Studying the Idea of Evil and Redemption in Arun Joshi’s ‘The Apprentice’

Abstract

In his search and attempt to introduce new themes in his fiction, Joshi has “renounced the outer world in favour of the inner man” and has engaged himself in “a search for the essence of human being” (Verghese 124-125). Dr. Faustus is the archetypal protorype of the modern man, and this novel appears to be a near perfect statement on man dabbling in evil and then, unlike the Marlovian protagonist, recanting, and reverting to find redemption. This study proposes to bring out Arun Joshi’s idea of evil and how the protagonist of ‘The Apprentice’ seeks atonement.
Keywords: Faustus, Marlow, Arun Joshi, existential, evil, redemption