Interpreter Of The Maladies By Jhumpa Lahiri

No relationship is perfect and one will always go through difficulties and challenges down the road. “Interpreter of the Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri is about Mr. and Mrs. Das and their children Bobby, Ronny, and Tina visiting India. Mr. Das hired Mr. Kapasi to give them a tour of India and drive them to visit the Sun Temple. Immediately, Mr. Kapasi noticed the bickering between Mr. and Mrs. Das and how they looked Indian but dressed like foreigners. Mr. Das advises Mr. Kapasi that he and his wife were born and raised in the United States and they came to India to visit their parents. Afterword, Mr. Kapasi tells the Das family about his second job as an interpreter in a doctor’s office. He obtained the second job as a way to pay for his son’s …show more content…
and Mrs. Das displayed lack of communication between one another and their children. During the trip to the Sun Temple, Mrs. Das didn’t bother to spend quality time with her daughter, Tina. Tina tried to get her mother’s attention as Jhumpa Lahiri describes, “The little girls stuck out her hand. ‘Mine too. Mommy do mine too.’ ‘Leave me alone’ Mrs. Das said…” (pg. 16). By focusing on polishing her nails, Mrs. Das overlooks the deeper problem of not interacting and communicating with Tina. Instead of building a mother and daughter relationship and agreeing to polish Tina’s nails, Mrs. Das just stated to Tina to leave her alone and slightly turned her body to avoid her. In addition, Mr. and Mrs. Das also lacked communication during the car ride. Instead of teaching their children about India, Mr. and Mrs. Das would either bicker or focus on other things, as Jhumpa Lahiri points out, “Mr. Das tapped on his lens cap, and his tour book, Mrs. Das continued to polish her nails” (pg.16). In making this comment, Jhumpa Lahiri notes how Mr. and Mrs. Das didn’t communicate and were busy focusing on themselves. Mr. Das would use his camera and Mrs. Das would polish her nails as a way to escape their reality of their dysfunctional family. In addition, Mr. Das should have shared the information about India with his family as a way to educate them about their culture. In conclusion, the Das family presented the difficulties of relationships through their lack of …show more content…
Das also presented the difficulties of relationships through her being overwhelmed and her love affair. Mrs. Das met and married Mr. Das at a young age and became overwhelmed when Jhumpa Lahiri admits, “After marrying so young she was overwhelmed by it all, having a child so quickly, and nursing, and warming up bottles of milk…” (pg. 26). In making this comment, the author acknowledges how overwhelmed Mrs. Das was having to do everything at a young age while her husband was working. Her world revolved around Mr. Das because he was the only person she knew from high school to college. Both of their parents were close friends and would even joke about their marriage. Since she would spend all her time with Mr. Das in college, she wasn’t able to make any close friends. She had no one to confide in and would often be invited to lunch or shopping by her two college friends but she was always tired and eventually they stopped inviting her. Due to being overwhelmed, Mrs. Das ultimately had a love affair eight years ago when Lahiri admits, “Bobby was conceived in the afternoon, on a sofa littered with rubber teething toys, after the friend learned that a London pharmaceutical company had hired him…” (pg. 26). In making this comment, Lahiri asserts that Mrs. Das didn’t feel guilt or regret at that time. For eight years she was holding that secret until she believed Mr. Kapasi could help her by relieving her pain. For this reason, Mr. Kapasi was able to help her by asking her if