Interpreter of Maladies: Lahiri’s Guide to Forging One’s Identity
In her collection of short stories entitled “Interpreter of Maladies,” Jhumpa Lahiri illustrates the difficulties that immigrants face when displaced and distanced from their culture. Each story serves as a different viewpoint on cultural experience, which allows Lahiri to bring together a detailed image of cultural displacement and the challenges it poses when forging one’s identity. The importance of cultural ties is emphasized in the stories, as is the natural longing to achieve such connections. However, Lahiri shows the difficulties in doing so, especially with a younger generation that has only family ties to their culture because they have already been assimilated into …show more content…
In “Mr. Pirzada Comes to Dine,” Lilia’s mother declares proudly that her daughter was born in America as Lilia remarks, “She seemed genuinely proud of the fact, as if it were a reflection of my character” (Lahiri 26). However, Lilia desires to understand Mr. Pirzada and treasures the candies that he gives to her, as if eating one made a connection with her culture. As she observes him and her parents in the living room watching the news from overseas, she observes, “…I remember the three of them operating during that time as if they were a single person, sharing a single meal, a single body, a single silence, and a single fear” (Lahiri 41). Lilia is an outsider among them because she is the first generation to be separated from her heritage by distance and she realizes in the end a connection with her heritage is impossible as she throws away the candy from Mr. Pirzada. In the short story “Interpreter of Maladies,” Mrs. Das attempts to make a connection with Mr. Kapasi, which in turn would serve as a connection to her heritage from which she is far removed. Mr. Kapasi imagines corresponding with Mrs. Das after her return to America saying it would fulfill his dream of “serving as an interpreter between nations” (Lahiri 59). However, as his address floats away, Lahiri shows, as she did …show more content…
In “A Real Durwan,” Boori Ma creates her own identity by painting elaborate pictures of her past. In the same way that a romanticized version of reality can aid connections in the real world, Boori Ma’s tales helps her accept the harsh reality of her life. Those around her suspect that “she probably constructs tales as a way of mourning the loss of her family” (Lahiri 72). She grounds her identity in her savings and the keys she keeps in her sari. After these are stolen in the end, her forged identity is shattered. She has failed as the guard to her identity and calls out for the people to believe her and her claims. However, when she shakes her sari to emphasize her point and nothing jingles, she can no longer believe herself. Similarly, Mrs. Sen attempts to keep India with her by placing rugs around the house and cooking traditional Indian food. She also continues to identify her home as India and states, “Everything is there” (Lahiri 113). However, the letters that she allows to come through shatter the illusion of being in India within her apartment because it reminds her that home is thousands of miles away, where life is continuing without her. Boori Ma grounds her identity in concrete and insignificant things, namely the savings and keys, while Mrs. Sen continues to identify her true home as India, making both illusory coping mechanisms
In her collection of short stories entitled “Interpreter of Maladies,” Jhumpa Lahiri illustrates the difficulties that immigrants face when displaced and distanced from their culture. Each story serves as a different viewpoint on cultural experience, which allows Lahiri to bring together a detailed image of cultural displacement and the challenges it poses when forging one’s identity. The importance of cultural ties is emphasized in the stories, as is the natural longing to achieve such connections. However, Lahiri shows the difficulties in doing so, especially with a younger generation that has only family ties to their culture because they have already been assimilated into …show more content…
In “Mr. Pirzada Comes to Dine,” Lilia’s mother declares proudly that her daughter was born in America as Lilia remarks, “She seemed genuinely proud of the fact, as if it were a reflection of my character” (Lahiri 26). However, Lilia desires to understand Mr. Pirzada and treasures the candies that he gives to her, as if eating one made a connection with her culture. As she observes him and her parents in the living room watching the news from overseas, she observes, “…I remember the three of them operating during that time as if they were a single person, sharing a single meal, a single body, a single silence, and a single fear” (Lahiri 41). Lilia is an outsider among them because she is the first generation to be separated from her heritage by distance and she realizes in the end a connection with her heritage is impossible as she throws away the candy from Mr. Pirzada. In the short story “Interpreter of Maladies,” Mrs. Das attempts to make a connection with Mr. Kapasi, which in turn would serve as a connection to her heritage from which she is far removed. Mr. Kapasi imagines corresponding with Mrs. Das after her return to America saying it would fulfill his dream of “serving as an interpreter between nations” (Lahiri 59). However, as his address floats away, Lahiri shows, as she did …show more content…
In “A Real Durwan,” Boori Ma creates her own identity by painting elaborate pictures of her past. In the same way that a romanticized version of reality can aid connections in the real world, Boori Ma’s tales helps her accept the harsh reality of her life. Those around her suspect that “she probably constructs tales as a way of mourning the loss of her family” (Lahiri 72). She grounds her identity in her savings and the keys she keeps in her sari. After these are stolen in the end, her forged identity is shattered. She has failed as the guard to her identity and calls out for the people to believe her and her claims. However, when she shakes her sari to emphasize her point and nothing jingles, she can no longer believe herself. Similarly, Mrs. Sen attempts to keep India with her by placing rugs around the house and cooking traditional Indian food. She also continues to identify her home as India and states, “Everything is there” (Lahiri 113). However, the letters that she allows to come through shatter the illusion of being in India within her apartment because it reminds her that home is thousands of miles away, where life is continuing without her. Boori Ma grounds her identity in concrete and insignificant things, namely the savings and keys, while Mrs. Sen continues to identify her true home as India, making both illusory coping mechanisms