Jhumpa Lahiri's 'Interpreter Of Maladies'

Lack of communication is shown in "Interpreter of Maladies" when two people who speak the same language, do not understand each other or communicate. This is best shown when Mr. and Mrs. Das constantly argue: “At the tea stall Mr. and Mrs. Das bickered about who should take Tina to the toilet. Eventually Ms. Das relented when Mrs. Das pointed out that he had given the girl a bath the night before” (Lahiri 43). Conflict is shown between Mr. and Mrs. Das when they bicker about who will give the girl a bath, furthermore having the child feel as if taking care of her is a chore. From this quote, readers see that the state of their marriage is not well. As Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das grew closer, she decides to share one of the biggest secrets of her life and marriage: “Rajs. He 's not Raj’s son” (Lahiri 62). Their lack of communication and isolation from each other continue as Mrs. Das keeps this to herself. She feels that the guilt will not get to her if she explains everything to the

His arranged marriage is struggling because his wife cannot recover from her sorrow over the loss of their young son. Mrs. Das’s sudden interest in his job makes him start his romantic imagination journey. When the Das family has lunch, Mr. Kapasi is invited to join with them. Then, they take the photograph which Mr. Kapasi happens to sit next to Mrs. Das. At the time, Mr. Kapasi feels that he is the best match with Mrs. Das as both of them have the same maritally unsatisfied circumstances. Mrs. Das asks for Mr. Kapasi’s address to send the photograph that they have taken. For her, asking Mr. Kapasi’s address is nothing, but for Mr. Kapasi, writing his address on the scrap paper becomes the way to begin his romantic relationship.

In the short story “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri, the author projects the tone of deception through using certain literary devices. Throughout the story the author gives little hints at something wrong with this perfect American family visiting India. These little hints are being given to the reader as the are being analyzed by Mr. Kapasi, and later revealed to him in the story. The literary devices the authors uses to help reveal these hints are the use of foreshadowing, a symbolic act, and eventually the hints unfold into a shocking climax.

Both of these stories deal with two culture groups, Indians and Americans; Mr. Kapasi has trouble relating to Mrs. and Mr. Das because of the vast amount of differences in their culture: Mr. Kapasi has an arranged marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Das did not, so he also “found it strange that Mr. Das should refer to his wife by her first name when speaking to the little girl.” He thinks, “Mr. and Mrs.Das behaved like an older brother and sister, not parents.” The only way Mr. Kapasi is able to relate to Mrs. Das is that fact that she currently is in a loveless marriage, similar to his marriage, and even this is not enough to bring understanding. The difference in these cultural constructs is vast and continues throughout these stories. Miranda has very little knowledge about India: when Laxmi mentions “[h]e has a Punjabi mother and a Bengali father,” Miranda “thought it was a religion,” but later realizes it is place in India called Bengal. Miranda and Dev share a large cultural difference, “the only Indians whom Miranda had known were a family in the neighborhood where she'd grown up.” She wants to please Dev though, so she learns more about Indian culture and changes her normal routine to incorporate some kind of Indian culture in her schedule. As the meaning of “sexy” is unearthed, Miranda finds it is very different from Devs construct of the word. The cultural differences between all of these characters are as confusing as they are fun, but these differences sever the

I think the theme of this is about chaos and how Mr. Kapasi feels about this chaotic family. Everyone’s home life is different, so I think it’s a combination of what Mr. Kapasi see’s and how the family behaves. It’s obvious that these parents were either too young or too immature for children. The way that they act proves that the impression that Mr. Kapasi has could be true. It seems as if these people are so wrapped up in their own problems that they can’t get beyond what it might actually mean to be a family. It literally seemed like Mrs. Das was

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

Every person experiences their own struggles and faces their own internal battles, which they must overcome every day. Neddy Merrill, an alcoholic man, tries to swim home by travelling to different neighbors’ homes and swimming in their pools throughout John Cheever’s story “The Swimmer”, faces the mental and physical struggles of alcoholism. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story “Interpreter of Maladies”, Mrs. Das embodies a selfish mother who cannot face the responsibilities and realities of her life. She has to face the pain and guilt she holds inside caused by cheating on her husband with his best friend. The two characters show surprising parallels to the internal struggles people go through every day, such as emotional distance and unnecessary

