Friendship In Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter Of Maladies

Friendship describes the mutual pledge to help reveal the innermost workings of a person, bringing out the hidden attributes and validity of one’s characteristics. Subsequently, the bonds and struggles of friendship are a central cause for unveiling identity as the relationship one makes contributes to long-lasting change. The acceptance of a person’s differences conveys an importance for the development of strong bonds. Moreover, hardships accompanying relationships establish times to reflect on oneself and lead to positive outcomes for growth. Furthermore, the memorable journeys embed an area in one’s mind that will change the way self-perspective is seen. Through the characters of Lewis in If I Ever Get Out Of Here by Eric Gansworth and

Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth is comprised of eight short stories about different Indian families’ struggles in America, many of them going through the immigrant experience. The conflicts are with friends and family, and also with themselves, as each of them attempt to find their own identity along with fitting in with the rest of society. One of the causes of these struggles that because the families in the stories are mixed in terms of generation. Many of the adults in the stories were first generation immigrants from India, while many of the children were raised in the United States, which is the second generation. This led to blending of culture and at the same time, clashes between the immigrant mentality of living and the American mentality of living. In Unaccustomed Earth, Lahiri demonstrates to the reader the important influence of environment, specifically culture and how it impacts parental teachings, on the personality and development of an individuals’ identity, and how the actions and development of characters can affect one’s family and friends; the impact of environment and culture is shown especially by the characters and stories “Hell-Heaven” and “Hema and Kaushik”.

An example of this is in the beginning of the story when she states “I get unreasonably angry with John sometimes.” (Perkins-Gilman, 1899). This shows that the narrator does not know why she feels or thinks the way she does sometimes. This may indicate to the reader that she is not the most reliable person. The reader can know this also by seeing how her feelings towards things change so rapidly. First, she hates the yellow wallpaper. She says “The wallpaper, as I said before, is torn off in spots, and it sticketh closer than a brother- they must have had perseverance as well as hatred,” “But I don’t mind it a bit- only the paper.” (Perkins-Gilman, 1899). She shows complete opposition but as time goes by, it changes. Later on, she states, “I’m getting really fond of the room in spite of the wallpaper, perhaps because of the wallpaper.” (Perkins-Gilman, 1899). According to the narrator, she is starting to feel better due to the wallpaper and she is fascinated by finding new things about the patterns she likes about the

In the narrative, the author writes the story in first person point of view through an unnamed narrator which enables the reader to visualize, experience, and perceive a deeper insight into his mind. The story commences with the narrator speaking directly to the audience appearing closed-off and narrow-minded. His wife has an old friend named Robert, who happens to be blind, coming to spend the night. Right away, the reader can sense how the narrator comes off as self-absorbed. He`s only concerned about how Robert’s visit will affect him and is inconsiderate about the strong bond Robert and his wife have built over the years. The narrator also lacks self-awareness when he found himself thinking “what a pitiful life this woman must have led.” (Carver 3) The woman being Beulah, Robert`s recently deceased wife, who the narrator belittled as she married a blind man and now she “could never see herself as she was seen in the eyes of her loved one.” (Carver 3) Not realizing that with

Pipher gives some compelling stories about the behaviors of some pre-adolescent girls she has encountered. Her cousin, Polly, was an energetic and opinionated girl when she was young. Upon puberty, Polly felt unable to connect to boys and girls her age until she became stylish and more subdued in her language. This gives the reader the feeling that Polly was not accepted until she changed her personality to fit that of her surroundings. It is possible that Polly’s friends no longer enjoyed being around a girl who was opinionated or who would insult those with whom she did not agree. This story does not qualify as a valid, concrete premise to show the connection between changes an adolescent girl and her ability to connect with others.

