CHARACTER SKETCH OF MARCO from THE GUIDE by R.K. Narayan

 Character Sketch of Marco 

√ For a beautiful answer,always start your introduction with a quotation. 

INTRODUCTION - "He was capable of cold, machine like rectitude;" The husband of Rosie, Marco is a serious, studious, reticent scholar of ancient civilizations whose only passion is for his work. His research into the sites of ancient civilization has turned him into an eternal tourist, as evidenced by the traveler’s clothes that he always wears. Arriving in the town of Malgudi on the railway one day to examine cave paintings, Marco hires Raju to show him the sights.

HIS NAME - Marco is not the real name of the scholarly husband of Rosie. The research scholar with his Eurocentric culture has been satirized. To Raju, he appears to be a space traveler or an astronaut. Marco is a shortened version of Marco Polo who is an archeologist. One can feel pity towards that character ‘Marco’ because it was the name given by Raju at the railway station. “I have, of course, no idea of the original Marco Polo’s appearance, but I wanted to call this man Marco at first sight, and have not bother to associate him with any other name since.”

√ In character sketch question, you should also write the character's physical appearance if given in the textbook. 

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE -

"He dressed like a man about to undertake an expedition—with his thick colored glasses, thick jacket, and a thick helmet over which was perpetually stretched a green, shiny waterproof cover, giving him the appearance of a space traveler."

"His dress, with his helmet and thick jacket, as I have already mentioned, was that of a wild African shikari."

"For all the heavy helmet and glasses that he wore, he was frail—too much

frieze-gazing and cave-visiting had emaciated him." 

√ Then write directly what is being asked without wasting time, for example it is character sketch question so I am writing all of his characteristics which defines his character.

CHARACTERISTICS -

√ You should write as many quotes as you can from the story or given text in your answer as evidence. 

STUDIOUS - Marco has the obsessive tenacity of a hardcore scholar, single-mindedly pursuing his very difficult field of research. For certain kind of people that only absolves all his vices. His scholarship and hard labour pay off - his book, The Cultural History of South India, attracted a good publisher and complimentary reviews.

"He went on talking. Dead and decaying things seemed to unloosen his tongue and fire his imagination, rather than things that lived and moved and swung their limbs." 

"I had little to do as a guide; he knew so much more of everything! When he passed in, he completely forgot the world outside and its inhabitants." 

"Bats were whirring about; the floor was broken and full of holes. But he minded nothing. He became busy measuring, writing down, photographing, all the time keeping up a chatter, not bothered in the least whether I listened or not."

KNOWLEDGEABLE - 

"He didn’t even stop to ask me what time the train would arrive. He seemed to know everything beforehand. He was a very strange man, who did not always care to explain what he was doing. but he spared me the labor, he knew all about it."

"Then he lit up a lantern and showed me the wall on which he had scraped off the lime and discovered new pictures. They were the usual grotesque, ancient paintings of various figures, but he managed to spell out the letters around them, and take them down as musical notations."

DILIGENT - His research matters the most to him. He was in an unbelievably cheerful mood. He greeted his wife with greater warmth than ever before. “Do you know there is a third cave; a sort of vault leads into it. I scraped the lime, and there you have a complete fresco of musical notations, in symbolic figures. The style is of the fifth century. I am puzzled how such a wide period-difference has come about,”

"He had made voluminous notes on all the cave paintings. He had filled sheet after sheet with their description, transcription, and whatnot. "

INSENSITIVE - Insensitivity and callousness towards everything other than his work is reflected in his neglect of Rosie during their visit to Malgudi. He is obsessively devoted to his pursuit of deciphering ancient art and painting in known or unknown remote caves and temples to the point of total neglect of his wife’s desires, wishes and tastes. Marco never treats her as a human being who has some individual expectations from her life.  "This man would go on wall-gazing all his life and leave her to languish in her hotel room."

IGNORANT - He is someone who is busy in dark caves and removes all the sunlight from his life. This shows his ignorance towards Raju and Rosie’s affair as he is not interested in his human wife but all the lifeless things. This is why the revelation was so shocking to him.

"He was sitting in his chair, elbow on the table, his chin on his fist. I had never seen him so vacant before. I felt pity for him."

RESERVED -  He is what we would call today an introvert. 

"I don’t see him, I don’t hear him, but he does everything for me at the right time. That’s how I want things to be, you know. He was unusually loquacious and warm. His nature flourished on solitude, and cave frescoes." 

“Oh, no, he is a gem. A good man; would be even better if his wife left

him alone. He was so happy without her. Why did you bring her back? She seems to be a horrible nagger.”- Joseph said about Marco

RIGID - Marco’s rigidity and cruelty become apparent when, upon discovering that his unhappy and dissatisfied younger wife has commenced an affair with his tourist guide, he completely ignores her for three weeks. 

"I don’t, don’t want you here, but if you are going to be here, don’t talk. That is all.’

COLD -Marco has nothing to share with his wife either as a husband or as a human being. He has neither love nor care for his wife. He has a very low opinion of her art which he calls a ‘street acrobatics’.

“If it interests you, you can make your own arrangements. Don’t expect

me to go with you. I can’t stand the sight of a snake—your interests are morbid.”

"Anything that interested her seemed to irritate him."

