http://wjel.sciedupress.com World Journal of English Language Vol. 13, No. 5; 2023 Published by Sciedu Press 110 ISSN 1925-0703 E-ISSN 1925-0711 Post-Independence Themes in Arun Joshi’s Novel: The Apprentice Deepalakshmi Shanmugam 1,2, & K. Sundararajan 1 1 A.V.V.M. Shri Pushpam College (Autonomous), (Affiliated to Bharathidasan University) Thanjavur, India. 2 College of Science and Humanities, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chengalpattu, India. Correspondence: Deepalakshmi Shanmugam, A.V.V.M. Shri Pushpam College (Autonomous), (Affiliated to Bharathidasan University) Thanjavur, India. Received: December 12, 2022 Accepted: February 16, 2023 Online Published: March 17, 2023 doi:10.5430/wjel.v13n5p110 URL: https://doi.org/10.5430/wjel.v13n5p110 Abstract Ratan Rathor is the main character of Arun Joshi's third book, The Apprentice (1974). He is an original soul caught in a materialistic and urbanized society. The hero’s self-analysis is the focus of the novel. Ultimately, he finds solace in daily devotion to the devotees, which serves as atonement for his actions. Gandhi's teachings, as well as those of Western and Indian philosophers, influences Arun Joshi. The novel’s central theme is a post-independence letdown. The unavoidable nature of evil returning to the evil-doer is the subject of the other dynamic leitmotif. Despite the perplexing surroundings, the focus always remains on the individual, who calculatingly chooses evil and then repents. Ratan looks like a victim of the contemporary world. This paper examines the notion of attempting to sort through the confusion that pervades modern life. Keywords: desolation, despair, Ratan Rathor, Arun Joshi, anxiety 1. Introduction The novel The Apprentice by Arun Joshi delves deeply into the character’s inner consciousness to examine the human psyche. Because his morality demands that he make up for his sins of timidity and betrayal by disrespectfully revealing his own identity, the hero, Ratan Rathor, shares the human secret to his survival. He has a rigorously existentialist attitude, is unqualified and sensitive, and is far from himself and his surroundings. He is made weaker by Billy or Sindi (Author's previous novels' protagonists). Ratan Rathor is from the Rajasthani revolutionary family. However, they have made their home in the Himalayan foothills. Ratan is an intelligent young man who moves to Delhi for a career. He joins the Army Store department as a clerk. After many years, after his service regularization, he worked as permanent staff and became an officer. The narrative describes how a young boy's life evolves through time amid city dwellers. He is aware of his internal pain, though, and his continuous goodness prevents him from harming others, allowing him to be of service to others. He satisfies this need by working as a shoe shiner on the stairs of the Delhi temple. Joshi writes about Ratan Rathor's heartbreaking situation is senses caught in a world of confusion, exploitation, and folly. In this novel, the hero uses the confessional way to show his chaos in the present world. Ratan is the narrator of his story about the unknown young cadet. It is considered a monologue. The novel includes the Indo-China War. The setting of the story is the Indian urban middle class. In The Apprentice, Arun Joshi (1993) had the main character set out to find himself separated from his fellowmen. The shocking details of his self-revelation are the most critical points in this novel. Arun Joshi created a makeup like Coleridge in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and Ratan mirrors his skillful manipulation of confession. This novel provides a personal touch to the summary of the story. 2. Analysis An essential aspect of the novel is that Ratan Rathor only confessed his guilt to an unknown young student. That young NCC student from Punjab reminds him of his father. His father was a selfless man who sacrificed his life for the nation. This thought keeps ringing in his memory. He expresses remorse for his decline and deterioration of his father's appearance. Ratan's parents brought him up with two different principles. On the one hand, his father, a successful lawyer, followed Gandhian principles and was honest, selfless, a hard worker, and a patriot. His father's world was an ideal one which was the opposite of his mother’s materialistic worldview. Ratan's father left his job and family to join the freedom movement. He was dead while leading a protest. His mother was sick with tuberculosis. After his father's death, Ratan lets go of his ideals, but his mother's money-oriented mind influences him. Ratan's mother shows the terrible reality of this materialistic society, and she advises her son not to fool himself. She added that money was the only thing that they needed to survive. She was sure that money was the most important thing. For his mother, her husband's ideals were nonsense and would not contribute to life. According to her, money is the only way to gain respect and security. She said money alone would make friends, success, laws, and orders. Ratan was taken aback by his mother’s counsel because he had upheld his father’s lofty aspirations. His life’s purpose now became altered by the importance of money.