The Vendor of Sweets

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1967

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-8

Chapters 9-13

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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. If one relies on external validation to feel successful, it is not true fulfillment.

The Statue of Sir Frederick Lawley

Jagan encounters the statue several times. Sir Frederick Lawley was an invention of the author, but is most likely based on Arthur Lawley, a tyrannical British Governor of Madras who was monstrous during the colonization of India. The statue is a reminder that India’s divided identities have been shaped by external forces. India’s destiny has never been entirely in its own hands. This is in stark contrast to Chinna’s rendering of the Goddess, which is a worthy tribute that is not based in anything but devotion to the ideal of kindness and charity.