innocent, with only trivial concerns such

as homework, impressing his classmates, and avoiding disappointing his father. Swami is

considered average among his friends, neither especially clever nor stupid, brave nor cowardly.

He is generally good-natured and gets along well with his peers and family, although he can

be arrogant or deceitful at times, and is easily swept up in the plans and enthusiasms of

others. As the novel progresses, Swami becomes more aware of his own identity and political

consciousness and begins to define himself more in terms of his friendships and national

identity than his family relationships. Swami is also a naturally good cricket bowler and prides

himself on being nicknamed “Tate,” after a famous cricket player.

Rajam
Rajam is the son of the Police Superintendent and one of Swami’s closest friends. Rajam is

new to Swami’s school at the start of the novel, and initially Swami and Mani view him as an

enemy due to his quick wits, fine clothes, and fearless nature. However, Rajam quickly
becomes friends with Rajam and Swami and acts as their ringleader for the remainder of the

novel. Rajam does well in school and is liked by most of his classmates, and he draws

confidence from his father’s prominent position (Rajam’s father is the Police Superintendent),

although it also causes him to oppose the political activity that his friends support. Rajam

sometimes bullies his friends and acquaintances, but more often he unites them and urges

them toward new goals, most notably the formation of a cricket team. Swami loves and

admires Rajam but comes into conflict with him, first because Swami supports political action

that opposes Rajam’s father, and later because he doesn’t live up to his promise on Rajam’s

cricket team. Rajam is so angry at Swami for missing the cricket match that he stops speaking

to him, and it is unclear at the novel’s end whether the two friends have reconciled.

Mani
Known as “the Mighty Good-For-Nothing,” Mani is Swami’s other closest friend. Mani is a

fearless troublemaker who never does his homework, sleeps in class, and frequently resorts to

violence to solve his problems. However, he is also a loyal and affectionate friend, and Swami

is proud to be allied with him. Mani often plays a supporting role in Swami and Rajam’s

friendship, though at the end of the novel it is Mani, rather than Swami, who takes on the role

of Rajam’s best friend. Mani lives with a frightening uncle, but little else is known about his

family or background.

Swami’s FATHER
Swami’s father, W.T. Srinivasan, is an imposing figure who works at the courts and is usually

strict with Swami. Swami sometimes feels afraid of his father, but at other times he turns to

him for help and support. Swami’s father encourages Swami to study hard and helps him with

homework and, notably, provides Swami with a study space within his own room. Late in the
novel, Swami’s father reveals that his concern for Swami’s wellbeing outweighs his

frustrations with his son, as shown when he searches for Swami all night and welcomes him

home without punishment

Swami’s Mother.
Swami’s mother appears in the novel only occasionally, usually in the context of

providing Swami with something he wants or backing him up in an argument with his father.

She is presented as a mild woman who is mostly concerned with her family and managing the

household. She loves Swami deeply and also gives birth to a baby boy, Swami’s brother, who

occupies her attention for much of the novel.

Swami’s Grandmother / Granny

Swami’s paternal grandmother, whom he calls Granny, is an old woman who lives

with Swami and his mother and father. Swami views Granny as ancient and sometimes

embarrassing, but she is also a source of comfort and security during times of change,

particularly when Swami’s brother is born. Granny sometimes tries to tell Swami stories about

the family’s past, but he usually refuses to listen, indicating his preoccupation with his own

present concerns. Swami grows more concerned with Granny’s needs over the course of the

story, beginning to see himself as a caretaker for her and making more of an effort to meet her

needs.

Swami’s Brother
 Swami’s unnamed baby brother is born midway through the novel. While Swami at f
brother, he soon grows fond of him and admires how quickly he learns and grows. Sw
presents a unique challenge to Swami, in that he occupies the family’s attention and
is no longer the sole focus of his parents’ and grandmother’s affection.

Rajam’s Father
Rajam’s father is the Police Superintendent and acts as a powerful figure in the

community. Swami and Mani are initially very excited to be associated with the Police

Superintendent through their new friend Rajam, and Swami is impressed with the luxury of his

household. Later, Rajam’s father becomes a symbol of political conflict when Swami witnesses

him ordering the police force to violently break up the crowd of protesters. However, Rajam’s

father remains kind in person to Rajam and his friends, and plays an important role in rescuing

Swami at the novel’s conclusion.

Somu
Somu is one of Swami’s friends from the Mission School. He is the class monitor and gets

along well with everyone, students and teachers, although he does not excel academically.

