Enroute of a Village’s First Graduate to an Ideal Symbolic Interactionist

Abstract

Education is the gaining of knowledge, which makes a person self- equipped without any direct dependence. A village which has faced an utter devastation due to over flooding stumbles to regain its routine after its shelter and occupation have been flooded. Nothing is left behind to lead a normal life. With the arrival of Atluri Pitcheshwar Rao who is affectionately addressed as Pitchayya, the first graduate of Pulapparu village, the villagers find hope in his words and an awakening prospect of future. Pitchayya has a wide knowledge as he has travelled far and wide. The actions of Pitchayya are perceived under symbolic interactionism. Villagers who have divided themselves based on occupation already face a border which further challenges their unity to bring forth togetherness to work on rebuilding. The character Pitchayya in the novel Softly dies a Lake by Akkineni Kutumbarao symbolizes education that is respectable in society, and which also serves and rescues a village community. With the presence of Pitchayya, symbolic interactionism theory is applied so as to explore the crisis of Pulapparu village. The paper traces the journey of Pitchayya who became an ideal symbolic interactionist in his native place.

Keywords: Educated graduate, Symbolic interactionist, Village community, Social interaction