The Vendor of Sweets

Mali represents the younger generation of India’s men at the time of the novel’s setting. He is ambitious but can be callus to those who will not help him. When Jagan tries to interest him in India’s traditions, he sneers. He is willing to rob his father to escape to America, but stays in contact with him, knowing that Jagan will suffer if he does not. It is not clear whether Mali believes everything he says, or whether he occasionally mistreats Jagan to punish him for his role in his mother’s death, so he is not an entirely unsympathetic character. At the end, rather than listen to Jagan’s counsel, Mali retreats into drunkenness and criminality, showing that for Narayan, the younger generation has much to learn from the more stoic, traditional views of their predecessors. 

When Grace appears, she seems to be the vivacious passion that has been lacking in Jagan’s household. She is energetic, kind, and determined to be a proper daughter in law to Jagan. Her attempts at assimilating herself into his life are well-intentioned and sincere, as opposed to Mali’s ingratiating efforts, which he undertakes solely for his own gain. But Grace is also a tormented figure. When it becomes clear that Jagan will not support the business venture, she admits that Mali lured her to India with the promise to marry her—a marriage that never took place. She is not blameless, however. Grace was more interested in the business venture that she let on, and her time spent in India therefore is of little benefit to her. She represents the difficulties of assimilation between eastern and western cultures.