Category: Interpreter of Maladies

For a relationship to be successful it depends on how you communicate. The importance of communication in a relationship is too share your concerns, thoughts, and to support each other through times. It also allows us to get our life’s together and makes better decisions with in each other. Communication is effective based on how we do things such as when we talk, we listen and our different body languages that we use. In this book the short stories such as “Temporary of Matter” and “Interpreter of Maladies” shows that the main problem between the couples were the lack of communication that took place. In these stories it shows that this led to unhappiness within each other.

A misunderstanding they had in both relationships is that they failed to realize how much you need to understand your significant other needs and wants. The character in this story which is named Lahiri is too busy worrying about the relationship problems and not worrying about what her significant other is facing on his own. The way she tells this story is with a calm and genuine tone. She writes the story to point out the emotions of other and the flaws that is obvious to see. As throughout the stories the tones keep changing, we seem to understand that Shukumar and Shoba’s relationship went from being happy to weird. Which leads to the final tragedy they have by the candlelight before they went their separate ways.

In the story “A Temporary Matter” the relationship between Shukumar and Shoba seems to fall apart day by day but goes downhill fast when she has a stillborn baby. The love that they had and felt once before wasn’t there anymore and the memories haunted Shukmar every day. The first night of the black out Shukmar hoped to bring back the feeling they had before so he made dinner for Shoba. Sitting in the dark they decided to tell confessions to each other that they been hiding and noticed that they were confirming their relationship wasn’t working out anymore.

The title means more then it’s says “A Temporary matter” represents not just their relationship but also the blackout. Even though we see that the black out was only for a limited amount of time it also brought them together for that time. As stated in the book “something happened when the house was dark…. They were able to talk to each other again”. Shows that during the blackout the seemed to realize that their relationship was only just for a temporary time also. Everything he has learned and everything he has given out he then takes the plates to the sink and looks out the window. They only thing that brought them together to bond is the different hurt they shared with each other. They are only able to understand each other through that and regrets. In this book they show how people can do things in relationships to cause it to fail. If you don’t make a person happy or meet what they need it destroys the bond.

In the story “Interpreter of Maladies” a man is stuck in a relationship because the doctor couldn’t prevent the death of his child. His name is Mr.Kapasi who lives in India and had two jobs. He works as an interpreter for a doctor and a tour guide also. One day as he was tour guiding people he was assigned to the Das’s family, he described them as a you couple who were only held together by three children. He learned this very early in the story by witnessing that they let their kids do what ever they please. In the middle of the trip Mr.Kapasi mentioned his job as an interpreter. He then noticed that Mrs.Das was very interested in his job but she never showed that towards her husband or kids. He then started to like the feeling that she was giving him and said it felt as she loved him. Throughout this story he kept mentioning how there relationship would become so good over the days and he didn’t want Mrs.Das to lose interest so in order to spend more time he takes the family to the Sun Temple. When they arrived Mrs.Das stays in the car with Mr.Kapasi, which is where she confessed to him her relationship problems. She told him that her relationship was failing, she had an affair and also that the youngest child wasn’t Mr.Das’s. She mentioned to Mr.Kapasi that she needed a cure from him to make her pain go away but he said “ is it really pain or is it guilt”. When she hears this she get very mad and gets out the car and goes to her family where she finds out the monkeys beat her son up for food. As the story ends shes bending down to take care of her son when a note falls out with Mr.Kapasi address.

The author brings these two relationships together to show how different things can ruin relationships. Even though they are different problems its shows without these problems a relationship can work. In the beginning of the story Mr.Kapasi notices that the relationship isn’t working out because of the things they do. They were two different people trying to make things work out, but it just caused more problems. Lahiri shows that it only takes the littlest things and one person to ruin a relationship. Mr.Kapasi started to bring up his problems of his own he had and that his wife is very jealous and only cares about his self. Here is why he feels like Mrs.Das is so into him because she respects him and cares about his career with other people. He feels like she understands him and doesn’t neglect him like his wife, so he grew to love her more. For this reason, is why he looks for a relationship within other people.

Here is where Lahiri brings out how neglecting your significant other can cause problems in your relationship. Mrs.Das says that the reason she is telling her business is because she is reaching out for a friend. She never had nobody to talk too and understand or to come in and feel out the spot her husband wasn’t fulfilling. As she keeps talking to Mr.Kapasi she tries to release stress that she has by telling him all her secrets. After the talk she had she realized within herself that she was giving up on herself and her family. She comes to her senses that she needs a loving family and her family needs her.

In both short stories “A Temporary Matter” and “Interpreter of Maladies” it shows that the lack of communication is what ruined the relationship. This shows the role the characters played which they didn’t meet their significant other’s needs. The problem Shukumar and Shoba has is that they don’t want to help themselves or each other. The reason that Mrs.Das relationship failed is because she always tried to find every way to let stress go instead of talking to her husband. In everyone of these relationships they had different reasons but the main one was the lack of communication they had in each one.

Jhumpa Lahiri was born in London, Britain in 1967. She is the girl of parents who emigrated from India. “Jhumpa Lahiri’s books deal with issues that show up banal and each day but raise questions about culture, identity, the position and condition of the subject in an Americanized neocolonial world. All the stories within the collection, Interpreter of Maladies deal with simple ordinary occasions but are subtly concerned almost much genuine viewpoints of relationships. Lahiri’s complex composition of brief stories collectively addresses a wide gathering of people by analyzing bunch connections in the midst of her characters, as well as the “maladies” that they encounter. Miscarriage to overcome these sufferings is explicitly connected to a need of strong relations, but some of the time indeed strong affiliations are lacking.

