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The Cousin
The bearded man, bald but with a full white beard, is the 69-year-old former disciple of a genius carver of religious statues, whom he claims adopted him at age 5 after he was orphaned. Though he makes his living selling hair dye, he longs to finish his dead master’s final project: a statue of the goddess Gayatri to be installed in a particular niche in his dead master’s workplace and shrine. After he has completed this project, he feels that he can die. He approaches Jagan, brings him to the shrine, and tries to convince him to buy the property and fund the statue-carving. As the novel ends, Jagan has decided to move to the shrine and pursue the bearded man’s plan.
The Bearded Man Quotes in The Vendor of Sweets
The The Vendor of Sweets quotes below are all either spoken by The Bearded Man or refer to The Bearded Man . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 7 Quotes
“Do you make your images there?”
At this, the man burst into a big laugh and said, “Did I not tell you what I do now? I make hair dyes. I can make the whitest hair look black.”
Related Characters:
The Bearded Man (speaker), Jagan (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
110–111
Explanation and Analysis:
A mysterious bearded man has come to the sweet shop, introduced himself to Jagan, and explains that he was once the apprentice to a masterful carver of religious images who lived in a shrine not far from Jagan’s. When Jagan asks whether the bearded man whether he still makes “images”—that is, religious statues—at the shrine, the bearded man laughs and explains that his occupation is now to “make hair dyes.” In other words, the bearded man has left an apprenticeship that attempts to communicate religious truth through art to enter a profession whose purpose is to “make the whitest hair look black”—that is, to practice deception and flatter customers’ vanity. The opposition between religious truth and commercial deception in the bearded man’s life story suggests that many forms of commercial activity may be hostile to living a sincere religious life. This suggestion foreshadows how Jagan, at the end of the novel, will give up his shop and his participation in commercial activity to retire to the bearded man’s shrine.
Chapter 8 Quotes
He went on talking and Jagan listened agape as if a new world had flashed into view. He suddenly realized how narrow his whole existence had been—between the Lawley Statue and the frying shop[.]
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Explanation and Analysis:
“It would be the most accredited procedure according to our scriptures—husband and wife must vanish into the forest at some stage in their lives, leaving the affairs of the world to younger people.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Bearded Man Character Timeline in The Vendor of Sweets
The timeline below shows where the character The Bearded Man appears in The Vendor of Sweets. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 7
...owner of the Ananda Bhavan restaurant, the owner of the law courts canteen, and a bearded man whom Jagan doesn’t know. After some polite introductory chitchat, the Ananda Bhavan owner asks why...
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A bit later, the bearded man comes back into the shop. He introduces himself to Jagan; he used to be called...
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After some further chat, Jagan asks the bearded man where his master lived. The bearded man says it’s relatively nearby, offers to take Jagan...
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Jagan asks the bearded man whether he carves his own images at his master’s place. The bearded man, laughing, explains...
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Chapter 8
The next day, the bearded man brings Jagan to a remote shrine by a pond in overgrown, wooded surroundings. When Jagan...
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When Jagan asks how the master fed his family up here, the bearded man explains that the master had no family—he adopted the bearded man when the man was...
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The bearded man jokes that the tax people will notice his business once they “notice fewer gray hairs...
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The bearded man walks into the sanctuary, points out an empty alcove to Jagan, and tells him that...
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The bearded man offers Jagan a piece of fruit from a nearby guava tree. Jagan takes it but...
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Wrapped up in these thoughts, Jagan loses track of the bearded man until the bearded man asks whether Jagan is paying attention. When Jagan claims he is,...
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The bearded man orders Jagan to reach into the pool and feel around. Beneath the water, the bearded...
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The bearded man says he’ll die happy if he can spend the rest of his life carving this...
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Suddenly, the bearded man tells Jagan that only Jagan can help him complete the goddess—by purchasing the property and...
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Chapter 9
...He feels as though he has undergone a metamorphosis through divine intervention thanks to the bearded man —yet he wonders whether he should help the man on his mission and what he...
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Chapter 13
...cousin asks where, Jagan tells him about the retreat. Horrified, the cousin asks whether the bearded man who sells hair dye has been trying to pawn off the place on Jagan—and warns...
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