Swami thinks of Somu as the “uncle of the class.” When Somu treats Swami unkindly, the

experience is one of the first times that Swami is forced to admit that the people around him

are more complex than he might have guessed. Later in the novel, Somu disappears from the

group of friends after failing an exam, and thus not being promoted to the next grade.
 Sankar
Sankar is one of Swami’s friends from the Mission School, known as “the most brilliant boy of

the class.” Swami admires Sankar’s intelligence and relies on him for guidance at school.

Sankar eventually leaves Malgudi when his father is transferred to a new town, and although

he writes to Rajam and his friends intend to reply, they fall out of touch after realizing that

they don’t have Sankar’s new address.

The Pea”
The Pea, whose real name is Samuel, is a small boy in Swami’s class at the Mission School.

Although Swami acknowledges that the Pea is ordinary in most ways, they become friends

over their shared sense of humor, and Swami can laugh with the Pea in a way that he cannot

with his other friends. Swami is less close with the Pea after changing schools, but the Pea still

joins the cricket team founded by Rajam. The Pea is also Swami’s only Christian friend,

although he does not speak up for his Christian beliefs in the conflict between Swami

and Ebenezar.

Mission School Headmaster

The Mission School Headmaster is a primary antagonist for Swami in the novel’s early

chapters. Although he confronts Ebenezar about his mistreatment of Swami, he also calls

Swami foolish for telling his father what happened in scripture class and asks Swami to rely

only on him in the future. Later, the headmaster’s intimidating interrogation of the students

who participated in the protest goads Swami into renouncing the Mission School and

ultimately transferring to the Board School. However, in comparison to the abhorrent Board
School Headmaster, Swami eventually comes to think of the Mission School Headmaster as

dignified and respectable.

Mr. Ebenezar
Mr. Ebenezar is the fanatical Christian scripture teacher at the Mission School.

Although Swami and his friends sometimes finds his classes amusing, he uses his lectures to

degrade Hinduism and argue for the superiority of Christianity. After Swami reports Ebenezar’s

behavior, the Mission School Headmaster scolds the teacher, but ultimately it seems that

Ebenezar is allowed to carry on teaching as before. Later, Ebenezar appears only as a benign

figure in the school crowd, one who Swami even comes to view fondly after his troubles at the

Board School.

Board School Headmaster

The Board School Headmaster is a strict, wizened old man who Swami thinks of as “owl-like.”

He is an imposing figure and frightens Swami, even preventing him from attending

the cricket practices he loves. But when Swami and Rajam go to confront the headmaster

about Swami’s schedule, they find him sleeping, indicating that his strength may be at least in

part a façade. The headmaster is ultimately responsible for Swami’s second departure from

school, when he publicly punishes Swami for missing drill practice.

The Coachman
The unnamed coachman is an acquaintance of Swami’s who promises to help him acquire a

toy hoop in exchange for money. He claims to be able to turn copper coins into silver, but it

becomes clear that he is lying to Swami in order to get his coins. The coachman’s son also
becomes a menacing presence to Swami after this episode. Swami’s experiences with the

coachman are an early example of his increasing acquaintance with the evils and dangers of

the world.

The Coachman’s SoN.

The coachman’s son is a young boy who begins to taunt and threaten Swami after his father

successfully scams Swami out of his money. Rajam forms a plan in which Mani will kidnap the

son with Swami’s help, but the plan goes awry when the son tricks Mani and runs away with

his toy top. Soon thereafter, Swami discovers during a visit to his father’s club that the

coachman’s son works at the club, and Swami is overcome with fear that the son will attack

him. This episode is one of the first instances in which Swami feels that his father is not able to

protect him from harm.

Karrupan
Karrupan is a young boy who is bullied by Rajam, Mani, and Swami while out driving his cart.

The three friends harass Karrupan and pretend to be government agents, frightening the boy

before sending him on his way. The behavior of Swami and his friends toward Karrupan

demonstrates their internalization of the colonized state’s brutal power structures.

Dr. Kesavan
Dr. Kesavan is a physician whom Swami goes to in an effort to get a medical certificate saying

he can miss school drill practice in order to go to cricket. Dr. Kesavan laughs at Swami’s self-

diagnosis of delirium and pronounces him healthy, but says that he will talk to the Board

School Headmaster to get Swami excused from drill practice. However, Dr. Kesavan does not
talk to the headmaster at all, which leads to Swami’s punishment and eventual departure from

school. Swami curses Dr. Kesavan for lying, and this episode is another of Swami’s formative

experiences of betrayal.