“What we have here may be a failure to communicate.” The story, “A Temporary Matter,” starts with a take note that for five day power would be cut off for an hour within the neighborhood of Shukumar and Shoba, a youthful Indian couple. After the death of their baby, who passed on at birth, the two are going through miseries. They always dodge each other, only meeting up to have a quiet supper or have an ungainly check-up on the other. The love in their relationship had gotten to be none-existent and the images of when they did cherish each other frequent Shukumar. They had supper by candle-light in quiet, until Shoba brought up a small game where they had to tell each other something they had never told the other before. She revealed to Shukumar that she was planning for a life without him. Lahiri uses her to begin with story to demonstrate to the reader how the disregard of one or both individuals within the relationship can cause it to come up short; the failure to meet someone’s needs or make sacrifices in a relationship eventually fates it. In their shared misery they are both unwilling to assist themselves and incapable to calm the stretch they are living beneath, much less making a difference each other. They denied to let go of this tragedy, “The film in his camera still contained pictures of Shoba, within the yard, when she was pregnant”. The pictures speak to a more joyful, idealized time in their relationship, and by keeping the pictures in his camera it appears that he is unwilling let go of this picture and confront the reality of the show. He cannot accept that their relationship is falling flat and neither can Shoba. They are unwilling and incapable to move forward, dragged back into misery by the consistent updates of the passing of their baby. The more they could not help themselves move on, the more they seem not help the partner. They did not have the capacity or the determination to assist themselves or each other; subsequently they were stuck in a biting the dust relationship. To demonstrate the truth that Shukumar and Shoba are as well active floundering in their self-centered misery Lahiri snuck within the picture of the dying plant in dried up earth within the middle of all this hopelessness, “Even in spite of the fact that the plant was inches absent from the tap, the soil was so dry that¦ he had to water it to begin with some time recently the candle would stand straight”. The plant and soil are a metaphor for the relationship. His relationship had life and numerous chances, but he dismissed those chances. He was unwilling to water the plant, just like he unwilling to assist his relationship. Indeed at the conclusion, the plant is dead but he is still utilizing the soil. He does not indeed watering the plant for the plant’s purpose, but utilizing it for his own needs; similar to when they have these intimate moments during the power outages, he isn’t to keep his marriage lively, he is doing it to induce his questions and privileged insights off his chest, “It happened over fifteen a long time prior. He felt alleviation presently, having told her”. These confessions were not implied to help repair the relationship but were utilized instep to calm their soul, and their self-centered state of mind toward their relationship eventually drove them apart.

Jhumpa Lahiri’s following story, “The Treatment of Bibi Haldar”, deals with the theme of exile and alienation in native milieu. It appears how Bibi Haldar has ended up a casualty of alienation in her own home and society. This story sets in Calcutta, it too appears clash between straightforwardness and craftiness. Bibi Haldar was a vagrant since childhood and endured from an insane illness of epilepsy. She was staying with her relative in Calcutta. Her only fixation in life was to get married. Each day she expected a man to come and offer his hand to her. She cherished to listen from the other women the details of their marriage. Many times she was baffled approximately the unfulfillment of her desire. The story touches the hearts of readers because it is full of pathos. It shows enthusiastic exile of simple and gullible lady who gets to be a foreigner in her claim house. Whereas managing with migrant encounters, Lahiri has convincingly shown that a individual can gotten to be ‘Immigrant’ in his or her possess home and society by facing distance and victimization inflicted by his or her claim people. Jhumpa Lahiri in this story highlights the disease—loneliness in modern society, for which marriage is the as it were cure.

JhumpaLahiri’s fifth story “Sexy” spots into the lives and culture of Bengali people and their travel to America. This story rotates around the advanced Boston society, where the influence of an outside culture and the crumbling of a family, could be a common feature. The hero Miranda reliably makes comparisons between herself and individuals of the Indian culture who she meets and builds connections with while living in Boston. Numerous grown-up foreigners experience the alienation from their close family and companions and consequently ended up an untouchable to the people around them. Lahiri has differentiated the genuine life with the world of daydream; While Americans are considered to be less family arranged in comparison to Indians, Dev proves this to be off-base when he permits himself to have an affair with Miranda, an American young lady. And eventually, Miranda’s interaction with Rohin, a seven a long time old boy could be a connection that brings her back to reality. Adore does not cruel to be sexy; similarly, ‘twenty-two’ year old Miranda and temporary lover Dev’s ephemeral, fruitless relationship and their failure to achieve an ‘everlasting…love’ is related with the unstable factors it was developed on from its beginning: desire, lies and triviality. The latter is delineated in their starting meeting area at ‘Filene’s’, a cosmetic’s department whose ultimate reason is to improve, and is trailed by Dev’s description of Miranda as ‘sexy’, which means ‘loving somebody you don’t know’. Miranda at that point gets it that she is nothing but a “mistress” as Dev as it were adores her on the surface, hence uniting Lahiri’s suggestion that failure may be a result of frail undertakings.

