In Malgudi Days,
although R.K. Narayan seems to present us with a bleak portrayal of India where
life is very hard and there is very little human happiness, he means to reflect
the triumph of the human spirit over the cruel circumstances of life. In India, poverty and the lack of education
are prejudiced against and people are discriminated against because they are
poor. In "A Willing Slave",
Ayah is discriminated against and treated badly merely because she is an
uneducated servant. When she comes back
late for the first time after her visit home, her employers imagine the worst,
thinking "she has perhaps been run over by a car and killed",
"she must have taken it in her head to give herself a holiday. No one is indispensable. I will dismiss her for this." Although Ayah has contributed much to the
family, no one but Radha appreciates it.
The same goes for Sidda in "Leela's Friend", who is
immediately assumed to be a thief simply because he was an ex-convict. However, the characters are not totally
unhappy. Both Ayah and Sidda have a
close, loving relationship with their charges, Radha and Leela, who seem to
cling on to them more than they do to their parents. The children are free from prejudice and
appreciate the true value of their servants. It is also untrue that the vicious cycle of
poverty condemns a person to a life of unhappiness. In the story "The Martyr's Corner",
the lack of education does not mean a poor and unhappy life for Rama, who was
said to be "earning more money than graduates". At times, external circumstances overturn
previously happy lives and characters are not in control of their destiny. In "The Axe", the appearance of the
developers literally tear down Velan's happy existence and forces him to leave
the house. In "The Martyr's
Corner", Rama is forced to become a waiter when his life starts on a
downward spiral after his "old spot" was taken up by a statue of a
dead political leader. Yet, while the
characters are not in control of external factors, they still have control over
their inner lives. Rama lives with and
adapts to his new environment and still retains his usual, placid manner. People also seem to be manipulated and
exploited by other people. In
"Selvi", Mohan uses Selvi as an emotionless mannequin, even to the
point where he gives her a "script" to follow, all for money and his personal fame. However, Selvi's emotional and spiritual self
does not seem to be affected. She was
"rapt in some secret melody or world of her own" and even though
Mohan controls her body, he is unable to control her mind. She also eventually rebels and goes back to
live in her old home. In "A Willing
Slave", Ayah seems to have been exploited by her employers. Her "self-imposed tasks" go
unappreciated and even when her husband takes her away, he feels "proud of
his slave". However, Ayah seems
spiritually happy at being used, she seems to need feeling needed and is as
happy serving others as they are exploiting her. It is her happiness that matters in the
end. There seems to be little human
happiness presented in Malgudi Days.
Love causes hurt and pain, people are torn apart by conflicting
circumstances. Mixed blessings give
cause for lament when people cannot enjoy their rewards. In "Forty-Five A Month", Venkat Rao
cannot spend more time with his family as he seems to have been purchased
outright for forty-five rupees. However,
as we look behind his reasons for slaving at his job, we find that he swallows
insults at work so that his family can swallow food. His love for his daughter is great and it
gives rise to his motivation at work. In
"A Shadow", Sambu misses his father immensely as he loves him a
lot. However, the very existence of Love
is a great triumph for the human spirit. Therefore, though there may be
hardship and suffering, in the end we see that the human spirit has the
ultimate victory. 
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