Ranga
Ranga is the cart man who finds Swami unconscious after his night wandering lost in the

wilderness. He rescues Swami by bringing him to Mr. Nair, thinking himself too simple to know

what to do. Ranga is one of few peasant characters in the novel, and notably, Swami knows

little of his role in the rescue and does not think to thank him later.

Mr. Nair
Mr. Nair is the District Forest Officer who helps Swami return home after being lost. Swami

initially confuses him with his own father, indicating the sense of loss and disorientation that

Swami undergoes as he matures. Later, Swami feels guilty for forgetting to say goodbye to Mr.

Nair and worries that he did not show appropriate gratitude for his role, again drawing a

parallel between Mr. Nair and Swami’s actual father. However, Mr. Nair also lies to Swami

about the day of the week, presumably to keep him calm, and causes him not to realize he is

missing the cricket match until it is already over.

Swami and Friends Themes

The Political and the Personal Under British Colonial
Rule /
Set in a fictional town in south India circa 1930, Swami and Friends is defined
by the pressures and complexities of British colonial rule over India. While
the book’s events revolve around common childhood trials and tribulations,
the personal experiences of the protagonist and his friends are colored by
their political context, even when the characters themselves have little
understanding of it. By examining British colonial rule through the lens of an
ordinary boy’s relatable childhood, R.K. Narayan demonstrates the
pervasiveness and subtlety of this political structure’s power. Swami’s story
shows that the impact of colonial rule is present in every corner of Indian life
during this era, and that no individual’s personal life can be truly separate
from colonialism’s profound, sometimes contradictory effects.

The lighthearted conflicts of the book’s early chapters underscore Narayan’s

point that that colonialism is present even in the innocent misadventures of
children, although it may seem entertaining, inconsequential, or even
impressive in their eyes. Narayan first addresses the influence of colonialism
in the book’s opening chapter, when Swami and his classmates attend
scripture class with Mr. Ebenezer, their fanatical Christian teacher. Narayan
notes that the students sometimes enjoy the class because of the “stirring
pictures” they imagine based on Biblical tales. For Swami and his friends, the
Christianity imposed on them at the mission school is initially a source of idle
entertainment rather than a menace or something to contemplate deeply. Yet
Swami soon perceives the way that Ebenezer’s Christian teachings conflict
with his own Hindu beliefs, and protests against his teacher. However, the
consequences of this conflict are trivial; the class enjoys watching their
teacher get scolded by the Mission School Headmaster and Swami is simply
happy to escape punishment. Again, even in this direct conflict Swami is
primarily occupied by childish concerns like impressing his friends and
pleasing his father, and colonialism remains a backdrop that affects Swami
without occupying much of his attention.

The budding friendship between Swami, Mani and their new

classmate Rajam again illustrates the ways that the young boys take existing
power structures for granted. Although Mani and Rajam at first intend to
fight with each other, that animosity quickly dissolves into mutual admiration,
leaving the boys untroubled by their initial reliance on violent dominance to
solve their problems. When Swami finds out that Rajam’s father is the Police
Superintendent, he is impressed and excited to be associated with such
power, again demonstrating his childish inability to reflect on the value and
legitimacy of the powers around him.

As Swami’s story progresses, however, the political context around him

increasingly intrudes on his contained understanding of his life. Swami
begins to take actions that appear outwardly political, but he still experiences
these events in a personal, self-centered way. By blending Swami’s still-
childish perspective with large-scale political events, Narayan again fuses
the personal with the political and illustrates the impossibility of separating
them, particularly within a context of colonialism. Swami, Mani, and Rajam
try out the experience of being in power themselves by bullying a young boy
named Karuppan and saying that they are “the Government Police out to
catch humbugs like you.” The three boys make unreasonable demands and
frighten the boy, but seem not to reflect on the effects of their actions. It
seems, then, that Swami and his friends develop an unconscious tendency to
act out the oppression they have experienced. Shortly thereafter, Swami and
Mani inadvertently participate in a public protest against English oppression
of Indian peasants, and become immediately emotionally attached to the
cause. Swami “resolve[s] to boycott English goods” and burns his
own cap “with a feeling that he was saving the country.” At this point,
Swami’s emotional reaction to the notion of English oppression becomes
clear, but he is not yet able to connect that feeling with his own actions more
generally. When Swami finds himself caught up in a school boycott the next
day, he participates actively in the increasingly dangerous event but thinks
mostly of the fun he’s having rather than his behavior’s political meaning, as
when he realizes happily that “there were many glass panes untouched yet.”
It is only when Swami witnesses Rajam’s father “grimly ticking off seconds
before giving orders for massacre” that he begins to gain awareness of the
political tension present in his own life. Narayan notes that Swami “had
unconsciously become defiant” through his new experience of protest. It is
this subconscious change that leads Swami to run away from the Mission
School, for the first time renouncing a major aspect of colonial oppression in
his own life.