Jhumpa Lahiri’s depiction of the characters’ complexities whereas highlighting their serious communication issues is commendable. Basic plots are used to bring out the disease of confounded, disorientated connections of couples. The most bonding factor in a marriage is communication, failure of which is the cause of misconception and depression. The story excellently and in an awfully fragile way analyses the institution of marriage and the maladies that couples quietly endure. Lahiri subtly indicates miscommunication as the caution sign of the malady of marriage. The other indicator is their careless demeanor towards their children which is displayed from Mr. Kapasi’s viewpoint. Mr. Das be that as it may seems ignorant of the issues of his relationship, of his wife’s attitude, of her detachment, etc. which are closely taken note by Mr. Kapasi. Mr. and Mrs. Das over a period of eight years of marriage have lost interest in each other; they not appear to cherish each other however they with their three children, Tina, Ronny and Bobby who are on a visit to India on a holiday. All the love, understanding and believe they had some time recently the unlawful relationship simply appeared to have vanished. Mrs. Das’s conduct can be because of her push of withholding a mystery from her spouse. She considers Kapasi to be the proper individual to confess her mystery of adultery, an extra marital affair with her husband’s companion and a child born out of that. Kapasi questions her whether she feels agonized or sorry about the reality of her adultery. Mr. Kapasi’s question irritates Mrs. Das as she expected sympathy and a cure for her pressure. She is no longer the brooding and disinterested woman, she is released from her load of blame for the first time in seven a long time. A sense of blame was capable for the need of communication between Mrs. Das and her spouse. The interpreter of maladies, Mr. Kapasi has settled Mrs. Das’s problem just by tuning in to her confession. Jhumpa Lahiri lays emphasis on communication issues of people. She does not concern herself much with geological boundaries which are obvious but with the invisible boundaries which are capable for clashes and stress. “Though the story closes on an idealistic, open conclusion it is doubtful whether they will stay together until the end of time, share and communicate accompany each other until the end of time. But the confession joins together them and restores their faith in marriage.” Mrs. Das speaks to the typical American Indian with Americanized characteristics. She is hesitant to bear the duty of her husband and children, outrightly denies her husband’s requests to connect him in touring on a few events and mocks at his enthusiasm for tourism. She most of the time amid the touring trip isolates herself from her spouse and children; instead of being an encouraging and devotee mother she basically moves approximately in a detached manner.

Be that as it may, Jhumpa Lahiri isn’t concerned with legitimizing or propagating any particular cultural values, she is only displaying a social point of view. Her stories represent both the ethnic and Western social orders. The story is an interpretation of hybrid, diaspora struggle and relationships.

We as humans often like to fantasize about having a more glamorous life than what we actually have. Most of the time, people like to imagine being with someone who thinks is good for them, but it’s the exact opposite. That’s the mistake Mr.Kapasi ended up making in the story “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri. “Interpreter of Maladies” is a collection of stories about having an opinion or view that is incorrect because of thinking or understanding something that isn’t true. The picture of the Das family that will forever be in Mr.Kapasi’s mind is that when the paper with the address flies away at the end of the story, Mr.Kapasi finally realizes that Mrs. Das wasn’t the perfect woman that he thought she was, that his whole idea of her being the one for him was very unrealistic. This is why Mr.Kapasi is silent when the paper is flying away because he knew that keeping in contact with a woman like her wouldn’t be ideal.

When Mr.Kapasi went to his job of being a tourist taxi driver in India, he didn’t think that he would be going on an emotional roller coaster all because of a woman he barely knew. The Das family seemed like a pretty normal and happy family (from an outsider’s perspective) but they were far from that. Mr and Mrs Das always argued because of the lack of communication, which happens to a lot of couples. Both people don’t even bother to try to solve their issues and expect those issues to get solved on their own which results in one person being unhappy in the relationship and it becoming one-sided. They don’t really respect each other since they call each other by their first name which Mr.Kapsi notices and sees the lack of communication between the two, “Mr.Kapasi found it strange that Mr. Das should refer to his wife by her first name when speaking to the little girl.” (Lahiri, lines 103-105). Mrs.Das didn’t feel any love or compassion for her kids and husband “Leave me alone, Mrs. Das said, blowing on her nails and turning her body slightly.”(Lahiri, lines 196-197). All of these observations that Mr.Kapasi made shows him that they aren’t the ‘picture perfect’ family that they appeared to be on the outside.

Throughout the entire trip, all Mrs.Das does is complain and show absolutely no interest in Mr.Kapasi and even less interest in her own family. That is until Mr.Kapasi tells the family about his full time job of being an interpreter for an indian doctor, which suddenly makes Mrs. Das become interested and excited about it and calls it ‘romantic’, “But so romantic, Mrs.Das said dreamily, breaking her extended silence.” (Lahiri, lines 287-288). This comes as a shock to Mr.Kapasi because she wanted nothing to do with him the first half of the trip and now all of a sudden she’s perked up and intrigued, also because of the fact that Mr.Kapasi never saw his job as ‘romantic’ or even interesting for that matter. He thought that it was just a regular day to day job. Mrs.Das’ change in attitude seemed a little suspicious, she probably got a sudden interest in him because she either wanted money that she knows he has since he gets paid very well, “And so when the doctor offered to pay him twice as much as he earned at the grammar school, he accepted.” (Lahiri, Lines 383-385) or she really found his job to be fun since it’s a type of job that she has never heard of. Mrs. Das would listen to Mr.Kapasi and ask him as many questions as she could, the author makes Mr.Kapasi seem like a hero to Mrs.Das because Mrs.Das thinks that he plays an important role in saving people’s lives but Mr.Kapasi doesn’t see himself as a big hero, he sees himself as a regular guy with a regular job just like everyone else.

