The Bachelor of Arts is a novel written by R. K. Narayan

R. K. Narayan

R. K. Narayan , shortened from Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami Tamil: ) , Madras Presidency, British India. His father was a school headmaster, and Narayan did some of his studies at his father's school...

. It is the second book of a trilogy that began with Swami and Friends

Swami and Friends

Swami and Friends is the first of a trilogy of novels written by R. K. Narayan, a celebrated English language novelist from India. The novel, which is also Narayan's first, is set in pre-independence days in India, in a fictional town called Malgudi...

and ended with The English Teacher

The English Teacher

The English Teacher is a 1945 novel written by R. K. Narayan. This is the third and final part in the series, preceded by Swami and Friends and The Bachelor of Arts ....

. It is again set in Malgudi

Malgudi

Malgudi is a fictitious town in India created by R.K. Narayan in his novels and short stories. It forms the setting for most of Narayan's works. Starting with his first novel, Swami and Friends, all but one of his fifteen novels and most of his short stories take place here...

, the fictional town Narayan invented for his novels.

Plot summary

The story explores the transition of an adolescent mind into adulthood. It revolves around a young guy named Chandran, who resembles a typical Indian upper middle class youth of the pre-independence era. First, Chandran's college life in late colonial times is described. After graduation, he falls in love with a girl, but will be rejected by the bride's parents, since his horoscope describes him as a manglik, a condition in which a manglik can only marry another manglik and if not, the non-manglik will die. Frustrated and desperate, he embarks on a journey as Sanyasi. On his journey he meets many people and he is also misunderstood as a great sage

Wise old man

The wise old man is an archetype as described by Carl Jung, as well as a classic literary figure, and may be seen as a stock character...

by some villagers. Due to the compunctions and the realizations, he decides to return home. He takes up a job as a newsagent and decides to marry, in order to please his parents, thinking of the discomfort he had caused them earlier.