"He put on his helmet and spectacles and went past me as if I had not existed. I had stood there for nearly three hours, I think. He had measured, copied, noted down, and examined with a torch, but without paying the slightest attention to me. I could never have imagined that one human being could ignore the presence of another human being so completely."

SINCERE -He is sincere too; he acknowledges his gratitude to Raju in his newly published book, even though Raju has cheated him. He even returns

Rosie’s jewellery. He is a man of a few words. He never forgets to acknowledge Raju’s help in finding the Mempi Caves in his book.

"I shall surely mention in the book my debt to you in discovering this place.” And he surely does that.

RESOLUTE - When he comes to know about Rosie’s adultery, he is shocked, and he never forgives her. Finally, he abandons Rosie and departs alone to Madras. ‘This is my last word to you. Don’t talk to me. You can go where you please or do what you please.’

"I wanted very much to go back home. The porter carried our trunks. He pointed at my portion of the baggage and told the porter, ‘I don’t know about these—not mine.’ So the porter looked at me for a second and separated my box. When the train arrived the porter carried only his baggage, and he took his seat in a compartment. I didn’t know what to do. I picked up my trunk and followed. When I tried to step into the compartment he said, ‘I have no ticket for you,’ and he flourished a single ticket and shut the door on me."

DOMINEERING - His male ego coupled with his pride of his knowledge makes him blind to the fact that Rosie is not an artifact to be put and showcased in the bed room. He married her so he should also show her consideration but doesn't do so.

"The man did not even care to tell me anything about himself, or where he wanted to go on the following morning; an extraordinary fellow! A hateful fellow. I had never hated any customer so much before.

POSSESIVE - Marco’s controlling and dominant nature is also reflected in the ban that he imposes on Rosie, forbidding her to pursue the passion for classical dance which she nurtures. I said, ‘If these were about dancing, I could perhaps have tried—’ He looked up sharply. The word ‘dance’ always stung him. I was afraid to go on with the subject. 

ECCENTRIC - He shall be referred to as Marco henceforth—said, “Go ahead and do it. I look to you to help us through. You know I have only one principle in life. I don’t want to be bothered with small things. I don’t mind the expense.”

"He was unsteady—sometimes he announced aloud his indifference to money, next minute he’d suddenly show every symptom of miserliness and behave like an auditor, but ultimately he’d pay for everything if, as I discovered, he got a voucher for payments. He would not yield an anna without a voucher, whereas if you gave him a slip of paper you could probably get him to write off his entire fortune."

“Give me your bill and be done with it.” Even in his most excited, emotional state, he would not forget his vouchers.

HIS EMOTIONS - Although he seems to cold a person to have emotions but he is not completely devoid of them.

• When he thinks Raju is helping him, "Oh you are a wizard."

• He can leave her wife for whole day in a hotel room 58 miles away. "He was a good man, completely preoccupied, probably a man with an abnormal capacity for trust."

• Rosie says this about him, "After all, he has been so good to me, given me comfort and freedom. Whose husband in the world would let his wife go and live in a hotel by herself a hundred miles away." 

• When his research was going well - "I sat there, he came behind me, and, putting his hand on my shoulder, said, ‘I thought we had come to a final understanding about that subject. Did you or did you not promise that you’d never mention it again?’ ”“His tone,” she resumed, “was now so kind that I felt I need not bother even if I had to abandon my own plans once for all. 

• His state after the shocking revelation of his wife's extra marital affair, "I was filled with some sort of pity for him too—as I remembered how he had sat up un-moving on the bed all night while I sat in the chair. The look of despair and shock in his face haunted me."

• His self control as said by Rosie, “I do, and I deserved nothing less. Any other husband would have throttled me then and there. He tolerated my company for nearly a month, even after knowing what I had done."

AS A CHARACTER- 

SYMBOL OF PAST - male dominated society ‘I think I’d be very happy if I could do that. I have so many ideas. I’d like to try. Just as you are trying to—’ “ ‘Oh, you want to rival me, is that it? This is a branch of learning, not street-acrobatics.’

A LONER - he seemed to flourish in his solitude; that’s probably what he had looked for all his life.“He sits up all night writing, and—” “If he sits up all night writing, during the day you should talk to him,” I would say with a look of innocence. “But all day he is in the cave!” “Well, you may go and see it too. Why not? It ought to interest you.” “While he is copying, no one may talk to him.” The only purpose in his life is his research.

CONCLUSION - One can say that Marco is an introvert, self-centred, slightly conservative, eccentric, harsh but a righteous man who keeps his words. And the fact about him banning Rosie from dancing was something he clearly before marrying her and it was Rosie who at tha time had promised him never to dance to marry him. Though he has flaws like being insensitive to his wife but he gave her every comfort except one. So we can say that if he is not a gentleman figure, he is also not a villain.

IF THERE ARE ANY MISTAKES (human nature), LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENT SECTION. HOPE YOU WILL FIND THIS HELPFUL. 

YOU CAN CUT THIS ANSWER AND CHOOSE THE HEADINGS YOU LIKE OR WHICH ARE EASY TO REMEMBER FOR YOU. I WROTE THIS IN MY EXAMS AND GOT QUITE GOOD MARKS... 😊 

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Character Sketch of Marco in The Guide by R.K. Narayan.