As the story goes on, Mr.Kapasi becomes more and more fascinated by Mrs.Das, particularly because of the fact that he’s been lonely and has felt like he has no one by his side, his wife had completely isolated herself from him and found his job to be absurd ever since their son passed from typhoid, “He knew it reminded her of the son she’d lost, and that she resented the other lives he helped, in his own way, to save.” (Lahiri, Lines 387-389). Mrs. Das was the only person who has ever commented about his job in a positive way and actually acknowledged it, he had never felt so wanted and appreciated by a woman in so long. Mrs.Das’ action makes Mr.Kapasi fall head over heels for her and he begins to fantasize about her body, mind and having a life with her. Mr.Das ended up taking a picture of both Mr.Kapasi and Mrs.Das together which resulted in Mrs.Das asking him for his address, “He calculated: A week to settle in, a week to develop the pictures, a few days to compose her letter, two weeks to get to India by air. According to his schedule, allowing room for delays, he would hear from Mrs.Das in approximately six weeks’ time.” (Lahiri, Lines 649-654) This made him fantasize about her even more thinking about the opportunities that he will get to talk to her about the hardships they face with their significant others and also learn more about each other when they both part ways.

Mrs. Das tells Mr.Kapasi a deep dark secret that no one knew, he was the first person to find this out and it was that Bobby (Mr and Mrs Das’ son) wasn’t Mr.Das’ and how she had a fling with one of his close friends who visited them a while back, that’s now Bobby was conceived. “A brave little boy,” Mr.Kapasi commented. “It’s not so surprising,”Mrs. Das said. “No?” Mr.Kapasi said. “He’s not his.” she said. “I beg your pardon?” he said. “Raj’s. He’s not Raj’s son.” Mrs.Das said.” (Lahiri, Lines 746-751). Mrs. Das also explained how no one knew this information except for him and how Bobbys real father would never know. Mr.Kapasi was very confused on why she would be telling him this when they’ve only known each other for a few hours. ̈ Don’t you have anything to say? I thought this was your job.” (Lahiri, Lines 873-874). Mrs.Das thought that a person she barely knew would be able to give her best advice possible or maybe even give her medicine to make her ̈feel better ̈ , she was tired of holding in a secret like that and it was making her mentally and emotionally exhausted. She needed to talk and explain this big issue to her husband, he was one of the only people being affected by this besides Bobby. After Mrs.Das told Mr.Kapasi everything, he felt like his whole fantasy that he made involving the both of them had been crushed into a million tiny pieces. ̈Is it really pain you feel, Mrs.Das, or is it guilt?¨ (Lahiri, Lines 911-912), Mr.Kapasi was hurt and somewhat angry that all these wonderful thoughts that he had of her had been ruined.

Mrs Das was infuriated with him because she didn’t get what she wanted to hear, instead she got what she needed to hear. This made her step out of the car and that moment made Mr.Kapasi realise that he wasn’t important to her and he never will be. That all this time he wasn’t feeling love for her, only lust. Mr.Kapasi sees that Mrs.Das doesn’t feel like a normal person anymore because she’s tired of being miserable and guilty with her family and life in general, “Has already fallen out of love with life” (Lahiri). When they were all walking back to the car, Mrs.Das started reaching into her bag and that’s when the piece of paper with his address began to blow away into the wind, “When she whipped out the hairbrush, the slip of paper with Mr. Kapasi’s address on it fluttered away in the wind. He watched as it rose, carried higher and higher by the breeze, into the trees where the monkeys now sat, solemnly observing the scene below. Mr. Kapasi observed it too, knowing that this was the picture of the Das family he would preserve forever in his mind” (Lahiri, Lines 1012-1020). Mr.Kapasi had finally let his mind and heart stop playing games with him and he knew that if he would’ve acknowledged the paper being blown away, his future with Mrs.Das would not have been what he had imagined this entire time.

Overall, humans are still continuing to learn the difference between love and lust. It is something that has affected most of us and not being able to know the difference just sets us up for heartbreak. Mr.Kapasi set himself up for heartbreak when he made Mrs.Das out to be this perfect woman when that just wasn’t the case. The piece of paper that flew away represented the chance that he would never be able to get from Mrs.Das again.

The customs and or culture in North America is somewhat different from the one practiced in India. The characters among both stories “Management of Grief” and “Interpreter of Maladies” are from an Indian background. Both North Americans and Indians have each their own different sets of practices and values amongst them. Many individuals come to North America “New World” and are exposed to a vast number of freedoms. The manner in which a person practices their freedom can vary, for in North America we have equal rights from everyone male and female. India the “Old World” have a more preserved form of being, for they value respect in marriage much more and bring with a partner than individuality.

The individuals in North America do not have the same values in marriage as those from the Old World. In the New World they do not feel like they are entitled to have to be married with somebody because of the independence that they have for themselves. The least attractive value that a North American has is that at times marriage is not taken to such a high regard as it once was. Marriage is of respect and the manner in which Mrs.Das is fascinated by Mr. Kapasi is in a perhaps inappropriate manner. On the other hand, North Americans do have the ability to express themselves as they see fit. Women do not have to stay quiet towards their husbands, for a woman has the ability to utilize their opinion in matters.

