The English Teacher - wikipedia The English Teacher For the unrelated 2013 film, see The English Teacher ( film ). The English Teacher First edition Author R.K. Narayan Country India Language English Published 1945 Eyre & Spottiswoode Media type Print Pages 184 OCLC 6305085 Dewey Decimal 823 LC Class PR9499. 3. N3 E5 1980 Preceded by The Bachelor of Arts The English Teacher is a 1945 novel written by R.K. Narayan. It is the third and final part in the ' Malgudi Days '' series, preceded by Swami and Friends ( 1935 ) and The Bachelor of Arts ( 1937 ). This novel, dedicated to Narayan 's wife Rajam is not only autobiographical but also poignant in its intensity of feeling. The story is a series of experiences in the life of Krishna, an English teacher, and his quest towards achieving inner peace and self - development. Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Literary significance and criticism 3 Book information 4 References Plot summary As an English teacher and lecturer at Albert Mission College, Krishna has led a mundane and monotonous lifestyle comparable to that of a cow. He too plays an important role of protecting the Indian culture. Soon his life took a turn when his wife, Susila, and their child, Leela, come to live with him. With their welfare on his hands, Krishna learns to be a proper husband and learns how to accept the responsibility of taking care of his family. He felt that his life had comparatively improved, as he understood that there 's more meaning to life than to just teaching in the college. However, on the day when they went in search of a new house, Susila contracts typhoid after visiting a dirty lavatory, keeping her in bed for weeks. Throughout the entire course of her illness, Krishna constantly tries to keep an optimistic view about Susila 's illness, keeping his hopes up by thinking that her illness would soon be cured. However, Susila eventually succumbs and passes away. Krishna, destroyed by her loss, has suicidal thoughts but gives them up for the sake of his daughter, Leela. He leads his life as a lost and miserable person after her death, but after he receives a letter from a stranger who indicates that Susila has been in contact with him and that she wants to communicate with Krishna, he becomes more collected and cheerful. This leads to Krishna 's journey in search of enlightenment, with the stranger acting as a medium to Susila in the spiritual world. Leela, on the other hand, goes to a preschool where Krishna gets to meet the headmaster, a profound man who cared for the students in his school and teaches them moral values through his own methods. The Headmaster puts his students as his top priority but he does n't care for his own family and children, eventually leaving them on the day predicted by an astrologer as to be when he was going to die, which did not come true. Krishna gets to learn through the headmaster on the journey to enlightenment ; eventually learning to communicate to Susila on his own, thus concluding the entire story itself, with the quote that he felt ' a moment of rare immutable joy '. Literary significance and criticism The synopsis at the back of ' The English Teacher ' by Indian Thought Publications says, `` Never has the magical storyteller of imaginary Malgudi woven tragedy and humour so deftly together. '' Book information A paperback edition was issued in Chicago by the University of Chicago Press in 1980 with ISBN 0 - 226 - 56835 - 0. Many other editions have been issued in other countries by several other publishers. It was published in the U.S. as Grateful to Life and Death in 1953 by The Michigan State College Press. References Jump up ^ Iranga Fernando, www.wmich.edu/dialogues/texts/englishteacher R.K. Narayan Novels Swami and Friends The Bachelor of Arts The Dark Room The English Teacher Mr. Sampath -- The Printer of Malgudi The Financial Expert Waiting for the Mahatma The Guide The Man - Eater of Malgudi The Vendor of Sweets The Painter of Signs A Tiger for Malgudi Talkative Man The World of Nagaraj Grandmother 's Tale Collections Malgudi Days An Astrologer 's Day and Other Short Stories Lawley Road and Other Stories A Horse and Two Goats and Other Stories Under the Banyan Tree and Other Stories The Grandmother 's Tale and Selected Stories Non-fiction Next Sunday My Dateless Diary My Days Reluctant Guru The Emerald Route A Writer 's Nightmare Mythology Gods, Demons and Others The Ramayana The Mahabharata Screen adaptations Guide Malgudi Days Banker Margayya Mr. Sampat ( 1952 ) Mr. Sampath ( 1972 ) Related articles Malgudi Indian Thought Publications Miss Malini Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_English_Teacher&oldid=855660766 '' Categories : 1945 Indian novels Indian autobiographical novels Novels by R.K. Narayan Indian English - language novels Eyre & Spottiswoode books Hidden categories : Pages to import images to Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia বাংলা हिन्दी नेपाली ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Edit links This page was last edited on 19 August 2018, at 23 : 20 ( UTC ). About Wikipedia

Question: who wrote the autobiographical novel the english teacher
Answer: R. K. Narayan