Sara and Drayer Baba

Sara and Drayer Baba’s relationship is defined by the influence of a spiritual teacher on Sara’s intimate life with Henry Chinaski. Drayer Baba, an Indian man who claimed to be God and died in 1971, is present not as a living participant but through his image, remembered authority, and prohibition on sex before marriage. His teaching repeatedly interrupts Sara and Henry’s physical closeness, turning their private encounters into a contest between desire and religious obedience.

Drayer Baba’s Presence

When Sara takes Henry home, her Volks van carries a poster of Drayer Baba advising him to “Smile and rejoice.” His presence extends throughout her house: photographs of him are everywhere, and Sara explains that he was from India and had claimed to be God. These details establish that her devotion is part of her surroundings as well as her beliefs. Drayer Baba’s authority enters their relationship through his representations and precepts, rather than through direct contact.

The faith has a specific rule with immediate consequences. When Henry is too drunk to drive and Sara offers him a place to sleep, she makes clear that he may sleep in her bed but that they will not have sex. Asked why, she explains that sex without marriage is forbidden and attributes the prohibition to Drayer Baba. Henry challenges the teaching by suggesting that God can be mistaken; Sara answers that he cannot. The exchange shows that the boundary is not simply a temporary hesitation: Sara presents it as a conviction grounded in an authority she considers infallible.

The Rule in Practice

The rule does not eliminate physical intimacy. Sara and Henry kiss, and in bed she touches him and presses his body against hers, but stops short of intercourse. Henry restrains himself from touching her in ways he thinks would offend Drayer Baba and waits for Sara to go further. The encounter ends without sex. When the same pattern recurs the next morning, Henry gives up on the possibility of consummation in that moment. Their closeness is real, but the religious boundary repeatedly determines how far it can go.

The narrator’s account presents this restraint as both frustrating and charged. Henry admires Sara’s kissing and compares it favorably with Lydia Vance’s, while reflecting that each woman has her own way of kissing. Yet the comparison does not overcome the immediate obstacle: Drayer Baba’s rule remains between them. Henry’s focus on erotic frustration contrasts with Sara’s stated religious commitment, making the relationship’s conflict a difference in governing priorities rather than a simple absence of attraction.

Repeated Separation and Attachment

Henry’s reflections on Sara place her among women he evaluates not only by appearance or sexual availability but by kindness and the quality of their attention. He thinks Sara has something extra, and his account recognizes that the kinder women can come to seem beautiful through familiarity. Against this appreciation, he laments Drayer Baba as a stop sign holding them apart. The metaphor captures the rule’s function in the relationship: it does not remove their affection, but it blocks the form of intimacy Henry wants.

The pattern persists over time. Henry sees Sara every three or four days, at her place or his, and they sleep together without having sex; they come close but never quite cross the boundary. The narration explicitly attributes this continued restraint to Drayer Baba’s precepts. Their repeated meetings therefore do not resolve the conflict through gradual accommodation. Instead, the teaching maintains a stable limit even as the relationship continues and their intimacy deepens.

A Breach in the Prohibition

On New Year’s Eve, after guests Dinky Summers and Janis have left, Sara and Henry go to bed and begin kissing. Their familiar pattern resumes: physical closeness and kissing build toward the same restrained encounter. Then Sara suddenly initiates intercourse. Henry is astonished, and the change breaks the pattern that Drayer Baba’s teaching had sustained across their previous meetings.

Afterward, Henry looks at the bedroom ceiling and asks Drayer Baba to forgive Sara. The gesture preserves the teacher’s authority even at the moment his rule is breached: Henry frames Sara’s action as something for which forgiveness might be needed. Yet Drayer Baba cannot answer, and Henry notes that he cannot pay him either. The silent, absent figure remains a measure against which the couple’s conduct is judged, but can offer neither response nor intervention. The episode thus marks a decisive change in the practical force of the prohibition, without establishing that Sara has renounced her faith or that the conflict is permanently settled.

Significance

Drayer Baba’s influence makes religious belief an active condition of Sara and Henry’s relationship rather than background detail. His prohibition shapes the pace and limits of their intimacy, while the recurrence of near-encounters makes those limits tangible. Henry experiences the teaching chiefly as an obstacle to sex; Sara’s declaration that God cannot be mistaken indicates a deeper allegiance than his impatience can displace.

The eventual breach is significant precisely because it follows repetition rather than persuasion. Sara and Henry have shared affection and physical closeness while the rule holds; when she finally initiates sex, the change belongs to her action, not to any stated change in Drayer Baba’s doctrine. Henry’s appeal for forgiveness leaves the spiritual conflict audible even after the boundary has been crossed. The relationship therefore portrays the teacher’s authority as both powerful and limited: it governs the couple’s intimacy for a time, but does not determine every choice Sara makes.