Raman

Raman is the eponymous Painter of Signs and the central character / protagonist. Raman runs his own business painting signs for the businesses of the fictional town of Malgudi, India, which is Raman’s hometown. Raman’s character arc involves him moving from the rational, practical approach to life that he uses at the start of the novel, to an approach that engages with the more intangible aspects of life, specifically romantic love.

At the start of the novel, Raman is a bachelor who often defines himself in terms of his unmarried state: “He wishes to establish that the man-woman relationship was not inevitable and that there were other more important things in life to do than marrying” (38). Raman’s initially intense opposition to the idea of marriage explains the extremity of his emotional reaction to meeting and falling in love with Daisy, because it represents such an unexpected...