Interpreter+of+Maladies

Select 3-5 stories and study them in depth. When making your selection, consider how the stories connect through themes, situations, maladies, or symbols.

For each story, consider the following:
 * 1) Significance of the title
 * 2) Characters:
 * Protagonists
 * Other characters
 * Significant features (character analysis)
 * 1) Setting
 * 2) Malady (and resolution)
 * 3) Symbols and Motifs
 * 4) Narrative Point of View
 * 5) Values embodied in the story: cultural, social, historical
 * 6) Important Quotes

=Interpreter of Maladies=

__Significance of Title:__ Mr. Kapasi functions as an interpreter for a doctor in India since he is one of the only people who speaks Gujarati in his area. He is able to interpret the patient's maladies, whether it be a mysterious cough, a fever, or a great pain in their shoulder. He is the only one able to express their pain since there is a communication barrier. Mrs. Dad believes him to be crucial; she believes that he cannot only fix physical maladies but mental ones such as sorrow and guilt. Each story depicted in Interpreter of Maladies contains a family, couple, or person in great need of assistance. In most instances, the people are losing their cultural identity as well as the ability to express themselves. All the couples lack communication, so in response, their relationship begins to crumble. Their familial bonds shatter; the Das family are strangers to each other. Mina is depressed, lost in another world without the guilt and resentfulness of her children. Raj pretend his pseudo family is happy: claiming pictures to display to all his neighbors and friends. Meanwhile, the children are forced to fend for themselves, turning into obnoxious and loud children without control or structure. Their family is broken, and Mina believes that Kapasi is capable of lifting their pain and regret which reveals her naivety and ignorance of how relationships work. __ Characters: __ __Setting:__ The Das family travels to India for vacation. While there, they are shown to be completely disconnected from their heritage and lack empathy and respect for Indian culture. Raj and Mina believe they are superior to Mr. Kapasi, claiming arrogance from their American citizenship. Furthermore, Raj ignores Kapasi and argues with him over the best route due to his American tour guide book. He lacks respect for a starved man in the side of the road, believing that he is perfect to show people just how "exotic and Indian" their vacation was. Furthermore, Mina drops her puffed rice on the ground at the ruins which leads to the monkeys attacking Bobby; she ignores Kapasi's warnings and affects the environment as well as her son's well being. __Malady (and resolution):__ Mina is plagued with guilt over her infidelity which produced Bobby. However, she doesn't consciously accept her blame and desires for Kapasi to remediate it. When Kapasi accuses her of feeling guilt and not actual pain, a part of her realizes that she is destined to live with it. Her burden is to bear her affair because the truth would only harm her family more. However, selfishness is a malady for all adults in the story. Mina whines about how her life is filled with misery, forgetting her children and lacking the ability to see her part in the situation. Raj desires a picture perfect family but doesn't actually care how his family is beneath the lens; he is blinded by fake smiles. Kapasi avoids his wife and hates his failed marriage; both his wife and he are unable to communicate effectively or consider the other's' feelings or desires. Their relationship is hollow. __ Symbols and Motifs: __ __ Narrative Point of View: __ The events that occur through the story are seen through Mr. Kapasi's eyes. Therefore, we cannot be certain how much is true of the Das family and how much is implemented by Kapasi's own bias. Mr. Kapasi is extremely lonely and has a failing marriage, therefore, he might be asserting his own relationship and emotions into the Das family. __ Values embodied in the story (cultural, social, historical): __ Losing cultural identity and disconnection from heritage is a major theme throughout the story. Raj and Mina are completely disconnected from their heritage and impose their stereotypical American mentality of superiority and selfishness. Many people in America are in search of their heritage since America lacks its own culture since it is so new and a