Interpreter+of+Maladies'+Claim


 * CLAIM**: In //In////terpreter of Maladies// Jhumpa Lahiri uses food and dining as a vehicle to display the deterioration of familial bonds, community, and [|culture] through the transition from Indian to American ways of life.

__Interpreter of Maladies__ and __A Temporary Matter__

In __Interpreter of Maladies__, Raj and Mina expose their fallacies, selfish natures, and disconnection from their family, relationship, and heritage. After Mina and Raj argue about whose turn it is to care for their daughter, Mina arrives back at the tour car with puffed rice. Mr. Kapasi immediately notes that she does not offer her rice to anyone in the car. Mina is mentally separated from her family. Although she appears to be there physically, she explains to her husband and children to "pretend I'm there"(61). Their familial ties are nonexistent; the parents act like older siblings; Raj and Mina constantly quibble about caring for and entertaining their children. Mina swats Tina away when she begs her to paint her nails, hissing to "leave me alone"(48). Mina shows indifference to her family; she doesn't care if they're hungry, happy, or healthy. She sees them as burdens that have detrimentally altered their life. She obnoxiously eats the puffed rice, an Indian snack, while cramming them into her mouth, usurping it for only her taste. She exhibits stereotypical American traits while altering the symbolism of the puffed rice which is to be savored and enjoyed. Instead, she acts gluttonous, noisily cramming down the cultural item without realizing its importance or significance. Meanwhile, a starved man walks on the side of the road. Instead of finding empathy, identifying with their heritage, and offering the puffed rice, Mina and Rag ignore his state of starvation. Raj only cares about stopping to get a picture of him. This unsympathetic behavior exposes the deterioration of their Indian culture and how they impose their American culture upon those around them, disrespecting Indian culture and continuing in their ignorant behavior. When the Das family arrives for lunch at a roadside restaurant, they invite Mr. Kapasi to sit with them and to engage in conversation and photography. Mr. Kapasi feels connected to the family, especially Mina, since the other touring families ignore his presence. Mrs. Das is the only one fully engaged; Raj demonstrates that he only desires to take pictures of the family. Instead of enjoying the process and trip, he wants pictures to show back at home, demonstrating his need for others' approval and the desire to show his family as content although its crumbling apart. As the children play by themselves, which further demonstrates their isolated nature, Raj continues to be warped in his own world, desperate to twist his family into happy, close individuals while ignoring the tumultuous state the family is in. The lunch scene displays the broken relationship between all the members and the parents' inability to care for anyone but themselves. Meanwhile, Mrs. Das focuses her attention on Kapasi, a newfound stranger, instead of enjoying time with her family. She only treats Kapasi as an equal because she desires his skills to cleanse her guilt; she respects and trivializes his other patients while demanding her cure her of her guilt and poor choices. The Das family is ignorant and obnoxious; the children are forced to fend for themselves, and Mr. and Mrs. Das continually show their selfishness. They forsake their Indian heritage, claiming superiority due to their American status, ignoring India’s rich cultures and traditions while infecting it with their pollution, egoism, and disrespect. Shoba and Shukumar are another dysfunctional couple: split apart by the death of their unborn child and shattered from lack of communication. The couple is stunted; they are both stuck in the same rut of their household. When Shoba comes home, Shukumar notices that she leaves traces of make-up on her face: runny and dirty from her trip at the gym. They speak like strangers, mentioning bills, important dates, and doctor's appointments but unable to communicate their feelings or even share small interesting stories. Shukumar realizes he didn't brush his teeth; both make little attempts to dress nicely fore the other since they have lost all sexual or passionate desires. Furthermore, they don't eat dinner together. Shukumar attempts to avoid her by sitting in the old nursery which he turned into an office. Shoba watches TV while eating. Dinner represents communion; it bridges two souls together through stories, emotions, and communication. Since Shuba and Shukamar lose this aspect, their relationship crumbles. They are not connected as a couple; through a six month period, they have become strangers. Before the death of the baby, Shuba would cook immense meals for friends and family. Now, Shukamar takes pride in cooking, believing Shuba would just eat cereal without him. Due to the power outage, the couple eats in the dark together for the first time in months. He even sets up music to set a romantic vibe and wine to brighten the night. In the dark, they are able to begin communicating again. However, Shukamar notes that he "feels irritated" and that "they weren't like this before"(12). Shukamar now "struggle[s] to say something that interested her"(12). Shukamar is attempting to fix the broken bonds between them, but he doesn't realize how shattered they actually are. Six months of pain, misery, and emptiness haunts their relationship. However Shoba decides they should tell each other secrets every night. Both begin small; Shuba admits she looked in his address book to see if he wrote her in after two weeks. Shukumar admits that he forgot to tip the waiter when they first went out, so the next day he ran back to the restaurant. Shukumar identities these small secrets as a way to fix their relationship; he believes Shoba still loves him and wants their relationship to function. Shukumar looks forward to the lights going out"(15). Shukumar begins realizing that they feel more cohesive; he doesn't attempt to avoid Shoba anymore. Through dinner, Shukumar believes his relationship is slowly being fixed; he feels closer to Shoba than he has in many months. On the fifth day, the electricity is fixed, yet they still agree to light candles. However, at that moment he subconsciously acknowledges that he "does not want to pretend to be happy"(21). Shoba admits that she has found an apartment and will be leaving. He realizes that it was the point of the game. He had believed they were fixing their relationship; Shoba had been using it as a way to end it. She uses communion as a way to reflect the deteriorating of familial bonds. Shukumar realizes it is his turn, and he admits he did see the baby after it was stillborn. He had held his son, yet had hid his own sorrow for Shoba's benefit because he loved her and knew "it was the one thing in her life that she had wanted to be a surprise"(22). He chooses to unleash vengeance as well as his own pain and misery. Although she thought he never made it from Boston, he was there to see their dead child. The secrets end up breaking them, reversing communion into acts of betrayal and sorrow.