In Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Interpreter of Maladies” we go on a journey with the Das family, and their tour guide Mr. Kapasi; who brings the family on a tour of India’s temples and holy shrines. Early on we learn of the growing infatuation Mr. Kapasi has towards the young Mrs. Das. On several occasions, he fantasizes of how his relationship with her; would grow from simple friends to passionate lovers. Trying to extend his time with her, he desperately hopes the family will agree and be willing to see one of his favorite places. Lahiri goes on to show Mr. Kapasi’s desperation, through his sheer panic of not being able to see or hear from Mrs. Das, so much so he goes on a frantic internal dilemma. Lahiri goes on to say, Mr. Kapasi was beginning to dread
A foreign stranger that they have never met captivated both Mr. Kapasi and Miranda, and they did not care what stood between them. Mrs. Das being from America already stood out from many of the women that Mr. Kapasi knew but she truly stood out as one of the only people to take an interest in his job. Mrs.Das even describes his job as an interpreter as “romantic” (50 Lahiri) and a “big responsibility”
Sripathi’s intolerance of spending money on anything but himself leads to the disgust of his wife. During the planning of Maya’s engagement, he worries about “how much that [would] cost” (102) and even calls his wife a “foolish woman” (102). This is significant because it shows that Sripathi cannot bear the thought of splurging on his daughter’s engagement. This shows that he does not care about pleasing other people who are invited to ceremony; rather, he cares about his own financial future. Through the exchange between him and his wife, Sripathi is portrayed as a selfish person who only cares about his own opinions. He even belittles his wife for not accepting his opinion as the best idea. However, after Maya’s death, Sripathi copes by becoming more empathetic. He recalls what he has done to Maya and wonders how he will be able to face his grandchild with the knowledge that he is responsible for her mother’s death (245). This is significant because Sripathi begins to reflect and consider how others feel. Through this personal thought, this reveals how much his character has changed since the death of Maya. He now understands that he will not be able to face his grandchild because of how disowning Maya contributed to her death. Sripathi now tries to atone for what he has done to Maya by attempting to get closer to Nandana. This helps him to
“Pleasure may come from illusion but happiness can come only of reality.” –Anonymous. Although finding pleasure by means of illusion may be effective temporarily, a relationship is incapable of flourishing without the assistance of reality. In the book Interpreter of Maladies, there are constant battles of characters escaping illusion involving Indian culture, told through short stories. Indifferent relationships will cause a couple to stray from reality and separate themselves from reaching mere happiness. In the stories, “A Temporary Matter” and “Interpreter of Maladies,” the use of alliteration and symbolism emphasize the failing relationships of Shukumar and Shoba and the two marriages of Mrs. Das and Mr. Kapasi with the common theme of
The Change Imagine being a true cultured foreigner, who comes to live in a new country. You do not know anyone in this country and have left all your luxeries back home. You think your culture can help you blend in, but it makes you stand out even more. You see people doing things you never thought you had to do.
Jhumpa Lahiri was born on July 11, 1967. She has the Bengali background by her parentage. She is interested in learning various languages, which she mentioned in her recent work, “In Other Words”. She possessed a number of awards to her credit in the literary field. She is a leading diasporic writer holds a distinctive place in the literary world. Her short stories represent the experiences of the various set of people both in India and America. Most of the research articles on Lahiri focused only on the viewpoint of feminism, culture and gender studies, thematic approach etc. “The narrative is not the story itself but rather the telling of the story” (miamioh.edu). According to the above saying, Lahiri’s way of storytelling is something related to her personal touch. Since she too is an immigrant she perfectly explicit the feelings in her narratives. This research paper focuses her "A Real Durwan" one of the short stories in her famous collection "Interpreter of Maladies" in narratological point of view by
The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee is an in-depth analysis of the history of cancer. The book discusses the beginning stages of cancer when it was merely a confusing phenomenon for doctors that occurred for over a century. For example, "Childhood leukemia had fascinated, confused, and frustrated doctors for more than a century. The disease had been analyzed, classified, sub-classified, and divided meticulously” (Mukherjee 12). Mukherjee is a passionate physician and displays this in his work as a cancer researcher. Mukherjee book consists of his professional experiences working at the Dana-Farber
In Lahiri’s story the attention and the plot of the story both stayed in one same direction that was the cultural clash. Lahiri’s story “Imperator of Maladies” revolves around people who are Indian’s living in India, Indian’s living in America or people Americans with an Indian decent. As her being a second generation immigrant in America, she realized at a very young age that her family is settled here but she was still not sure about the fact which place she could call her real home because of the different cultural she was witnessing in her everyday family life. In the story when the Das’s family did decided to visit India they did witness the same exact feeling. As the story progresses Lahiri gives us a brief background about Mr. and Mrs. Das as they both were born and raised in America but after sometime their retired parents decided to move back and spe...
