describe the various steps that the narrator took to get rid of the road engine. by r.k narayan.
Answers
Engine Trouble by R.K Narayan is truly an Indian story of unlucky draw. The meaning is developed through the characters, especially the narrator, who may be Narayan's own unflattering self-portrait. Like Narayan, the narrator is a middle class man struggling to rise above his origins. Although the narrator wants to adapt to the dominant middle class culture, he remains profoundly attached to his own family sentiment.
Narayan has a love for describing carnivals, fairs, and the expo. Story after story we find in his Malgudi Days being set in such an environment if not then we at least has a market scene. Engine Trouble starts at a fair with the protagonist winning an engine; Emden goes through the hustle and bustle of a market place for his evening walk. An Astrologer’s Day is set in a bazaar and so is the Trail of the Green Blazer which is set in a bazaar. It seems Narayan situated most of the Malgudi stories on Malgudi’s public landmarks.
In the short stories' collection ‘The Malgudi Days' by R.K Narayan, Engine Trouble is one of the most hilarious and ironic.
EXPLANATION:
When the narrator wins a road engine at the lottery he is delighted. He takes it for a boon only to realize it to be a terrible curse.
The greatest trouble he faces is how to dispose it. The first thing he does is to hire a driver. He hardly gets an efficient one. Second is to push it out of the field. This he does by hiring elephants.
This costs him a fortune. In the attempt to discard it he tries to abandon it. But unfortunately it hits the wall of a house. The Government officials also harass him for parking fees. Ultimately due to a natural catastrophe the engine rolls into a discarded well and this suits the owner. Finally he gets rid of it.