Though Swami and his friends gain some degree of political consciousness
over the course of the story, their lives continue to be circumscribed by
colonial power in ways that are largely invisible to them. Narayan illustrates
this reality especially vividly through the boys’ experiences forming
a cricket team. By highlighting the prominent and complicated role that a
quintessentially English activity plays in the friends’ lives, Narayan
demonstrates that individuals living under colonialism often have no choice
but to tolerate—and sometimes even embrace—the cultures of their
colonizers.

Although Swami, Mani, and Rajam are initially excited about starting a cricket
team, they quickly discover that the logistics are more complicated than they
expected, and Swami in particular worries about government registration and
taxes. Reflecting on these difficulties, Rajam has “a momentary sympathy for
Gandhi; no wonder he was dead against the government.” By equating the
boys’ seemingly trivial problems with Gandhi’s opposition to the government,
Narayan humorously points to the oppressive presence of the government in
every Indian’s life, no matter how slight it might seem.
The formation of the cricket team initially serves as a way for Swami and
Rajam to repair their friendship after their conflict over what Rajam calls
Swami’s “political activities,” but eventually, the cricket team is also
responsible for the breakup of Swami and Rajam’s friendship, when Rajam is
unable to forgive Swami for missing the match. By using the game to both
unite and divide the story’s protagonists, Narayan indicates the extent to
which the characters may be at the mercy of English influence, even as they
devote themselves to an English sport with seeming freedom. Political forces
work their way into the personal goals and relationships of Swami and his
friends even during their leisure time, again demonstrating that no private life
can be truly independent from politics in the context of a colonized state.

Education and Oppression.`

Difficulty within educational settings is one of Swami’s constant conflicts
throughout the novel. Rather than simply depicting the ordinary childhood
struggles of homework and unfair teachers, Narayan uses these familiar
obstacles to enact a smaller version of the colonial oppression that suffuses
the book. For Swami, school is a place of both growth and restriction, where
rigid rules come into conflict with Swami’s nuanced inner life. Throughout,
Narayan’s depictions of Swami’s school days add depth and specificity to the
book’s larger points about the intersection of the personal and the political.

Many of Swami’s most immediate experiences of oppression occur within

school settings. He encounters violence, humiliation, and requirements that
quash his imaginative and sensitive nature. All of these restrictions on
Swami’s individual life seem to mirror the dehumanizing nature of colonial
power on India’s larger population. At both of his schools, Swami is subject
to punishments that cause him pain and embarrassment, such as being caned
or being made to stand on a bench in front of the class. After he leaves the
Mission School and enters the Board School, Swami’s schedule becomes
more restrictive, and he is required to complete drill practices and scout
classes after school in addition to a heavy load of homework. Even though
the Board School Headmaster is eventually revealed to be a frail older man
who sleeps on the job, he still wields absolute power over Swami and will
not let him leave school early to participate in cricket practice. Narayan’s
descriptions of Swami’s engagement with academic work also hint at the
way that his schools fail to engage his full humanity. Puzzling over a
mathematical word problem about selling mangos, Swami feels “utterly
hopeless” without deeper knowledge of who the men in the problem are and
how their personalities affect the situation. With this example, Narayan hints
at the ways that Swami perceives the lack of humanity in the structures he
encounters at school.

However, Swami also derives meaning and a sense of belonging from his
schools, even as they cause him pain. The positive aspects of Swami’s
educational experiences indicate that because these institutions are so
deeply ingrained in Swami’s life, he must necessarily learn to derive some
satisfaction from them, just as the Indian people under English rule must
carry on finding meaning in their lives even in unfair circumstances.

