R.K. Narayan's novel The Painter of Signs is the story of two unique characters whose similarities and differences may be considered symbolic of the issues confronting India today. Daisy is a feminist whose career focuses on helping Indian families control reproduction through family planning. She is a driven woman with a mission based on her understanding of the ways in which unhampered reproduction negatively impacts on the quality of life enjoyed by Indian women and, by extension, their families. Raman, in contrast, is a more conventional Indian male who works as a sign painter in the fictional town of Malgudi. His life intersects with that of Daisy when she gives him a contract to paint signs and murals for the family planning clinics she is opening in the countryside. Inevitably, Raman falls in love with Daisy and wishes for her to become his wife.
It is this determination that introduces one of the central conflicts of the book which centers on the caste system in India. At issue herein is a determination of why readers are sympathetic toward Raman and continue to be so despite the many mistakes he makes as he pursues his dream.
Early in the book, the reader encounters Raman as he attempts to interact rationally with an attorney who has requested a special sign to hang in front of his new office. Narayan (7-10) presents Raman as a concerned artist who knows that if he attempts to rush through creating a sign for this demanding client, neither he nor the lawyer will be satisfied. The reader quickly recognizes that Raman wants to please this client, but is torn between the need to complete the commission in an unreasonably short amount of time and his professional recognition that rushing will create a substandard product. Because Raman does what the lawyer asks him to do and does it poorly, he has some "trouble" with this client (Narayan, 7). Though this is a small incident, it lets the reader understand tha...