In the story “The Management of Grief” Shailia is grieving because her husband and children have passed away. The reason for their passing was because there was a terrorist attack in the plane in which a bomb took place in that caused the plane to brake in half. Additionally, Shailia has a deep regret of not having the ability to tell her husband that she loved him, for she “…was too much the well brought up woman…” (Mukherjee 480). The ability to express affection to your partner conveys that the love that one has is “fake” according to Kusum. In the Old World in marriage it is perhaps difficult to fully express the affection that they have for somebody because of their views of love. That saying it is not necessary because the partner already is knowledgeable of the love they have. In North America there are a vast number of individuals who express how they feel about situations because they have the freedom to express how they feel about certain situations or people. North Americans express the affection that they have for their partners. Within an Indian marriage respect is a big factor, it is important for women to not assert their husbands by their first name. Women perhaps have a large degree of respect for their husbands that they do not refer to them on first name bases. “We were well brought up women…dutiful wives who kept our heads veiled, our voices shy and sweet” (Mukherjee 485). For instance, the manner in which Mr. and Mrs. Das would talk to each other with such a free form although from Indian backgrounds they were born and raised in North America. Mr. and Mrs. Das would refer to each other by their first names and they speak to each other in such a free manner. Mrs. Das even rejected her husband when he wanted to take a picture and at times expressed the manner in which she was bothered and expressed fully her emotion. One example, is perhaps the sarcasm Mrs.Das used towards Mr.Das “Why do you do this, Raj, just to save a few stupid rupee. what are you saving us, fifty cents…” (Lahiri 496). Furthermore, the value of marriage in North America is not as high as the one practice amongst the Indian customs. It is important for a male and a woman to be together until they are widowed and even if they are widowed there are arranged once more for another marriage. Marriage is important value that is upheld. Especially if a male is widowed, they need to have an arranged marriage in order to look after another woman.

North Americans are independent one example is the manner in which Mrs.Das left her husband’s side, for she did not want to explore the hills at Udayagiri and Khandagiri. Freedom of expression amongst communication is a large factor among the way that Mr. and Mrs. Das conversate. There was an instance when Mrs.Das made a remark rather than staying quiet she expressed that it was too hot and that they were missing Air conditioning. The way that women dress is vastly different as well opposed to what the Indian custom in North America girls have in “Interpreter of Maladies”, for in the story “Management of Grief” “…shopping for tight sweaters…” is not looked as appropriate attire (Mukherjee 480). Whereas in “Interpreter of Maladies” women do show their skin, for they are not as preserved as it may seem. Mr. Kapasi notices this through the various women he has given a tour in the past. Cheating is something that is not done in “Management of Grief”, North Americans value marriage much more than in “Interpreter of Maladies”. For instance, once their partner has passed away in “Management of Grief”, they immediately are arranged for an arranged marriage. However the values of marriage amongst the story “Interpreter of Maladies” is different from those of the values of marriage of Mr.Kapasi’s and Mrs.Das’s. They seem to be paying attention to each other a lot. Mr. Kapasi even found “Her sudden interest in him … mildly intoxicating” ( Lahari 499). They do not respect that they are married, and they do not have the same values of marriage as the non-North Americans.

Therefore, the “Management of Grief” and “Interpreter of Maladies” convey North America as a free country that grants more freedom to individuals. North Americans do you have a set of entitlements of their speech and it is not necessary for a woman to be having to comply to her husband or needing to not express how they feel.

Question 1

We can see many situations where the local gaze was in contrast with the tourist gaze in stories like Interpreter of Maladies by Lahiri. Right off the first scene we could see the communication barrier form between local, Mr. Kapasi who mistook the Das family as locals instead of diasporic travelers. Mr. Kapasi first encounters the Das family at the tea stall where to first impression they looked less like tourists and more like locals based off of their ethnicity. As Mr. Kapasi introduced himself, he “pressed his palms together in greeting” (Lahiri, 2019), signaling for a bow—a standard form of introduction in Indian culture. When Mr. Das went in for a classic firm-gripped American handshake, it set back Mr. Kapasi as he was very surprised towards how Mr. Das chose to give him a greeting seen more in western cultures. Mr. Kapasi believed that although they look apart of the culture, they did not identify themselves as such. Traveling from a diasporic point of view can be confusing to both the traveler and the locals. Mr. Das who is proud of his American culture, was mistaken for a local, which caused a communication barrier for the Das family who was unable to speak the native language like the rest of the community. As for traveling from the perspective of locals, many tourists when visiting foreign places take pictures of different landscapes. However, tourists never take into consideration how locals observe the situation. An example of this would be when Mr. Das photographed a suffering Indian peasant. Lahiri writes, “Mr. Das took a picture of a barefoot man, his head wrapped in a dirty turban, seated on top of a cart of grain sacks pulled by a pair of bullocks. Both the man and the bullocks were emaciated” (Lahiri, 2019). Mr. Das saw this as an opportunity for a picture of an urban landscape, what he didn’t see was the barefoot homeless man in the picture. In other words, He was seeing what he wants to see and from a local perspective, this can come off as offensive. As a diasporic family, Mr. Das tried to submerse himself into his background culture but in turn, created actions that were quite insensitive.

