International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

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Quiet Laughter and Unspoken Voices: A Study of Social Critique in R. K. Narayan’s Short Stories

Author(s) Mr. Gautam Singh Yendrembam
Country India
Abstract R. K. Narayan is widely celebrated for his simple style and gentle humour, yet beneath this apparent simplicity lies a deep and sustained engagement with social reality. This paper offers an interdisciplinary re-reading of select short stories by R. K. Narayan to examine how humour and silence operate as simple but powerful modes of social critique. Drawing on perspectives from literature, sociology, psychology, anthropology and communication studies, the study argues that Narayan’s narrative techniques are not merely aesthetic choices but carefully employed strategies to expose social contradictions, emotional repression and cultural pressures within Indian middle class life. Through close readings of stories such as “Attila”, “Iswaran”, “The Blind Dog” and
“A Hero”, the paper demonstrates how humour reveals the gap between social expectations and lived reality, often highlighting human weakness, fear and irony without resorting to harsh judgement. At the same time, silence emerges as a significant expressive force that conveys suppressed emotions, psychological conflict and the weight of social norms. Characters frequently endure failure, authority and injustice not through rebellion but through quiet acceptance, emotional restraint and silent suffering. By situating Narayan’s fiction within broader social and cultural contexts, the paper
shows how Malgudi functions as a microcosm of Indian society where power operates subtly through tradition, examination systems, family authority and community judgement. The study concludes that Narayan’s distinctive mode of social criticism lies in its humane, indirect and non confrontational nature. His fiction transforms ordinary experiences intomeaningful social commentary, making his work enduringly relevant for understanding both individual psychology and collective social behaviour in Indian society.
Keywords R. K. Narayan, Humour, Silence, Social Critique, Interdisciplinary.
Field Sociology > Linguistic / Literature
Published In Volume 7, Issue 6, November-December 2025
Published On 2025-12-19
DOI https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i06.63904
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