Symbolism in Raja Rao's Novel, 'The Cat and Shakespeare'

<p>Raja Rao is one of the founding fathers of Indian English<br>Literature along with Mulk Raj Anand and R. K. Narayan.<br>They are considered the “Big Three”. The Cat and<br>Shakespeare is Rao’s third novel after he has successfully<br>published Kanthapura (1938) and The Serpent and the Rope<br>(1960). The Cat and Shakespeare is narrated by a Brahmin<br>named Ramakrishna Pai. The setting of the story takes place<br>at a small place in Kerala, South India. He and Govindhan<br>Nair, another character in the story are neighbours. There is<br>not much of a story in the novel. It revolves around the story<br>of the mother cat which is taken as a symbol for the Creator<br>of this universe and because of this, we must surrender<br>ourselves to it as we are saved in God's hands. The story is<br>filled with many symbols. For example, there are hidden<br>symbols on the cat, the ration office, the three-storeyed house,<br>the sea, the wall, and so on. Rao has beautifully placed these<br>things at the right place and it is from this kind of talent that<br>he is still now considered as one of the greatest novelists who<br>had contributed a lot to Indian English Literature.</p>