`` Interpreter Of Maladies `` By Jumpha Lahiri

1335 Words6 Pages
Change is complex. Change requires sacrifice in order to gain; things we are so connected to have to be given up, but ultimately it is a choice to sacrifice those things. Andy Law, a distinguished author, portrays this concept perfectly in his book Creative Company. He states, "Unless you are prepared to give up something valuable you will never be able to truly change at all, because you 'll be forever in the control of things you can 't give up." Human nature tends to lead people to hold on to what they are familiar with--things that help comfort them in unfamiliar circumstances. When holding on to one 's past so tightly, it is hard for them to move forward. Jumpha Lahiri, author of Interpreter of Maladies, writes stories about people…show more content…
He would keep it set to only the time of Dacca specifically. This perfectly shows how an individual, like Mr. Pirzada, struggles to adapt to a different culture when he is so stuck on his. Time cannot be turned back and portrays a simple concept of moving forward. Mr. Pirzada is stuck in another time, a concept which Lahiri symbolises using the pocket watch:
When I saw it that night, as he wound it[the watch] and arranged it on the coffee table, an uneasiness possessed me; life, I realized, was being lived in Dacca first. I imagined Mr. Pirzada’s daughters rising from sleep, tying ribbons in their hair, anticipating breakfast, preparing for school. Our meals, our actions, were only a shadow of what had already happened there, a lagging ghost of where Mr. Pirzada really belonged. (Lahiri 3)
Mr. Pirzada is resilient to move forward with something new, so he holds on to something familiar-- time back home.
Furthermore when describing Boori Ma in “A Real Durwan”, Lahiri uses the almari (closet) as a symbol to convey her (Boori Ma’s) struggles. “A Real Durwan” is a story about an old lady (Boori Ma) who lives on the roof of a residential building with almost nothing. She has a few things she keeps dear to herself and has a minimal duty at the building. She sweeps the steps of the stairs, top to bottom, and is a durwan (guard) at the building. As she does her job, she is known to tell extraordinary tales of her lavish past, that is now reduced to
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  • Interpreter Of Maladies By Jumpha Lahiri

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    culture. That differences lead to the way we see each other and behaves towards each other as black or white, man or woman and friend or enemy. In other words, the way we see each other leads to the way we relate to each other. In Jumpha Lahiri’s story in “Interpreter of Maladies”, the differences in age, culture and personality leads to how Mrs. Das and Mr. Kapasi sees each other. Mrs. Das sees Mr. Kapasi as a father, a dependable person and a lover while In brief, Mr. Kapasi sees Mrs. Das as a young

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