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Articles: Literature | A Man of No Consequence
- Dr. Rajeshwar Mittapalli
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But—
I felt that gods, kings and writers should be noble and that they should show the path of righteousness to the posterity. Therefore, when I published the novel in book form I bestowed upon Subbaiah the faculty of soul-searching. He appears to acknowledge his wretchedness and mean spirit and take to the right path at the end. In the final analysis he might take to that path, or he might not. It is left to him.5
Subbaiah finds his deliverance from the current crisis—the need to repay Gavaraiah—not because of his own efforts, but because of a variety of forces working independently to help him out. Pothanna, the onetime all purpose man of Gavaraiah, who has some manifest courage and ready sympathy for Subbaiah and his family, boldly tells Gavaraiah’s man that Subbaiah would not be returning the money any longer. Blame it on his inferiority complex, but this is something Subbaiah has not been able to do in spite of his best efforts.
Venkat Rao, who has drawn our ‘hero’ into the trouble in the first place and who currently lives with Gavaraiah’s estranged wife Ramayamma, threatens Gavaraiah that he would divulge the details of his failed marriage unless Subbaiah is left alone. Avadhani, Subbaiah’s colleague, promises Gavaraiah that he would pass his bills only if Subbaiah is not harassed. Above all, the beautiful school teacher Manorama, who unaccountably falls in love with Subbaiah and who happened to once live in the same town as Gavaraiah, pleads with him on Subbaiah’s behalf and even offers to make good his loss herself. Gavaraiah finally relents and returns the promissory note that he got Subbaiah to sign under duress.
Manorama enters Subbaiah’s beleaguered life like a breath of fresh air. The novelist does not tell us why she takes such a deep interest in him. Whenever a new character is introduced in his novels, it is Ra.Vi.Sastri’s practice to give a detailed background of that character. But in Manorama’s case he leaves it to the imagination of the readers. An atmosphere of mystery surrounds her. This being very uncharacteristic of Ra.Vi.Sastri’s style of writing fiction, R.S. Sudarshanam observes:
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