School forms the core of social life for Swami and his friends, as indicated
when their friend Somu fails an exam and then vanishes from the story:
“Somu was not promoted, and that meant he was automatically excluded
from the group, the law being inexorable in that respect.” Because Swami’s
friendships are so important to him, and school defines the structure of those
friendships, the school plays a crucial role in developing meaning in his life.
Although the Board School causes Swami more difficulty, it also helps him
develop academically. He gains “rigour and discipline” where before he was
unengaged with his work, which allows him to live up to his father’s high
expectations and gain a greater sense of self-efficacy and interpersonal
connection—even in regard to his old school. When Swami prepares to run
away after leaving the Board School, he stops at his old mission school and
fondly remembers his time there, thinking: “All his friends were there…happy,
dignified, and honored within the walls of the august Albert Mission School.
He alone was out of it, isolated, as if he were a leper.” His sense of belonging
indicates that he considers the school a kind of home and that he is invested
in the idea of its goodness, despite the pain he experienced there.

The schools’ dual role as structures of both support and oppression plays out
vividly in the way that the school setting can change quickly from organized
to chaotic. This sense of instability and potential for confusion again functions
as a microcosm of Swami’s broader sociopolitical context, where the margin
between safety and danger is often small. When the term ends at the
Mission School, jubilant celebration rapidly turns into destructive mayhem.
As Swami reflects on the rumor that enemies stab each other on the last day
of school, Narayan writes: “Swaminathan had no enemy as far as he could
remember. But who could say? The school was a bad place.” This scene
exemplifies the uncertainty and sense of amorphous danger that pervades
Swami’s life at school and, as the story progresses, begins to affect him
outside of school as well.

The Fluidity of Identity

Although little more than a year passes over the course of Swami’s story, his
identity and those of his friends change and develop many times throughout
the novel. By demonstrating how malleable his characters’ essential traits
and roles are, Narayan casts doubt on the idea of objectively “true” identity,
instead seeming to argue that even core characteristics like goodness and
badness can be changed and chosen according to the desires of individuals
and groups. This changeability is often a positive force in the characters’
lives, but Narayan also uses it to underscore the inherent instability and
ambiguity that Swami and his friends must learn to face.

Swami’s understanding of himself is particularly fluid throughout the novel.

He often lies to others about his behavior or motivations and sometimes fools
himself in the process, effectively changing himself into a different person to
suit different circumstances. When Swami feels insecure about writing too
little on his exam, he tells his friends that he wrote half a page and “believed
it for the moment,” even though he only wrote one sentence. Swami is not
actually a good student, but he takes on the identity of one in order to make
himself feel more confident in his group of friends. Compiling the list of
supplies he needs for that same exam, Swami finds: “The list was
disappointing. He had never known that his wants were so few.” To cope
with that disappointment, he creates a more detailed list of things he doesn’t
particularly need, in order to fashion himself into a more important person
with more substantial wants. When Swami first begins playing cricket, he
bowls well once and is immediately nicknamed Tate, after a famous cricket
player. Although Swami attends few practices after that point and ultimately
misses the crucial match, his friends continue calling him Tate and he brags
about the nickname to his family. Again, Swami’s identity shifts in a moment
to suit the desires of himself and his friends and make them all feel more
confident about their cricket team.

The malleable social roles of Swami and his friends also demonstrate the
flexibility of each of their individual identities. Sometimes the friends choose
to define each other in positive ways, but sometimes they choose to exclude
and belittle each other. Their group dynamics illustrate how readily “good”
characters can become “bad” and vice versa, again emphasizing the relative
nature of each of their identities, particularly in the way they are shaped by
the perceptions of others. When Swami and Mani first meet Rajam, they are
convinced that he is evil and plan to fight with him. However, once Mani and
Rajam face each other to fight, they quickly set aside their differences: Rajam
says, “I won’t mind being your friend,” and Mani replies, “Nor I.” With that
simple exchange, the boys effortlessly create a friendship that leaves Swami
in a state of “perfect peace.” However, Swami soon loses the respect of his
older group of friends, who begin calling him a “tail” because of his
attachment to Rajam. Narayan calls this experience “probably
Swaminathan’s first shock in life,” and describes how it leaves him
wondering whether his friends are the same people they used to be.
Although the friends soon reconcile, the shocking rupture shows how quickly
esteemed individuals can become untrustworthy, creating danger in social
contexts that had previously seemed safe.

Toward the end of the novel, Swami begins to understand the idea of
identity, both his own and those of his friends, as less concrete than he has
previously thought. Instead of alternating between distinct identities, Swami
and his friends begin to take on multiple identities at the same time. This shift
into greater ambiguity adds new depth to Narayan’s examination of the
changeable nature of personhood. When Swami runs away following his
departure from the Board School, he becomes lost and disoriented in an
unfamiliar setting. He begins to imagine terrible dangers on the dark roads
around him, and he even becomes delusional in his desperation. At the
height of this crisis, Swami loses his sense of himself almost completely and
perceives around him “a sense of inhumanity.” During this episode, Swami
effectively merges with the frightening night, demonstrating that even the
basic individual identity itself can vanish at times.

