Character Of Balu - The Financial Expert by R.K Narayan
Balu is the only son of Margayya, the chief protagonist of the novel 'The Financial Expert'. From his childhood, Balu has been nurtured as a pampered child by his parents because they had no children for years after their marriage, that's why Balu remain too precious to them. This later culminates in him becoming a spoiled child with no purpose in life.
Unlike his father, he doesn't possess any cleverness and hard-working attitude. He never performs his only duty of studying. All his life, Margayya works day and night to ensure a comfortable life for Balu but he never stands up to his father's expectations of making a big man. Margayya took pains to help Balu pass High school, even indulges in corrupt practices but it was no use. Balu tore all his hopes and left his home. He began to work as a "sandwich boys" in Madras, he was working there diligently and honestly unlike his earlier traits.
We see a change perhaps due to his excessive hate towards studies and adding to fuel was his father's repeated pressure to complete matriculation. His adult temperament shows quietness yet exasperation with solitude. It seems that Margayya, busy in his work, fails to understand what he really wants. That's why he took bad habits such as smoking and gambling.
Balu is a burden and a reason for sadness in his parents' life. Even, when he marries Brinda, a perfect and decent girl and who is unmatched for his good-for-nothing character, he doesn't change himself to begin a new chapter of his life with his life-partner. In fact, his marriage is arranged on the foundation of Margayya's financial reputation, not on Balu's personal merits.Throughout his life, he remains dependent upon his father.
Ultimately, in the end, Balu become the reason for his downfall from heights of success. Dr Pal who earlier aided Margayya in his pursuit to accumulate loads of wealth, prompts Balu to indulge in misdeeds. Pal incited Balu to ask for his ancestral property from his father to spend it in gambling.
Unlike his father, he doesn't possess any cleverness and hard-working attitude. He never performs his only duty of studying. All his life, Margayya works day and night to ensure a comfortable life for Balu but he never stands up to his father's expectations of making a big man. Margayya took pains to help Balu pass High school, even indulges in corrupt practices but it was no use. Balu tore all his hopes and left his home. He began to work as a "sandwich boys" in Madras, he was working there diligently and honestly unlike his earlier traits.
We see a change perhaps due to his excessive hate towards studies and adding to fuel was his father's repeated pressure to complete matriculation. His adult temperament shows quietness yet exasperation with solitude. It seems that Margayya, busy in his work, fails to understand what he really wants. That's why he took bad habits such as smoking and gambling.
Balu is a burden and a reason for sadness in his parents' life. Even, when he marries Brinda, a perfect and decent girl and who is unmatched for his good-for-nothing character, he doesn't change himself to begin a new chapter of his life with his life-partner. In fact, his marriage is arranged on the foundation of Margayya's financial reputation, not on Balu's personal merits.Throughout his life, he remains dependent upon his father.
Ultimately, in the end, Balu become the reason for his downfall from heights of success. Dr Pal who earlier aided Margayya in his pursuit to accumulate loads of wealth, prompts Balu to indulge in misdeeds. Pal incited Balu to ask for his ancestral property from his father to spend it in gambling.