Narayan’s short fiction in general is often viewed as an insightful exploration of Indian life, and it has been observed that while Narayan explores aspects of the human condition, he does so on a personal level and that he avoids making overt political statements. In particular, Narayan’s ‘‘Forty-Five a Month’’ has been regarded as a…
Tag: R. K. Narayan
Forty-Five a Month – Setting
Movement for Indian Independence from Britain At the time that Narayan was writing ‘‘Forty-Five a Month,’’ India was a colony of the British empire and was struggling to gain independence from Great Britain. This independence, declared in 1947, was not fully achieved until 1950, when India established its own constitution and declared itself a republic….
Forty-Five a Month – Literary Devices
Third-Person Multiple Point of View Narayan’s ‘‘Forty-Five a Month’’ is written in what is known as the third person, a method of storytelling in which the narration is conducted by a person outside the action of the story. The narrator in ‘‘Forty-Five a Month,’’ for example, informs the reader of what Shanta is doing, but…
Forty-Five a Month – Themes
Working Class The family that is the subject of Narayan’s ‘‘Forty-Five a Month’’ is a working-class family. In a working-class family, one or more members of the family earn the money the family needs for basic necessities. Working-class jobs are typically viewed as those that are low-paying, often require long hours, and often involve physical…
Forty-Five a Month – Characters
Kamala Kamala is a young schoolgirl, a friend of Shanta’s. Kamala incorrectly assures Shanta that it is five o’clock in the afternoon. Manager Venkat Rao’s manager is Rao’s direct superior. As long as Rao needs his job to support his family, he is at the mercy of his manager. The manager views work as a…
Forty-Five A Month – Summary
Narayan’s short story ‘‘Forty-Five a Month’’ opens in the classroom of a little girl named Shanta. The child asks her friend whether it is five o’clock yet, explaining that her father has promised to take her to the cinema later that evening. Shanta tells her teacher that she must go home because it is five…