Question 2

A Small Place is a great story that explains how the indictment of British colonialism has affected Antigua’s culture, society, and tourist industry. Having the story written as an autobiography gave the reader a great local perspective on the situation, and after reading the story it made me revisit a few of my past vacations from a tourist perspective. I have been fortunate enough to have traveled to numerous exotic resorts in locations such as Cancun, Belize, Honduras, and Cozumel. Much like Antigua, Belize was colonized by the United Kingdom until 1981 when it became independent. Before reading the story, I thought of these “third world” places solely as vacation hot spots. But, through Kincaid’s powerful use of metaphors, her story made me reconsider how I thought of these poverty-stricken places. When Kincaid states “An ugly thing, that is what you are when you become a tourist” (Kincaid, 2018), it resonated with me how tourist treat exotic locations. It is obvious that regardless of wealth, everyone would like to escape from time to time and forget about all their troubles. However, when wealthy western travelers travel to places such as Antigua, they treat these exotic getaways as a pleasure rather than a privilege. This “ugliness” is shown through how travelers treat locals (workers) during their stay, making them work tirelessly for their own pleasure. Although western travelers might be cognisant of how “ugly” they are, they choose to ignore these opinions and continue to enjoy their worry-free vacation. Another way that Kincaid expressed her voice was through the use of the word “we”—referring to the colonized black community. Sentences such as “We, for as long as we have known you, were capital” (Kincaid, 2018), describe the use of black colonized people for the profitability of major western companies. Kincaid is referring to the history of the black culture being used for slave trade. The history of Antigua was heavily impacted by the buying and selling of slaves. For capital-seeking western companies, such as resort chains, embracing a system where gaining profits for tourist markets are at the expense of using helpless locals, takes us back into history when slavery was much more prevalent. Moreover, after visiting these places, seeing workers work endless hours just to make tourists enjoy their vacation, gives me second thoughts about traveling to theses post colonized destinations and how we of western communities have negatively impacted the local culture and might be taking a step in the wrong direction for the betterment of “third world” countries.

Question 5

As an economics major, the study of how things are used and managed is a key topic to my studies. After reading a few of the short stories in class sparked interest in how certain factors can impact the economics of situations. Firstly, In A Small Place, the separation of the locals (Antiguans) from tourists (western societies) served a great purpose in the analyzation of this book. It is evident that Kincaid wanted the reader to see how tourists only view the Caribbean as a vacation paradise. Where in reality, it is a poverty-stricken place that has been sought after by western communities as a tropical getaway. Much like this example, although Antigua is right by the ocean, it doesn’t mean that life is a paradise. There are so many underlying factors that are present “behind the scenes” that western societies dismiss and instead use as a way to gain profitability in sectors such as tourism. Given the economics of this situation, western societies with much more wealth, should be more ethical and less profit based. Ethics in economics is important as allocating recourses take into consideration the needs and wants of others not just yourself in order to reach an efficient outcome. Another idea that revealed something new about my study was in Farangs where the idea of pop-culture and westernization was present. In the text, luk was heavily influenced by American culture. His lust for Lizzie was due to his fascination of American culture as a result from the expansion of American tourism in his area. Bringing this western culture to luk has in a way westernized the society. In economics, this is called an externality—a side effect of a commercial activity that affects other parties. luk became immersed in American culture as a side effect from all the tourism. When reflecting on this idea it made me realize that in economics externalities are everywhere and it is important to keep in consideration the effects that some actions might have may be more negative than positive. Furthermore, as I continue in my studies of economics, the ideas in these stories have made me realize that I need to analyse all factors involved with making decisions as there are many underlying components that can impact other parties for worse or for better.

References

1. Kincaid, J. (2018). A small place. London: Daunt Books.
2. Lahiri, J. (2019). Interpreter Of Maladies. New York: Mariner Books.
3. Lapcharoensap, R. (2005). Sightseeing: stories. New York: Grove Press.

Abstract

This paper is an attempt about expounding the illness of Mr. Das family in THE INTERPRETER OF MALADIES by Jhumpa Lahiri. The main illness involved in this paper is language and communication, contrasting region and cultural identity and memory and past etc. They left their plantation in some other country and so they are unable to accept the circumstances. Their illnesses are mainly argued in the paper.

Introduction

Literature is the mirror of life. It gives us moral values and lively experiences. This fiction explains us about the cultural problems and language. Nilanjana Sudeshna Lahiri is an American writer her debut collection of short story “Interpreter of Maladies” (1999) won the Pulitzer prize. Lahiri was given the National Humanities Medal in the year 2014. At present, she is working as a professor of creative writing in Princeton University. A short story named “The Boundary” was published in “The New Yorker” in the year 2018.

