Analysis Of R. K. Narayan's 'Great Expectations'

The recollection of the protagonist forming the corpus of a work of art is nothing new. One may cite the case of Wordsworth's The Preludein which the poet recalls his early days and gives a detailed account of his growth, basing himself on memory. R.K. Narayan's The Guideis also an instance in point. The novel is virtually Raju's story: his early days, his taking the role of a railway guide, his mixing with Rosie, his effort to transform Rosie from Marco's wife to Nalini—a renowned dancer, his involvement in forgery, his days of confinement in jail, and his flowering into a religious guide—a Mahatma. All the events are narrated by Raju, though the account is fittingly punctuated with the occasional comment of the author. However, Narayan's popular novel The Guide is a notable sample of memory novel.
Now to Dickens, Great Expectations, a novel in which Dickens remains behind the screen. Great Expectation did feature autobiographical elements much like David Copperfield but humour and following the artisan norms of life made the memory machine in Great Expectation more illustrative. In a letter in early October 1860, Dickens gave an account of his plan of the essential narrative mode
It is well-known that with the stage-performance of Galsworthy's Justice exhibiting the shabby and inhuman treatment meted out to the convicts in prison, there followed a stir among the people of England, and the result was that the authorities concerned could not remain passive, and therefore, several important reformations in jail were effected. When one goes to read Great Expectations, one wonders at Dickens's role as Galsworthy's predecessor in criticizing the prevailing system in jail administration. In fact, Dickens is not mere an entertainer. He is a sound and sincere social