Depression and Insecurity in Interpreter of Maladies All relationships and marriages run into problems at one point or another. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s collection of short stories Interpreter of Maladies she wrote about the various problems that come about in different relationships. There is no denying the fact that depression and insecurity are significant personal problems portrayed through the characters Jhumpa Lahiri created. A problem in some relationships is depression. In her article “Depression Symptoms, Treatments, & Causes,” medical author and psychiatrist Roxanne Dryden-Edwards states, “Depression is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and that affects the way a person eats, sleeps, feels about himself or herself,
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The story is about an Indian couple, Shoba and Shukumar, who live together and recently lost their baby. They get a notice that the electricity will be turned off for an hour every night for the next few days. During that hour of darkness the couple sits in candlelight to eat dinner and they tell each other a different secret each night. By the end of the few days Shoba tells Shukumar that she had been looking and found an apartment and was moving out. The reader knows from the beginning of this story that this couple is anything but happy. Shoba and Shukumar are both attempting to get through the pain and grief from the loss of their baby. Shukumar isolates himself by avoiding Shoba as much as possible. After dinner they would both go to their separate work areas, but before Shoba went to bed she would find Shukumar in his study, “It was the one time in the day she sought him out, and yet he’d come to dread it” (Lahiri 8). Shukumar isolates himself in his study and when the woman who was going to have his baby comes to see him, he dreads it. He is supposed to love her yet he dreads seeing her. He put his desk in what was going to be their baby’s room on purpose because he knew Shoba would not disturb him while he was in that room, “[…] he set up his desk there deliberately, partly because the room soothed him, and partly because it was a place Shoba avoided” (8). This shows how Shukumar further isolates himself …show more content…
Insecurity is “a lack of confidence or assurance” (“Insecurity”). When someone feels insecure they often feel as though they are not good enough. They feel like they are not pretty enough, skinny enough, or tall enough. People with insecurities often have low self-esteem. “People with low self-esteem tend to be less confident that other people perceive them in a positive light. They doubt whether strangers will like them, and they’re not sure if the people they’re close to will continue to like/love/accept/want them” (Boyes). Low self-esteem can cause people to “accept the love we think we deserve” (The Perks). My friend had a steady boyfriend for three years but they broke up after she found out he had been cheating on her. Her self-esteem dropped after they broke up and she felt as though she was not pretty enough for anyone to want her. She started “dating” every guy who showed interest in her even if she didn’t like them. Some were married and others were in relationships and the only reason she went out with them was for the attention they gave her. Her lack of confidence, or insecurity, in herself turned into someone she swore she would never
The story is about an Indian couple, Shoba and Shukumar, who live together and recently lost their baby. They get a notice that the electricity will be turned off for an hour every night for the next few days. During that hour of darkness the couple sits in candlelight to eat dinner and they tell each other a different secret each night. By the end of the few days Shoba tells Shukumar that she had been looking and found an apartment and was moving out. The reader knows from the beginning of this story that this couple is anything but happy. Shoba and Shukumar are both attempting to get through the pain and grief from the loss of their baby. Shukumar isolates himself by avoiding Shoba as much as possible. After dinner they would both go to their separate work areas, but before Shoba went to bed she would find Shukumar in his study, “It was the one time in the day she sought him out, and yet he’d come to dread it” (Lahiri 8). Shukumar isolates himself in his study and when the woman who was going to have his baby comes to see him, he dreads it. He is supposed to love her yet he dreads seeing her. He put his desk in what was going to be their baby’s room on purpose because he knew Shoba would not disturb him while he was in that room, “[…] he set up his desk there deliberately, partly because the room soothed him, and partly because it was a place Shoba avoided” (8). This shows how Shukumar further isolates himself …show more content…
Insecurity is “a lack of confidence or assurance” (“Insecurity”). When someone feels insecure they often feel as though they are not good enough. They feel like they are not pretty enough, skinny enough, or tall enough. People with insecurities often have low self-esteem. “People with low self-esteem tend to be less confident that other people perceive them in a positive light. They doubt whether strangers will like them, and they’re not sure if the people they’re close to will continue to like/love/accept/want them” (Boyes). Low self-esteem can cause people to “accept the love we think we deserve” (The Perks). My friend had a steady boyfriend for three years but they broke up after she found out he had been cheating on her. Her self-esteem dropped after they broke up and she felt as though she was not pretty enough for anyone to want her. She started “dating” every guy who showed interest in her even if she didn’t like them. Some were married and others were in relationships and the only reason she went out with them was for the attention they gave her. Her lack of confidence, or insecurity, in herself turned into someone she swore she would never