synthesis of many other countries. Furthermore, social class plays a major role throughout the story. Raj districts the starved man on the side of the road just as Mina believes kapasi is too beneath her to even insult. __ Important Quotes: __
 * **Mr. Kapasi:** Mr. Kapasi is a tour driver in India who is incredibly lonely. He feels unappreciated by his wife, who despises his job because it reminds her of their deceived child. He has lost his dream of being an interpreter for important diplomats and political figures; he has also lost his knowledge of all non-Indian languages but English. He is taciturn and isolated from his community except for his interaction with his patients with maladies. He constantly sees death and pain but treats it as a part of life. Unlike his wife, he appears to have accepted his son's death. He finds solace in Mrs. Das because she shows interest in his job. He is so incredibly lonely that he begins fantasizing about writing her letter and developing a pen-pal relationship to discuss their grievances and terrible lives.
 * **Raj Das:** Raj lacks empathy and respect for his heritage and those around him. Instead of offering a starving man food on the edge of the road, he wants to take a picture of him to show all his friends back home. Instead of treating the man like an object, he is simply an object that Raj can use to decorate his own life and heighten his family's status through the pictures of their expensive and exotic journeys. He and Mina have a point system; they constantly bicker about responsibility and act more like older siblings than parents. Raj elevates himself about Kapasi and other Indian civilians because he was born in America. He constantly has his nose in a book and is so preoccupied that e forgets to enjoy the journey and scenery. Instead of physically looking at the ruins and country, he looks through a camera lens or ignores his family due to his book. He asserts his own obnoxious and stereotypical American culture by claiming intelligence and superiority of Kapasi, arguing that his tour book is more informational than Kapasi himself.
 * **Mina Das:** Mina is a symbol of selfishness, along with her husband. She has no connection to her family and desires to escape them all. She tells Mr. kapasi that she wishes to throw everything out; she is depressed and confined. Her children are reminders of her infidelity which causes her pain (or actually guilt) except she is unwilling to see her part in her family's' mess. She complains and whines about how everything is horrible for her, how her life is meaningless, and how she doesn't lover her children or husband. She is unable to look past herself to see how she affects her family as well. She ignores her children's pain and loneliness, fixated with the maladies in her own life.
 * **Children (Bobby, Ronny, Tina):** The children represent the failings of their parents. Bobby and Ronnie are rambunctious boys, ignorant of the rich culture around them.
 * **Camera:** shows Raj's obsession with the false/he lives in his own reality/he is obsessed with appearances and status but doesn't actually care beyond the surface
 * **Nail polish:** depicts Mina's selfishness and obsession with herself/she doesn't care about anyone else and the struggles and pain they might see/she believes she is burdened with the worst life and the most pain, unable to empathize
 * **Puffed Rice:** Mina's guilt and actions which harm others/ she keeps the puffed rice to herself (selfishness) and the rice results in monkeys beating up her son-her actions lead to her son's pain
 * **Lunch at the roadside restaurant:** the act of communion leads to Kapasi's fantasy/brought together/a part of something
 * **Kapasi:** Mina sees him as someone who can heal her pain
 * **Mina/Raj:** selfishness, stereotypical American culture, egoism
 * **Monkeys:** The monkey's represent the possibilities
 * "They were all like siblings" (49)
 * "English was the only non-Indian language he spoke fluently anymore" (52)
 * "In time she would reveal the disappointment of her marriage, and he his. In this way, their friendship would grown, and flourish" (55)
 * "In those moments Mr. Kapasi used to believe that all was right with the world, that all struggles were rewarded, that all of life's mistakes made sense in the end. The promise that he would hear from Mrs. Das now filled him with the same belief" (56)
 * "Pretend I'm there" (61)