Hiring an Translator because of Language Problem

The Das family is on vacation to India and hired Mr. Kapasi to drive them to visit the Sun Temple at Konark. When the car stopped near the tea stall Mr. and Mrs. Das were arguing about who should take their daughter, Tina to the bathroom. Ronny, their son jumps out of the car to see a goat, Mr. Das did not do anything to stop him, even though Mr. Das tried to stop him, Ronny wanted to give the goat a piece of gum. Mr. Das and his wife were born and raised in the United States and his parents now live in India and Mr. Das’s family visits them every few years. Tina returns to the car with a doll and Mr. Das questioned her where her mother was by using her (Mrs. Das) first name Mina. Mr. Kapasi thought that it is not the right way to speak to a child. The illness found here is not taking care of her own child because she was not interested in that marriage. Mrs. Das arrived with some puffed rice.
Mr. Das told Kapasi that he is a middle-school teacher and Kapasi told that he had been a tour guide for five years. They all assembled again and started. Tina was playing with the locks in the car and Mrs. Das did not stop her. Mrs. Das sits in the car and had puffed rice. They saw monkeys on the road and Mr. Kapasi told that they are common in these areas Kapasi thought that Mr. and Mrs. Das are like siblings to their children than parents. The other illness is no understanding between them.

Kapasi’s Past Life: Becoming an Interpreter

Kapasi informs Das that he has other job that is the interpreter in a doctor’s office. Mr. and Mrs. Das were eager to listen to Kapasi’s story and Mrs. Das told him to tell about some of his patients. Mr. Kapasi found his job as a failure. At ancient times, he had been a scholar in many languages and now he is fluent only in English language. He started to narrate about his past experience. He joined as an interpreter in that office when his son suffered from typhoid and died at the age of 7 in order to settle the bill in hospital. Since Kapasi is working there, his wife always remains of her son’s death. Mr. Kapasi’s marriage was arranged by their parents and they both had nothing in common.

Travelling to Konark: Sun Temple

When they stopped for lunch, Mrs. Das insisted Kapasi to sit with them. They all took a picture to gather memories Mrs. Das enquired about Kapasi’s address, so that she can send a copy of a picture. He started to day dream the witty things he will write to her and how she will reveal the unhappiness of the marriage. The illness here with Mrs. Das is not taking care of her own child and instead day dreaming. Finally they reached the temple Mrs. Das talks with Kapasi about the paintings. Then they returned back to hotel, Kapasi suggested visiting the nearby monastery. They too agreed for that. When they arrived there, the place was full of monkeys. Kapasi informed that they are not dangerous as long as they are not fed. Mrs. Das stayed in the car, and sat next to Kapasi saying him that her younger son Bobby is the product of an affair which he had eight years ago. She also told that he had not informed anyone. Mrs. Das believed that Mr. Kapasi can help her. Mrs. Das said that she no longer love her husband and also have destructive impulses towards her children. Mr. Kapasi insulted her by asking had she ever felt guilt for this Mrs. Das gets out from the car and joins her family Mrs. Das dropped a trail of puffed rice. Mrs. Das was not able to accept that cultural problem and no understanding between them. These illnesses were noticed by Kapasi.

Conclusion

At that time Mr. Das and children were playing with monkeys. When Mrs. Das rejoined them, Bobby was missing. Due to the carelessness and illness mentioned above this action happened. And finally, Bobby was surrounded by the monkeys because they were crazed by the puffed rice. They were hitting Bobby on legs with a stick, he had given them. Mrs. Das took a picture of it. Mr. Kapasi chased off all the monkeys and saved Bobby back to his family Mrs. Das did first aid on Bobby’s knee. The other main illness seen here is the children activities are not strictly controlled by the parents. Then she took the comb from the handbag and straightened his hair. The paper with Kapasi’s address fluttered away.

References

1. Lahiri, Jhumpa ,The Interpreter Of Maladies, 1999, Houghton Mufflin.

Jhumpa Lahiri’s stories assortment, Interpreter of Maladies has some sensible stories that tend to disagree in perspective and approach. Despite these variations, the stories are tied to same concepts and themes. The stories revolve around individuals of Indian background though beneath totally different circumstances and roles. many of these characters are Indian immigrants to the u. s. whereas others reside in India.

The theme of marriage tends to rise quite often throughout the book. This theme is perceived in nearly every story contained within the series. each marriage in every story has its own distinct characteristics. The story “Interpreter of Maladies” acts as an illustration of marriage in distress. There are numerous instances when adultery arises within the story. The story revolves around Mr. and Mrs. Das, who are America born Indian couple vacating in India along with their kids. Their guide Mr. Kapasi is greatly drawn to Mrs. Das. there’s no infidelity that takes place between the 2 (since Mrs. Das doesn’t see Mr. Kapasi that way), but Mrs. Das confides to Mr. Kapasi concerning her marriage. This shows that Mrs. Das plenty she has been holding back concerning her wedding and saw this as a chance to share with somebody. She goes ahead to make known to him however adult male. Das (her husband) isn’t the daddy of 1 of his kids. this can be an undeniable fact that she asserts she has ne’er told anyone else. on the approach, Mr. Kapasi tends to be amiss the interest that Mrs. Das has towards him. he’s of the opinion that she is attracted towards him romantically. He fantasizes on sex to her throughout the trip. He feels resentful that Mrs. Das solely needs recommendation from him.

Mr. Kapasi’s wedding had hit a snag when the death of their son. His adult female resents him since his job acts as a reminder of the son’s death. The separation from his adult female has currently left him checking out human affiliation. Mr. Kapasi currently realizes that their wedding has no real intimacy since he has ne’er seen his adult female naked; her garments are on even whereas sex. This incidence proves that it’s important for some to sit down and speak the approach forward once a misfortune befalls them to avoid obtaining force away. Despite this, he will still see that Mrs. and Mr. Das have a loveless wedding. He asserts that “Mr. and Mrs. Das behaved like AN older brother and sister, not oldsters. It appeared that they were guilty of the kids just for the day; it had been arduous to believe they were frequently liable for something apart from themselves” (Lahiri 49).

