Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal

ISSN: 2278-9529  |  www.galaxyimrj.com

Abstract

This article analyses the tension between literary ambition and pecuniary pressure in the early life of the litterateur R. K. Narayan. Focusing on the author’s short story “Sketches from Life: Gopal, the B.A.,” the article examines the tragic travails of its protagonist, Gopal, who abandons his literary ambitions under the burdensome weight of material needs and becomes a bank clerk. The paper centres on a comparative study of Gopal’s shattering surrender and Narayan’s unalloyed allegiance to the writing profession, as recorded in his autobiographical memoir My Days and other biographical accounts. By examining how the author resolutely resists social pressure to follow the common, conventional commercial path—such as stepping away from postgraduate studies to preserve his affection for literature—the article shows how he eventually establishes himself as a luminous litterateur in early 20th-century Indian literature in English. Ultimately, the study shows how Narayan’s rock-ribbed, creative resilience subverts the un-aesthetic, utilitarian realities that muted many aspiring Indian writers of his generation, and how this herculean effort to establish himself as an author of note becomes a light for posterity to be perennially inspired by.

Keywords

R. K. Narayan Gopal Commercial Necessity Artistic Idealism Indian English Fiction Autonomy Writerly Identity

Article History

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How to Cite

Tathagat, and Anita Singh. “The Lyre and the Load of the Ledger: R. K. Narayan and the Tragic Figure of ‘Gopal, the B.A.’.” Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal, vol. 15, no. 5, Sept. 2026, pp. 36–49. https://doi.org/10.66376/galaxy.v15.n5.3

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