=Sexy=

__Significance of the title:__ Lahiri chose to title her short story, "Sexy", to enhance the viewpoint of how sexual American culture has become. She demonstrates the corruption of adolescence as even the youth are plagued by female stereotypes, sexual knowledge, and inappropriate images. The story revolves around Miranda, only twenty-two, who is already trained to believe that self importance comes from beauty as she struggles being viewed as a "toy" by Dev. She romanticizes Indian culture, attempting to break away from American culture only to realize that the younger generations of all cultures are plagued by sexual implications. __Characters:__ __Setting:__ The story revolves around Miranda’s apartment with a few situations that occur in other places. The story opens as Miranda walks through a mall and finds Dev. She sees countless other women in the beauty section, all young, who are addicted to makeup and beauty products. She even buys anti-aging cream although she is only twenty-two years old. The store clerk explains that wrinkles form at age twenty-five. This encapsulates the idea that happiness and love comes from beauty; many women are expected to remain young and beautiful. Furthermore, Miranda is sometimes at her office which exemplifies her own guilt about participating in an affair. Her co worker, Laximi, is constantly comforting her cousin who is currently being cheated on. In response, Miranda continually hears her friend say nasty comments about both the other woman and the husband. The setting mostly revolves around Miranda’s apartment because her relationship derives from sex; Dev uses her and doesn't find a need to romance her or take her out when his wife comes back home. Instead, he uses her once a week. Miranda allows this which contributes to her isolation and loneliness. __Malady (and resolution):__ Miranda realizes that Dev only cares about sex and ignores her personality, attitude, and likes. Dev objectifies her without considering her feelings. She has this epiphany after Rohin says that the definition of sexy is “when you love someone you don’t know”. It finally hits her that he has no intention of leaving his wife; there is no future relationship with romance and dates. She decides to pretend to be sick and begins to build up past relationships to change her current state of isolation. Eventually, her relationship with Dev ends after different excuses and circumstances. She begins to go out with Laximi and participates in life by planning activities and trips. __Symbols and Motifs:__ __Narrative Point of View:__ The story is told through Miranda, a twenty-two year old who feels empty and lonely. Her paranoia is seen through her conversations with Laxmi; Laxmi cousin’s husband left her for a younger woman on the plane. Laxmi is seen livid towards the affair in an attempt to console her cousin. Miranda is revealed to be similar to the young woman on the plan, she is participating in an affair with a married man. Through her eyes, she depicts how Dev treats her and how he only appears to use her sexually. Furthermore, she hypersexualizes Rohin’s actions and beliefs which furthers the idea that the world is addicted to what is “sexy” or “hot” to such an extreme point that it corrupts the youth. __Values embodied in the story: cultural, social, historical:__ Miranda exemplifies the notion that Americans lack a bond with their culture and heritage. Furthermore, Miranda is lost culturally; she is unsure of other cultures and parts of the world. Through Miranda, we can see the importance she places of beauty. When she begins to believe Dev’s wife is beautiful, she loses confidence and begins to hint at paranoia. Society dictates that women should be beautiful and compare themselves towards other’s beauty. Instead of focusing on traits like kindness, intelligence, or compassion, women feel as if they are insignificant unless they’re beautiful. Miranda imposes this ideal subconsciously until she finally acknowledges that Dev only wants her sexually. He doesn't love her, and he won;t leave his wife for her. Beauty and sex are closely related throughout the story. Dev seems to only care about Miranda’s beauty and her sexual life, and thus, only cares about having sex with her. Interestingly enough, she continues to call it “making love” although Rohin points out her flawed logic by explaining that sexy is what you call someone you “love” but don’t know. The question remains: how can you love someone you don’t know? The answer: You don’t. Furthermore, in this short story, society imposes hypersexual beliefs among all generations. Even Rohin, a small child, calls Miranda “sexy” and wants her to dress up for him. This horrifying scene is an attempt to show the world how sexualized it has become; people are addicted to plastic surgery and body modification to become sexier which is dangerous cycle. Society dictates you must be “sexy” to be important but also claims that one starts getting old around twenty and must prepare so they can be beautiful and avoid aging. Through this cycle, society creates people obsessed with sex and appearance from an incredibly young age. __Important Quotes:__
 * **Miranda**: Miranda is isolated from society except from her encounters with Laximi and Dev. Both these characters help to define her emotions and life; Laximi exposes Miranda’s inner guilt through commentary with her cousin whose husband left her. Miranda hears the wretched things said about the young women and the Laximi’s cousin’s husband. Miranda is engaged in an affair with a married man as well. With Dev, she is sexualized and treated an an object without emotional attachment.
 * **Dev:** the man that Miranda cheats with/he views Miranda as a sexual object
 * **Laximi:** Miranda's work friend who contributes to Miranda's guilt as she is constantly comforting her cousin who is being cheated on
 * **Rohin**: symbol of the corruption of youth/he shows dominance and wisdom over Miranda who likes to take a naive and shy route/he demands she put on the sparkling dress to which she obliges
 * **The Economist**: Dev teaches Miranda about a few places in India since she doesn’t own a map or any type of atlas. However, when she asks questions about what the key means, he dismisses her and claims she doesn’t need to know. This book symbolizes how Miranda is not only culturally lost about the world, but also Dev only sees her as a sexual object and doesn’t find a need to go into his life or culture.
 * **Anti-aging cream:** Miranda buys it and catches Dev’s eyes. Even though she is only 22, society has dictated that se must prepare for aging by reducing wrinkles and getting rid of impurities.
 * **Sparkling dress:** Miranda feels as if she must dress sexy for Dev/it’s her lingering notion that Dev only cares about her appearance and what she can offer sexually instead of emotionally or mentally
 * **“Sexy”**: the world has grown hypersexualizes/even a small child knows the meaning and sexualizes Miranda which adds a creepy and revolting idea that even the youth is addicted to sexual ideas and concepts
 * **Indian grocery store:** The man tells Miranda that the food she is looking at is “too spicy”/she will never be able to identify with Dev culturally and is separated from him
 * “You’re sexy”
 * “Put it on [the dress]”
 * “Only Miranda never slept”
 * “All of your wrinkles are going to form by 25”
 * “Nothing you’ll ever need to worry about”
 * “When you love someone without knowing them”

