The Axe by R.K Narayan: A Summary

 

The Axe is a beautiful story by R.K. Narayan. It is a story about a man named Velan. Eventually he reaches Malgudi. He gets a job of a gardener. He starts looking after the garden of his master. Velan labours hard and develops that garden as an excellent garden. Time passes by. Velan grows old. His master dies. One day the property is sold to a builder. The builder decides to cut off the trees and flowers. Velan is given a notice to vacate the place. One day when he is sleeping in the afternoon, he listens to the sound of an axe. He gets up and finds that the employees of the builder are cutting the trees and plants of the garden. He tries to stop them but they continues. The fall of the axe on his beloved plants hurts him. Very soon he leaves the place. It seems that the story puts forward the strong idea of conservation. The story teller wants to convey a message that man is disturbing nature. Through the character of Velan the storyteller wants to say that we should love and protect trees. He wants to emphasise that without trees there will be no life at all.

Sandal S Anshu, Satna