Summary
The story "The Cat Within" is about a supposedly cursed shop. One night, the shopkeeper notices a figure making a ruckus in his shop. Frightened deeply by this occurrence, he calls upon an exorcist. The exorcist, a well-known member of the community, visits his shop and tells him that it is likely the result of some wrongdoing he committed. The exorcist grills the shopkeeper until he finally admits he received land in his friend's will and was involved with his wife. He stops short of saying more, but there is a suggestion he may have killed the man and his wife. In that moment, the cat springs forwards, and both men realize there was no spirit in the shop.
The story "The Edge" describes the life of a knife sharpener named Ranga. Ranga loves his daughter very much and quarrels with his wife frequently. His wife is often critical of their daughters, wanting them to get a job instead of pursuing an education. She also disapproves of Ranga's friends and drinking. He is always worried about money and seems to constantly fall short of what he needs. He finds better-paid work in Malgudi and settles into a routine of splitting his time between his home and work.
One day, he encounters a couple who offers to give him a ride back home. He notices they have a bumper sticker that expresses support for the population control measure the government has undertaken. They treat him kindly, giving him coffee and telling him about an opportunity he might have to win thirty rupees. They tell him he must sleep in a secluded camp and talk to no one. He does so and is awoken the next morning by some police officers. They question him and then take him to a tent where he is questioned further. He talks about his various children, including the ones from his first wife, who all perished very young. He is then taken to a doctor who has a collection of sharp knives. He realizes they are about to castrate him, and he flees out into the field crying, "Knives sharpened!"
"God and the Cobbler" depicts a conversation between a hippie and a cobbler. The hippie spends his day sitting in the sun and observing the townspeople as they go about their days. He takes particular notice of a cobbler, whom he admires for his self-possession and impressive craft. One day, they have a conversation. They discuss the impact of individual lives and reincarnation, as the cobbler reveals that he tries to get through each day without incident and hopes that his next life might be a little better than this one. The hippie gifts the cobbler a small silver figure of the goddess Durga; but the cobbler tells him to keep it, as he suspects that it may have been stolen. They part ways, and the cobbler wishes the hippie well.
"Hungry Child" is about a man named Raman who befriends a lost child at an expo. Raman is irritated by the bright lights and loud sounds at the event. He hears an announcement about a boy being unable to find his parents. He takes the boy through the fairgrounds, buying him food, taking him on rides, and generally doing what he asks. Simultaneously, he reflects on his miserable romantic relationship with a woman named Daisy. He recalls her stance against having children and blames her for his life not turning out the way he wanted it to. The boy eventually reunites with his parents, who swiftly scold him. Raman pities the boy for his hard upbringing.
"Emden," the final story in the collection, is about a man named Rao who was once widely feared in Malgudi. Rao is celebrating his eightieth birthday, and he goes out for a walk and some people in town notice him. They remark on how he used to be a law enforcement official who collected many bribes and harassed people loitering in the street. They used to call him "Emden" and run away from him as soon as they saw he was coming.
Rao decides to destroy the papers from that period of his life, but is uncertain of how and where to do it. He begins going through the papers and looks at an old diary. A page of the diary reminds him of a young man whom he slapped one day. This memory leads him to go out for a walk and revisit the street where this happened. He looks around and realizes all the people from this time in his life are gone. He walks a bit further and a dog steals his walking stick, leaving him stranded in the streets.
Analysis
The final stories in the collection return to themes of chance, regret, and change. Characters fall into different circumstances that lead them to reflect on where life has gotten them. They consider the lives they used to have or missed out on. A major part of these stories is reconsideration and hindsight.
"The Cat Within" deals with the concepts of superstition and misperception. The shopkeeper firmly believes that his shop is possessed by an evil spirit after hearing a strange noise in his store. He pursues the advice of an exorcist and ends up confessing to a crime that he may have committed against a friend of his. The cat then springs out of the store and both men realize that the business was never haunted. The exorcist then comically adds that the shopkeeper can pay his fee the following day. The story reveals the way in which superstition leads the shopkeeper to handle the situation in a serious manner, when the explanation was entirely commonplace. The return to normalcy is marked by the exorcist returning to the grounded concern of his payment.
The story "The Edge" revisits the idea of happenstance and coincidence. Ranga, the knife sharpener, is picked up by a family who offers to give him a ride. He notices that they have a propaganda bumper sticker, supporting the birth control limits imposed by the government. He pays this little mind and accepts the ride, as well as their invitation to stay in the town overnight to receive money. He is then arrested and brought to a tent to be questioned and sterilized; recognizing the doctor's very sharp knives, he realizes what is happening and flees the scene. The story undermines Ranga's initial perception that this family has charitably assisted him and that he has gotten lucky. Instead, as he realizes by the end, this entire interaction has been geared towards castrating him.
"Hungry Child" is largely about regret. Raman befriends a lost young boy at a fair in an effort to experience the family life he never had. He buys the child everything that he wants and tries his best to make him happy. He reflects on his unhappy relationship with a woman named Daisy who did not want children. When the story ends, he sees the boy reunite with his family and sadly notes that the boy is not treated very well. The story revolves around Raman's efforts to see what having a son might have been like. This experiment fails, of course, as the boy is not actually his child, and he has no real connection with him.
In the story "Emden," an elderly man named Rao reflects on his old life as a widely feared and corrupt city official who the people called Emden. In the past, he inspired terror on the streets and he collected a large number of bribes. He is flooded with memories and impressions from this part of his life. This pushes him to go for a walk in a part of town he used to frequent. As he walks, he realizes no one from his old life is still alive and that the town has changed. At the end of his walk, a dog steals his cane, leaving him defenseless. The ending fits the story's main theme, as it shows Rao's loss of influence, power, and strength. He is no longer "Emden," he is only "Rao," with only his memories.
