House Opposite by RK Narayan The short story House Opposite by RK Narayan is an example of a man and his struggle with his humanity. The basic plot of the story includes a holy man (called only "the hermit") who lives according to the traditions of an Indian lifestyle. He considers himself a very good man, who does not give in to temptations or, as we read in the text, "strictly suppresses all desires of the palate and punishes his body in various ways." It is indicated that the hermit actually did not understand why he was doing all this, other than his selfish interest in "spiritual liberation". The conflict in the story is internal; the hermit notices a prostitute living across the street and cannot ignore her presence. Throughout the story, the hermit complains about the "terrible monster" and considers her to be the "personification of evil". But this is not the root of the problem. The hermit's concern for the prostitute served to destroy him, but unfortunately for him the blame cannot be directed at her. Throughout the entire half of the passage, the hermit described the prostitute's features with particular contempt, yet he continued to look at her, even look askance at her. He kept thinking about what happened behind closed doors, about the men waiting outside the house "smoking, chewing tobacco and spitting into the gutter - committing all the sins of the world according to the hermit". In fact, after the story unfolded, the hermit was so shocked that he was "forced" to leave his refuge to look for a new place, thinking that he would rather be homeless than live near the woman. He couldn't concentrate on his thoughts and couldn't keep his gaze on the tip of his nose, as was right, but he could only see the woman. The interesting thing is that he didn't blame himself for his problem at all. . In one verse the hermit thought to himself: "It is difficult to say whether it was those monstrous arms and breasts or those thighs that tempted and ruined me..." and then he began to call the women by name. Because she had ruined his "tapas: all the merit he had so laboriously acquired..." The truth is that not only was the hermit strong-willed, but he also had no idea why he was against that woman's practices, other than that that someone once said.