Relationships are as essential to humans like any basic necessity such as food or water. Throughout history, relationships have assisted human beings in persevering together through both physical and emotional challenges in life. However, the stability of these relationships are incessantly vulnerable to deterioration. This unfortunate outcome has been investigated in numerous works of literature. In two of such works, “Interpreter of Maladies” published in 1999 by Jhumpa Lahiri and “Aguantado” published in 1996 by Junot Diaz, the authors reveal through various tones as well as diction the respective themes of each story how selfish desires lead to the demise of relationships.
Some people believe that opposites attract. Others believe that people who are more similar will have a better relationship. Some prefer relationships with older people, and some prefer them with younger people. Jhumpa Lahiri, author of the short story collection Interpreter of Maladies, explores the dynamic of relationships in her works. In her short story “Interpreter of Maladies” a married woman confesses a secret to a man she barely knows. In her story “This Blessed House” a couple fights over the religious relics they find in their new home. While one reads Lahiri’s stories, a theme begin to emerge that shows the woman of the relationship behaving like an adolescent and the man behaving like her father due to the internalized idea of
The comparison of Jhumpa Lahiri’s “A Temporary Matter” to “Interpreter Of Maladies”, converges upon a single, salient point of thematic interest: issues like double-sided swords in life. Conventionally, a double-sided sword performs both favourable and unfavorable consequences of an issue on the protagonists. Nothing is absolutely positive or negative. The protagonists of these stories, both meet struggles in their lives, but these struggles also provide opportunities for them to solve more important problems they previously had. Double-sided swords most aptly describes the roles of Shoba, Shukumar, Mrs. Das, and Bobby. They all meet matters that also bring positive sides to them. While these people all meet problems in their family, they
I noticed quite a few years ago that suddenly everyone in early recovery from addiction to drugs and alcohol was also being diagnosed as bipolar; not just a few people, almost everyone was labeled bipolar. Most of these individuals were also taking medications that their doctor had prescribed to deal with their mania and depression. Suddenly everyone had a “dual diagnosis,” these seemed like magical words for managed-care approvals.
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (2013) mental illness is defined as a health
Suffering includes a broad scope of things and is often different for everyone. Despite the different ways that people can suffer, virtually every individual on the planet will experience some form or level of suffering in his or her lifetime. Suffering is inevitable. The question is not if you have suffered, it is how. Suffering is personal, handled in different ways, can alter who you are, and changes your relationship with God.
Before their deaths, Mr. and Mrs. Das were preoccupied and inattentive to their four children, Raja, Tara, Bim, and Baba. They spent most of their time at the club, playing “their daily game of bridge” (Desai 50). This pastime is so important to them that they neglect to take care of their kids. For example, Mrs. Das tires of “washing and powdering” Baba, her mentally disabled baby, and she complains, “My bridge is suffering” (103). Mr. Das also does not focus on his children and “he [goes] through the day without addressing a word to them” (53).
Lakunle was a poor village school teacher who had greater admiration for Sidi, “THE VILLAGE BEAUTY WHO WANTED EVERYMAN TO LOOK AT HER SO, SHE MADE A SHOW OFF” when carrying a pail of water, through her way of walking and improper dressing which did not cover the parts of her neck and shoulders. Sidi wanted to attract Lakunle also and “BEING LITTLE INFLUENCED BY HIS LOVE BUT DID NOT ACCEPT HIM FULLY AS HE WAS NOT ENOUGH TO PAY A BRIDE-PRICES FOR HER”.