25 pages 50 minutes read

R. K. Narayan

The Vendor of Sweets

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1967

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Symbols & Motifs

Sugar

Sugar functions in the novel as a sign of Jagan’s hypocrisy. He renounces sugar, but sells it to others. He reduces the price of his sweets, and creates a tumultuous situation. Sugar is a symbol of how small things can affect serious changes. If used for its purpose, it is a simple enhancement to food and life. But when used as a sign of one’s abstemious nature, or as a tool of public manipulation, sugar—as would be the case with any substance that is given meaning through the actions of people—it is something that people would be better off without. 

Jagan’s Book

Jagan has few avenues of progress that mark him as a successful man. His book is the most important symbol of his stymied ambitions. Although completed, it has sat with the printer for years. Throughout the novel, there is no sign that its publication will ever be a reality. This is not just a rejection of Jagan’s book, it is a rejection of his ideas about life. For Jagan, this is a rejection of his life itself, for what is he, if not his mind and ideas? The publication is something that he cannot force, and is a representation of counterfeited happiness.

Related Titles

By R. K. Narayan

Plot Summary

logo

A Horse And Two Goats

R. K. Narayan

A Horse And Two Goats

R. K. Narayan

Plot Summary

logo

An Astrologer's Day

R. K. Narayan

An Astrologer's Day

R. K. Narayan

Plot Summary

logo

A Tiger for Malgudi

R. K. Narayan

A Tiger for Malgudi

R. K. Narayan

Plot Summary

logo

Malgudi Days

R. K. Narayan

Malgudi Days

R. K. Narayan

Study Guide

logo

Swami and Friends

R. K. Narayan

Swami and Friends

R. K. Narayan

Study Guide

logo

The Ramayana

R. K. Narayan

The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic

R. K. Narayan