preview

Unique Writing Styles Illuminated Through an Unrequited Love Story

Decent Essays

Every author has his or her own distinctive manner of writing. In the two short stories, “Araby” by James Joyce and “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri, unique writing styles are showcased while relaying similar story lines. Both stories tell the narrative of men who fall for a woman and through a series of hopeful interpretations of interactions with the woman; they end up disappointed and alone. Although both stories have parallel themes of unrequited love, the way in which the authors use certain literary techniques to portray this theme differ greatly from each other. In both “Maladies” and “Araby” the main characters are taken through a series of emotional maladies while trying to peruse the girls they love. …show more content…

Therefore, a theme in both stories is interpretation; not only for the reader but the narrator’s interpretation of their love-intrests’ feelings. In “Araby” readers are meant to interpret moments such as when the narrator is describing his neighborhood, “the other houses of the street, conscious of decent lives within them, gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces” (14 & 17). Both stories have an underlying theme, which centers on interpretation and its power. Lahiri leaves the reader interpreting the feelings of the characters since there are no explicit references to any emotions. Readers are meant to interpret the different feelings when Mr. Kapasi talks about Mrs. Das. “She did not behave in a romantic way toward her husband, and yet she had used the word [romantic] to describe him” (31). The reader is meant to interpret the emotions Mr. Kapasi is experiencing with a subjective viewpoint since the author gives no explicit references to emotions. On the other hand, Joyce composes his story primarily of the narrator’s interpretation of the events that he has gone through as a young man. The narrator laments: “my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires.” The narrator brings n his own interpretation into the scene with the use of descriptive language, which leaves the reader little to translate on their own. In “Araby” one must translate metaphors and feelings into settings

Get Access