.

1. Symbolism of Light and Darkness
in R.K. Narayan's ‘An Astrologer's
Day’
Prepared by
Anjali Rathod

2. Name : Anjali Rathod
Sem : 3
Roll No : 2
Enrollment No : 4069206420220024
Subject : Symbolism of Light and Darkness in R.K.
Narayan’s ‘An Astrologer’s Day’
Contact Info : rathodanjali20022002ui@gmail.com
Submitted to : S. B. Gardi Department of English , MK
Bhavnagar University

3. 01
04
02
05
03
06
Conclusion
Introduction :
Author and Story
Style and Technique
Symbolism : The
Marketplace Lights
The Astrologer’s Garb
and Equipment
Table of contents
The Relevance of “An
Astrologer's Day” to
this day

4. Introduction
❏ Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayan
❏ Born: October 10, 1906, Madras (Chennai), India
❏ Died: May 13, 2001, Madras
❏ Notable Works: “Swami and Friends”
❏ Narayan typically portrays the peculiarities of human
relationships and the ironies of Indian daily life, in which modern
urban existence clashes with ancient tradition.
❏ His style is graceful, marked by genial humour, elegance, and
simplicity. (Britannica)

5. Introduction of short story
❏ ‘An Astrologer’s Day’ was first published in 1943 in short story collection
titled “Cyclone and other stories”. (Umakiran)
❏ The story narrates a story of a day in the life of an astrologer who chooses
to be one not by choice but due to the mysterious situation in the life
which forced him to run away from his village and to be an astrologer.
(Patel)
❏ The day which the story narrates is the most important day in the life of
the astrologer as it helps him to liberate himself from the past guilt and the
circumstance which forced him to be an astrologer. (Patel)
❏ The story deals with darker side of human nature like shrewdness,
revengefulness, selfishness and hypocrisy. Human frailties are depicted in
the story. (Umakiran)

6. Symbolism: The Marketplace Lights
❏ The market place lights represent the illusion of enlightenment from which astrologer
Benefits.
❏ The fluctuating lights and swaying shadows in the marketplace represent a mystical,
enchanting ambience that supplements false credibility of the astrologer. (Umakiran#180)
❏ All the vendors have lights, gas lamps or flares except astrologer who has none. He depends on
other vendors lightening. He starts his business by midday, when the crowd is large and light is
enough. (Umakiran#181)
❏ Guru Nayak was skeptic about astrologer’s prophecy. He challenges astrologer to prove his
mantle. He strikes a match to light his cheroot, due to light his face is illuminated.
❏ Light originates for the first time from astrologer’s place.
❏ It is a symbol of an opportunity for the astrologer to accept his crime and undergo punishment.
On the contrary, he evades his recognition by Guru Nayak shrewdly. (Umakiran#181)

7. The Astrologer’s Garb and Equipment
❏ The astrologer’s garb portrayed by Narayan, reflects mystics and holy men in India and the
position religion holds in the culture.
❏ The astrologer’s garb, as a symbol reminds the reader that they are all human in
character---greedy, selfish, revengeful, as anyone else and petty.
❏ The astrologer’s garb and equipment including cowrie shells and mystical looking charts
represent the artificiality of religious practice and, in turn, the ability to take advantage of
people’s fear of God.
❏ The astrologer’s costumes and wares exhibit people to believe him unconditionally and not
being skeptical.(Umakiran#181)

8. Relevance of “An Astrologer Day” to this
day
❏ Technologically india is developed, in many towns and cities you find those
marketplaces, astrologers and people consulting those astrologers to know solutions to
the problems.
❏ Street vendors are seen to this day and migration from villagers is going to this day.
The theme of the story is: how an astrologer faces earlier life’s deeds in present day.
❏ Astrologer who has been running from realities of life faces an adverse situation which
he did not want to face. He comes across a person who was thought to be dead comes
alive before the astrologer.(Umakiran#176)
❏ Despite of development in several aspects ordinary man’s life has not much changed.
Villages and towns remained more or less same even after several decades of
Independence from foreign power. (Umakiran)

9. Style and Technique
❏ Narayan’s style of writing is simple and adopted consistently throughout his works. His
style is a mixture of Tamil and English. Syntax and grammar follow English rules.
❏ It is distinctive of Narayan’s work in its style and structure but also in theme.
❏ The typical appeal of Narayan’s stories originates from the tension between their strong
emphasis on plot and their extreme brevity.
❏ The author skillfully narrators the entire story to the reader. The narrator does not
reveal all the aspects of characters at the beginning, the entire plot is dependent on the
revelation made at the end. (Umakiran)

10. Conclusion
❏ This story goes on to show how past can actually affect the present and future of
one’s life. The astrologer had committed a folly by getting into a quarrel when he
was a drunk youngster, the result of which changed his entire path of
life.(Patel#376)
❏ The readers come to know at the end of the story when the astrologer says to his
wife that today great load is gone from him, that the killer was none else but the
astrologer himself.(Patel#376)
❏ This story ends with an incredible twist:” a murdered man turns up to consult his
“murder”, who is now an astrologer, regarding when will he be able to take his
revenge; the “murderer” recognizes the “murdered” in the matchlight when the
former had lit the cheroot but he couldn’t identify his old enemy in the garb of an
astrologer. (Umakiran#182)

11. ● Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "R.K. Narayan". Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Oct. 2023,
https://www.britannica.com/biography/R-K-Narayan . Accessed 16 October 2023.
● Patel, Ramesh B. “THE DICHOTOMY OF INDIAN ASTROLOGY IN LIGHT OF R.K. NARAYAN’S ‘AN
ASTROLOGER’S DAY.’” vol. 3, no. II, May,2015, https://researchscholar.co.in/downloads/64-ramesh-b.patel.pdf
. Accessed 15 October 2023.
● Umakiran, K. “An Astrologer’s Day -Re-Visited.” vol. 07, no. 07, July,2020,
https://journals.pen2print.org/index.php/ijr/article/view/20118 . Accessed 15 October 2023.
References

12. Thank you