Interpreter of Maladies is comprised entirely of short stories revolving around the lives of Indian immigrants or their descendants.There are nine short stories in total. The book goes into the difficulties that people of color, particularly Indian people, go through in an effort to balance the culture of their heritage and the culture that now surrounds them in the new world. Two stories stood out in particular, those being Sexy and This Blessed House. Sexy describes the story of a girl in an adulterous relationship with a man she just met, while This Blessed House focuses on the lives of a newly engaged couple that find a bunch of silly religious artifacts in their home.Though these stories may be different, their plots are equally significant

“Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody,” says  Mark Twain. Twain’s concept shines through in multiple stories of Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. Human vulnerability glimmers in the dark, while harsh public facades gloom over the daylight. Lahiri utilizes darkness to display true selves, personalities the individual desires to be seen are showcased using light. These devices are especially relevant in the text which is a tribute to human emotion and interaction as well as the power knowledge as on the heart. Two stories this is mainly true in are “A Temporary Matter” and “Interpreter of Maladies”.

Depression is a silent disease that others around may not pick up on. Depression affects many human beings and without proper treatment can lead to one taking their life. This is a very real disease that has been around for a long time. In the past depression was not really talked about as it was a shameful and embarrassing thing. People did not want to talk about their feelings because society and media had put a stigma on sadness and hurtfulness.

Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story, “A Temporary Matter,” presents the failing marriage of an Indian couple, Shoba and Shukumar. Lahiri illustrates how the grief of losing someone can lead to a broken relationship. Shukumar and Shoba have been ignoring each other since Shoba had a miscarriage. The tragedy changes the way they treat each other. Their grief makes both of them become two different people. A temporary matter has forced them to communicate with each other and since then, Shukumar and Shoba are comfortable talking to each other and even making love with each other. This temporary matter has somehow temporarily reconnected them together. Jhumpa Lahiri intentionally uses the symbols of darkness, light, house, the baby and neighbors to represent a broken relationship of a married couple.

and Mrs. Das bickered about who should take Tina to the toilet” (335). These parents do not seem to have fun with their kids and being parents. Mr. and Mrs. Das perceive their children’ needs as a burden. Moreover, each of them knows when and what they did for their children. Continuing with the theme of family relationships, Mrs. Das appears constantly dissatisfied. At one point on the trip, where the whole family had been traveling in a car without air conditioning, Mrs. Das says “I told you to get a car with air-conditioning” (339), it shows, that Mr. and Mrs. Das do not listen to each other. The relationship between husband and wife seems very strained. Mr. Das works in a school and teaches science, and he is not interested in what his does when he is not home, “…After marrying so young she was overwhelmed by it all, having a child so quickly, and nursing, and warming up bottles of milk and testing their temperature against her wrist while Raj was at work, dressed in sweaters and corduroy pants, teaching his students about rocks and dinosaurs.” (349). The couple is not interested in each other as individuals, and this is clearly eating away at their

Interpreter of Maladies focuses on communication as one of the universal themes throughout the book. The stories demonstrate how communication is the key to the success or failure of relationships. While there are instances when communication is effectively employed and therefore enabled the characters to build strong and intimate connections, there are examples of where communication was superficial or ineffectual, leading to unstable, limited relationships. Jhumpa Lahiri illustrates the importance of communication within relationships by allowing readers to experience the consequences and advantages that have developed as a result throughout the short

“They wept together, for the things they now knew.”(104) The last sentence of the first story in Interpreter of Maladies, reveals the cruelty of the elapsed romance in a marriage. In the two collections, A Temporary Matter and The Third and Final Continent, Jhumpa Lahiri demonstrates that a marriage can be either uplifting or discouraging depends on the mindset held by the couple and the strength of human bonding. Lahiri emphasizes the significance of mindset and human bondings through the ending of the two stories. The endings of the two stories are polar opposite : In A Temporary Matter, Shukumar and Shobha weeps for the termination of their relationship; The Third and Final Continent, by contrast, the protagonist(MIT) enjoys a fairytale-like

The present study is based on the idea of displacement as the major theme of the selected short stories of Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Interpreter of maladies”. The book contains nine short stories and each one of them deals with the question of identity, alienation, and plight of those who are physically and psychologically displaced. But I would like to limit my studies to the three short stories from the collection viz. “When Mr. Pirzada came to dine”, Interpreter of Maladies”, and “Mrs. Sen’s”. The migration has become one of the most important issues of the contemporary world. Jhumpa Lahiri is also a diasporic writer like Salman Rushdie, V.S Naipaul and Bharati Mukherjee. The characters in the prescribed stories are citizens of more than one country