malgudi evolved with the changing political landscape of india. in the 1980s, when the nationalistic fervor in india dictated the changing of british names of towns and localities and removal of british landmarks, malgudi's mayor and city council removed the long-standing statue of frederick lawley, one of malgudi's early residents. however, when the historical societies showed proof that lawley was strong in his support of the indian independence movement, the council was forced to undo all their earlier actions. a good comparison to malgudi, a place that greene characterised as "more familiar than battersea or euston road", is faulkner's yoknapatawpha county. also, like faulkner's, when one looks at narayan's works, the town gets a better definition through the many different novels and stories.