When Rajam moves away, he has not yet reconciled with Swami after their
fight over the cricket match. With Mani’s help, Swami gives Rajam a book of
fairy tales as a going-away present, but he is not able to hear Rajam’s reply
over the noise of the train. The book ends with Swami uncertain of whether
Rajam considers him a friend or an enemy. Similarly, the previously
straightforward Mani takes on an ambiguous role at the end, refusing to give
Swami a clear answer about whether or not Rajam will be in touch. Narayan
writes that “for once Mani’s face had become inscrutable,” ending Swami’s
story in uncertainty and confusion. This conclusion—or lack thereof—
indicates particularly clearly Narayan’s point that it is impossible to define an
individual’s identity with any real certainty, even when the individual is a
close friend or even oneself.

Swami and Friends Symbol

Swami’s CapSymbol Analysis

Swami’s cap becomes important to the story as he begins to develop a political

consciousness. Swami thinks little of his clothes until the night that he
and Mani stumble on a protest against British oppression, and Swami realizes that
some of his clothing may be made by British manufacturers at the expense of Indian
craftspeople. When a bystander suggests that he is “wearing a foreign cap,” Swami is
ashamed and throws the cap into the fire—his first act in support of Indian liberation.
However, the cap also comes to symbolize Swami’s naivete about political matters.
The next morning, Swami thinks not of his devotion to Indian independence, but of the
anger his father will feel when he sees that the cap is missing. Then, even after his
intense experience at the protest, Swami continues to view his fledging political
activity through the narrow lens of his own self-interest, telling his father that the cap
was burned by someone else in the crowd rather than owning up to his own actions.
Finally, Swami’s father informs him that the cap was Indian-made all along,
undermining Swami’s passionate destruction of what he believed to be a symbol of
England. The cap thus underscores Narayan’s point that Swami’s actions are tied to a
political context even when he is only able to engage with that context in a childish,
haphazard way.

Cricket
The game of cricket is the story’s most potent symbol of the complex way
that English colonization plays out in the lives of Swami and his friends. As a
quintessentially English activity, cricket is closely tied to England’s presence
in India, but instead of rejecting it for its oppressive associations, Swami and
his friends—particularly team captain Rajam—embrace the game as a means
of gaining self-determination, dominance over opponents, and interpersonal
connection. This paradoxical pursuit demonstrates the ways in which
colonized peoples like Swami and his friends must necessarily adapt to the
influences of the colonizer, even embracing aspects of the oppressive culture
and subverting them into mechanisms of liberation. However, the friends’
cricket team has both positive and negative effects in Swami’s life; it initially
helps him put aside his political differences with Rajam, but it also tears apart
their friendship when Swami misses the crucial match. Through this symbol,
Narayan seems to recognize the unstable and sometimes dangerous role that
even the appealing aspects of colonizing nations play in the lives of the
colonized.

The Book of Fairy Tales

Swami’s somewhat surprising choice of a book of fairy tales by Hans Christian
Andersen as a going-away present for Rajam acts as a symbol for the crossroads of
maturity at which the two boys find themselves. Swami has struggled to enjoy reading
through the novel, while Rajam has excelled at it, so Swami’s sensitivity to the kind of
present that Rajam would appreciate demonstrates the way that he has begun
learning to think outside of himself and his own desires. However, the fact that the
book includes fairy tales rather than true facts indicates that the boys’ reality is still
largely shaped by fantasy. Even as Swami is forced to face the painful fact that Rajam
is moving away without repairing his friendship with Swami, he relies on the power of
a book of imagined realities to bridge the gap between them. Finally, Swami thinks
that the book is too full of “unknown, unpronounceable English words” for him to ever
understand it himself, again hinting that mysterious foreign influence is present in
every corner of his life, even the parts that concern fantasy rather than reality.

Swami and Friends Setting

Malgudi, South India, 1930s
The majority of the novel occurs in the fictional town of Malgudi, in the South of India, in
the 1930s. While Malgudi is fictional, it is grounded in realistic details which give it a sense
of geography. For instance, at school Swami notes he is learning Tamil, which gives the
reader a better sense of where the book is. And the novel shows the political and social
climate of India in the 1930s, when resistance to colonialism began to swell with support.
.