educated and widely read in the literatures of the world. I have noticed that most of these people prefer to read European literature. Only that Marathi novelist who manages to force the attention of such people to his work, and .is able to make them feel that they will miss something of value if they do not it, is a novelist I would call great The Function of the Novel It is clear from the above analysis, that there is no better medium than the novel to propagate ideas and ideals. The characters through whom such ideas and ideals are communicated are actually non-existent. They are born of and inhabit the world of the writer s imagination. But when the realistic novelist introduces them as his protagonists, they exercise so strong an attraction on the mind of the reader that, as with the lives of saints, the reader/devotee becomes the character/saint. To identify with characters in fiction is a human response. When the reader identifies with the joys, sorrows, trials and victories of the protagonist and becomes one with his point of view, then one may say that the novelist has succeeded. There are many amongst us who turn up their noses at the novel, scorning the multitudes who read it. All one can say about such people is that they have not gauged the true strengh of this ancient and powerful adversary. If they did succeed in doing so, far from antagonising this wizard, they would woo him for an ally. He need only be told then, that it was necessary to propagate this or that idea in society and he would set happily to work. He will tell children tales of birds and animals and sow in their minds i3eas of strategy and adventure; he will convince womenfolk of the virtues of domestic bliss; he will acquaint young men with the value of national ambition; and he will direct the old towards their duty. Moreover, while accomplishing all this, he will never let people know what has been done and how it has been done. Such are the deeds of this wizard. Fortunate are those who are touched by his magic stick. July-September 1984