The Martyr's Corner Q&A

(The Martyr's Corner by R.K.Narayan.Taken from An Anthology of Short Stories for students of ICSE Schools,India)

1.How does the author depict Rama in the first half of the story?
The author depicts Rama as a hard-working and successful business-man. He got up at the crack of dawn to cook the food that he sold between 8 and 10 in the evening just outside the cinema hall. He was generous as he let someone else do business on the same platform till he arrived there. He was fair to his customers offering them coffee for six pies and four chapattis for an anna. He was also very knowledgeable about his customers. He knew which jutka driver was picking up the chappatis. He even knew their license numbers. He had a soft corner for some of his very poor customers. He would argue with rich customers on their behalf. However, Rama was not even a little concerned about the hygine of the food he served. For, he had his stall next to a gutter with dust blowing on it. He did not cover the food he served with a glass cover.

2.”But such security is unattainable in human life” Discuss the statement giving illustration from the story “The Martyr’s Corner”.
This statement means that success cannot always be sustained for a long period of time. There were people who were jealous of him. They said that hardly for an hours work every day the earned ten rupees which even graduates were also not able to earn.
Rama, on account of some violence near the spot from where he sold his wares, could not longer sell from this old spot. As a result he had to move his stall farther into the lane. As a result the moved out of sight of the customers from the cinema hall and auto-rickshaw drivers. This resulted in his business coming down so much that he had to windup his business. Later, when his savings ran out he had to work in Restaurant Kohinoor for Rupees Twenty a month.

Thus this story illustrates that “such security is unattainable in human life”.

3.The story “ The Martyr’s Corner deals with the rise and fall of Rama’s fortunes.Discuss.
The first half of the story talk about the success of the hardworking Rama who sold eatables on a stall at a corner near a cinema hall. He woke up the crack of dawn. He prepared food which he sold between 8 and 10 in the even. Every day he invested Five Rupees and made over Rupees Three Hundred a month which was a princely sum. His customers found his food very tasty even though Rama has no understanding of hygiene and sold near an open gutter without even covering his food. His customers clamoured for his food. He always sold what-ever he had made for the evening. All in all Rama had a good life.

Rama, on account of some violence near the spot from where he sold his wares, could not longer sell from this old spot. As a result he had to move his stall farther into the lane. As a result the moved out of sight of the customers from the cinema hall and auto-rickshaw drivers. This resulted in his business coming down so much that he had to windup his business. Later, when his savings ran out he had to work in Restaurant Kohinoor for Rupees Twenty a month.

Thus Rama had both ups and downs in this life.

4.Give a pen picture of Rama’s character?
Rama was a hard-working food vendor who made Rupees Three Hundred a month. He lived with his wife.His wife took care of the money that he made by selling food. Rama got up everyday at the crack of dawn to produce the food that he sold in the evening. Rama was a sensible businessman who charged his customers very reasonably for the food that he sold. He knew his customers very well. He was also compassionate towards people taking the side of urchins who used to haggle with rich customers.However, Rama was not educated. He had no sense of hygiene. He sold his food near an open gutter and did not even cover the food that he sold.

Rama did not have good business acumen.When he lost the space near the cinema hall where he normally sold his food, he moved to a place deeper into a lane where his customers could not see him. Thus he lost his business hand had to close it down. We can also say that he was not a fighter and he was also not willing to experiment. He did not try other locations from were he could sell his food. He also seemed to be a little lazy. We can say this because he did not take up an alternate job till he had exhausted all his savings. Also, he did not ever try to restart his business. This shows that he was not very business savvy.