For example, “While the rain continued it had seemed like the murmur of their voices, rising and swelling a little now and then with gusts of emotion” (pgs. 88-89). Comparing Gatsby and Daisy’s talk to how the rain is falling outside works to show the audience how the conversation in their own ways can be scary for both parties included and how the situation they are in is unpredictable and wild. Yet once the pair finishes their conversation and are moving forward with their relationship the rain stops and the sun comes

One example is present after Zeena announces that she will visit a doctor, and the narrator states, “Twice or thrice she had suddenly packed Ethan’s valise and started off … to see the advice of some new doctor, and her husband had grown to dread these expeditions because of their cost. Zeena always came back laden with expensive remedies” (36). This quote shows that Ethan struggles to care for his family and himself. We begin to see Ethan’s terrible living situation: When Zeena is home, she makes him unhappy, but when she is away, Ethan knows that she will come back with medical bills that he cannot

Forming a new identity in a foreign country is not an easy task. Immigrants usually face challenges to identify themselves. Identity formation is the development of one’s distinctive personality due to particular reasons such as new environment, new culture and conflicts. During the process, some characters from Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake either create or deny the bond with their own culture; some undergo conflicts among generations. Those processes reflect significantly in Ashima and Gogol throughout the book. The degree of assimilations determines to what extent the characters have formed the new identity in the new culture.

Ha Jin’s “The Woman from New York”, showcases the grand impacts of adjusting to cultural differences. This story encompasses both the emotional feat and the physical feat in distance that many go through in their lives. It specifically reveals the challenges that arise in adapting to new life back at home when in the past, a person lived elsewhere and much differently. In following the life of Chen Jenli in this story, readers can explore her societal and cultural struggles or they can place themselves in her shoes. In using Chen Jenli as a vessel, “The Woman from New York” addresses various and most certainly relatable difficulties that people like immigrants or expatriates face. However, these individuals can rely on the psychological process of mindfulness to help in adjustment and difficulties.

The author carefully crafts the story so that every detail contributes to a certain unique or single effect, whether it is as complex as irony or as simple as depiction of feelings. The Husband describes his absolute love for Ann as he reminisces about the years he spent with her and how deeply he "knows"

When adapting to a new culture, many find it hard to assimilate into their new world while still holding on to their past life. Finding yourself in a new place with a new language and unfamiliar faces is challenging for immigrants. Jhumpa Lahiri, an immigrant herself, sheds some light on the Indian culture in her book, Interpreter of Maladies. She conveys many challenges that immigrants face when moving away from their homeland in a myriad of short stories. These short stories introduce similar themes of immigration and adaptation through different experiences. Two of Lahiri’s short stories, “A Temporary Matter” and “Mrs. Sens”, do a great job in showing similar challenges of cultural differences in two different ways. They introduce characters

As a child, we’re presented with ample information that is all relatively new to us. The knowledge acquired in childhood is given to us by our parents and relatives. This allows us to grow, but the influence of our family is what shapes our culture and beliefs. Although our parents believe this is the best culture to follow, we often find ourselves questioning it. This creates complexity within the acceptance of being part of one’s culture. Shyam Selvadurai and Marjane Satrapi, use this theme within their respective novels, Funny Boy and Persepolis to demonstrate the transcendence from innocence to experience. Both main characters are introduced as children that go through an evolution to reach adulthood. Culture challenges the characters

For example, the lack of communication between the man and the girl. The girl doesn’t tell the man how she feels about the ‘operation’ he keeps discussing. In the story the girl doesn’t want to have the operation as she feels that their relationship won’t be the same. ‘‘And you think then we’ll be all right and be happy.’ ‘I know we will. You don’t have to be afraid. I’ve known lots of people that have done it…” The man tries to reassure her that they’ll be okay, and many people have been in their situation. Another example for the lack of communication is the man must translate for the girl due to her not able to speak or understand Spanish. “The train comes in five

In Jhumpa Lahiri’s ‘Interpreter of Maladies’ Mr. Kapasi , the main character, seems to be a person with mixed feelings. He does not seem to have fixed stand neither in his job nor on his thoughts. His thoughts and experience are structured by the strict cultural society of India. His hidden wants and desires suppressed by the community rules are looking for way to come out. The consequence is his changing thoughts and desires which at different parts of the story appear differently and brings

The novel Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee is an incredible story about the transformation and life experiences of a Panjabi girl from India. The life of Jyoti is told from her point of view when she is twenty-four years old, and pregnant with the baby of Bud Ripplemeyer, a crippled banker who is more than twice Jyoti’s age. During the span of two months in Iowa, Jyoti narrates her biographical experiences in Punjab and in America as she strives to become independent. Jasmine illustrates that when one’s relationships go through changes, it will impact one’s identity.