Raju’s Mother Character Analysis in The Guide

An uneducated, traditional woman, Raju’s mother is a devoted wife and mother, who barely leaves the immediate vicinity of the house that her husband has built in Malgudi. Although she seems to be a meek, pliant woman, she is in fact strong-willed. She frequently butts heads with her son, particularly after he ruins the railway shop business that her husband had built before his death. She also rebels against the presence of Rosie in her house when Raju invites her to live with him and his mother. Clinging fast to her principles relating to caste and family honor to the last, Raju’s mother goes so far as to leave her own house with her brother in order to protest her son’s disgrace.

Raju’s Mother Quotes in The Guide

The The Guide quotes below are all either spoken by Raju’s Mother or refer to Raju’s Mother. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

One fine day, beyond the tamarind tree the station building was ready. The steel tracks gleamed in the sun; the signal posts stood with their red and green stripes and their colorful lamps; and our world was neatly divided into this side of the railway line and that side.

Related Characters: Raju (speaker), Raju’s Father, Raju’s Mother, Velan

Related Symbols: The Railway, Malgudi

Page Number and Citation: 27

Explanation and Analysis:

“You are not of our family? Are you of our clan?” He again waited for her to answer and answered himself. “No. Are you of our caste? No. Our class? No. Do we know you? No. Do you belong to this house? No. In that case, why are you here? After all, you are a dancing girl. We do not admit them in our families. Understand?”

Related Characters: Raju (speaker), Raju’s Uncle (speaker), Rosie / Nalini, Raju’s Mother

Page Number and Citation: 133

Explanation and Analysis:

Raju’s Mother Character Timeline in The Guide

The timeline below shows where the character Raju’s Mother appears in The Guide. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...in the shop. Each morning, after drinking the buffalo milk warmed for him by his mother, Raju would find his father waiting for him on the pyol, or stoop, of the... (full context)

Transformation and Redemption Theme Icon

Raju remembers being back in Malgudi, his mother telling him stories as they waited for his father to close his shop. Raju’s mother... (full context)

Each morning, Raju’s mother makes a fuss over Raju as she dresses and prepares him for school. He has... (full context)

...(a carriage) and horse, in order to do his shopping for the shop. However, Raju’s mother is not impressed by the horse and carriage. (full context)

...railway shop. Raju’s father died suddenly during the rainy season of that year. With his mother’s consent, Raju decided to close the hut shop and focus on the railway shop instead,... (full context)

In Malgudi, Raju briefly stops at his house, where his mother confronts him, full of questions about his disappearance. Raju avoids his mother’s questions and instead... (full context)

...She is carrying a trunk and a bag. Raju, shocked by Rosie’s reappearance, tells his mother that Rosie will be a guest at their home. Raju is ashamed of his modest... (full context)

...as the greatest artist. But things, at first, prove to be difficult, especially with Raju’s mother, who has begun to hear rumors about Rosie. She tells her son that she doesn’t... (full context)

...inappropriately, is overcome with a fit of laughter. The Sait leaves, angry and offended. Raju’s mother has stopped speaking to him, although she is still civil to Rosie. She thinks that... (full context)

...manages to get the case against him adjourned (postponed), and he tries to reassure his mother that all will be well. (full context)

Raju’s uncle—his mother’s eldest brother—appears unexpectedly one day at the house. The uncle castigates Raju. When Raju leaves... (full context)

...is arriving in an hour and he asks whether Rosie is ready to leave. Raju’s mother, too, asks whether Rosie has packed her things. Raju responds by saying again that Rosie... (full context)

After his mother’s departure, Raju and Rosie continue living as a married couple. Rosie diligently practices her art... (full context)

...the Sait to continue to live in his own house, Raju decides to move. Raju’s mother writes to her son telling him that she wants to return to her home but... (full context)

As he watches Rosie on stage, Raju thinks of his mother, to whom he occasionally sends a postcard and some money. A man approaches him in... (full context)

On the last day of the trial, Raju’s mother had appeared. She had refused to let Rosie speak to her, and, directing her fury... (full context)