The story a “Temporary Matter” conjointly shows the ending of Shukumar and Shoba’s wedding. The dynamics of their wedding modified once their kid died. They failed to live through this as they were now not an equivalent individual as they want to be once they initial met. The story shows however love will shift within the wake of bound experiences. it’s a matter of circumstances and opportunities. “Sexy” could be a story that conjointly shows a distinct dimension of wedding. Miranda is that the main character and is concerned in an affair with Dev, UN agency could be a mate from Asian nation. Miranda had simply met Dev at a makeup store. At the time, Dev was doing a little buying his adult female. His adult female was flying to Asian nation, and this was convenient for Dev to urge involved Miranda. the 2 got into a routine terribly quickly on however they communicated with one another. Miranda views Dev to be romantic, and she or he is well absorbed into the affair as she has ne’er older this before. Miranda’s workfellow conjointly spends important time on the phone whereas at work attempting to console her cousin-german UN agency was married to an adulterous husband back in Asian nation. The husband had currently left him for a Caucasian.

“When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine” offers another dimension of wedding. Mr. Pirzada had been sent by his government to review in America thence left his family in West Pakistan. once the war started, he would write to his family virtually hebdomadally, however had not detected from them in like six months. He was currently yearning to search out his adult female and family as he feared they could be dead. Upon returning to West Pakistan, Pirzada was able to reunite along with his family as he found them safe while not having encountered any damage.

The story “The Third and Final Continent” on the opposite hand revolves around a person that had settled in Hub of the Universe when completion of his faculty education in European country. He shortly returns to Asian nation before subsidence in America. He was expected to marry a lady in an organized wedding as he had ne’er met her before. He describes the awkwardness in their relationship when she had joined him in Hub of the Universe shortly and that they began to live along. However, this seems to be a no-hit wedding, and later he’s astonied “that there was a time (he and his wife) were strangers” (Lahiri 197).

There is a desire to worry regarding the wedding theme thanks to the teachings that Lahiri is attempting to place across. Among them is that the teaching of the importance of communication in marriages. This side is a lot of within the story “Interpreter of Maladies”. Most of the problems that these couples have stemmed from the shortage of economical and enough communication. Mr. Kapasi and his adult female are living as strangers when the death of their kid. If the 2 communicated fittingly when the incidence of this misfortune, things might need been totally different as they’d have expressed their hidden sorrows and comfortable one another to assist their bond stay sturdy. an equivalent issue appearance to be happening between adult male. and Mrs. Das. If there was open communication, things would be far better.

Lahiri conjointly tries to indicate that wedding is a lot of a fluid invention instead of a solid establishment. however, things operate rely upon how the partners concerned approach their affairs. this can be why Lahiri has featured marriages that are flowed et al. that appear to be occupation the suitable direction. Partners in an exceedingly wedding are their own downfall once things go bitter. Aspects like unfaithfulness are things that individuals will avoid assisting preserve their marriages since this can be one in every of the vices that several partners aren’t willing to forgive thence ensuing to divorce. Lahiri has conjointly tried to eliminate the stereotype that comes with organized marriages. “The Third and Final Continent” demonstrates an organized wedding that’s a lot of no-hit compared to alternative marriages during this assortment. this can be as a result of individuals see it as a negative thought in the least times, however the story has shown that it will be no-hit if the individuals concerned have an interest in operating things out.

Lahiri’s writing builds on the theme of wedding in several ways in which by approach of mistreatment characters with different life struggles, living in several geographical areas among others. to start with, Lahiri uses Indians set in several geographical areas. There are those set within the u. s., India, and West Pakistan to assist illuminate the difficulty. Lahiri has worked to indicate that no matter wherever these individuals are set, they tend to be stricken by similar problems in their wedding. Couples set in Asian nation are stricken by the difficulty of unfaithfulness simply an equivalent approach couples within the u. s. is affected by the issue. The side of communication conjointly comes out as AN integral part in wedding no matter the geographical location concerned. Lahiri’s writing has tried to showcase the catholicity of wedding proponents.

Lahiri has conjointly used characters in several cycles of life. These characters appear to be encountering totally different types of struggles that tend to influence their wedding lives. The characters appear to conflict with themselves and every alternative. The conflicts come back as a result of the problems that the couples are encountering in life. Lahiri’s writing has start to indicate how wedding is an establishment that’s tied to totally different aspects of life. Things happening around couples typically verify the direction that the wedding can take. that’s why a number of these stories have a cheerful ending whereas others have a negative ending.

Lahiri has conjointly tried to place tradition at the center of the stories whereas illuminating the theme of wedding. an honest example is that the organized wedding within the story “The Third and Final Continent”. this can be one thing that always happens within the Indian culture. From the outsider’s perspective, most of the days this side is viewed negatively. However, Lahiri has start to indicate that organized marriages might even have an honest ending. he’s attempting to prove that the success of a wedding isn’t determined by whether it’s organized or otherwise. it’s a lot of however positive in communication the couples are and the style of angle that they create on. A negative angle is very probable to result to failure of a wedding