A Temporary Matter
__Significance of the title:__ Throughout the story, Shoba and Shukumar begin to confess small secrets. They are tiny confessions such as forgetting to tip a waiter and cheating on an exam. Although Shukumar believes this exchange brings them closer; Shoba is actually using this method as a way to end the painful relationship. These matters are all “temporary”. The guilt, anger, sadness all fades easily. However, the last confession of Shoba and Shukumar reveal the dark, destroyed relationship beneath them. For 6 months, they lost all communication after the death of their baby which led to more and more “temporary matters”. In the end, Shoba reveals that she is planning on leaving Shukumar. Out of vengeance and misery, he reveals the sex of their stillborn baby which he uses to express his grief and pain after months of covering it up. At the end, they both sob with the secrets they now knew. There relationship is the new temporary matter, and they both realize how much they have hurt each other and the destruction it has caused. __Characters:__ __Setting:__ The setting revolves around Shoba and Shukumar’s house in which they are the only two named characters. Their house is another source of pain for the couple; the old baby’s nursery constantly reminds Shoba of her baby’s death. The house becomes a place of isolation and misery which enhances their struggling and ending relationship. __Malady (and resolution):__ Shukumar and Shoba lack all communication. After the death of their baby, neither knew how to handle it. They both grew apart and began to fester in misery. As evidenced by Shukumar's recollections of the past, he feels as if he never could express his guilt. He hid the fact that he held their baby before he was cremated. They do not love each other anymore; the lack of communication has turned them into strangers. In the end, Shoba decides she cannot take the misery of the relationship and decides she must leave. __Symbols and Motifs:__ __Narrative Point of View:__ The view is from Shukumar’s perspective; he dominates how the reader sees events thus the reader is not entirely sure what is true. Every character and situation is influenced by Shukumar's own bias. He places his own misery on Shoba and his surroundings while telling himself that he is over the death of their child. He has not expressed his pain, and even finds solace in the old nursery of his stillborn child because Shoba won't follow him in there. His guilt haunts him and influences his actions towards Shoba which is why he desires to hide from her. However, he also struggles with repressing his own grief and pain since men are not supposed to express emotion in many cultures. Instead, he focuses on the idea that Shoba is the one in denial and pain whereas he has achieved peace. In actuality, he is the one who lives in denial of their failing relationship and reflects on his actions toward avoiding Shoba. Therefore, we are not positive on how Shoba reacts or feels or if she truly did try to make the relationship work but he ended it with his selfishness. __Values embodied in the story: cultural, social, historical:__ 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. 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 Shoba and Shukumar lose this aspect, their relationship crumbles. 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. Through lack of communication, they lose each other. Furthermore, Lahiri enhances the view that Shukumar hd to hide his misery and pain about his son’s death. Shoba's mother accused him of knowing nothing of pain since “he wasn’t there”. The pain he feels ends up resulting in spite towards Shoba and the world around him. Lahiri demonstrates how men are supposed to act impenetrable to pain and misery and society; they are expected to repress their feelings. __Important Quotes:__
 * **Shukumar:** Shoba’s husband/he is currently working on a paper of Indian culture although he knows nothing of it/ he stays at home and prepares dinner for Shoba/ from his own point of view
 * **Shoba:** she works late and her idiosyncrasies have changed/ she now cares less about her appearance and cleanliness
 * **Food**: communion/familial ties on a surface level/ in actuality they represent the relationship breaking apart as Shoba uses their dinner talks to end the marriage
 * **Candles**: romance/love
 * "It was the one thing in her life that she had wanted to be a surprise"
 * “But nothing was pushing Shukumar”
 * ”But now he would lie in bed until he grew bored”
 * “But you weren’t even there”
 * “No. But I didn’t give up on you”
 * “Hold me in your arms”
 * “He didn’t want to pretend to be happy”