Essays on Interpreter of Maladies

Interpreter of Maladies, written by Jhumpa Lahiri, is a collection of nine short stories surrounding the lives of Indian immigrants living in America. The stories focus on various issues that these immigrants face while trying to adjust to life in a foreign country. Common themes throughout the book include cultural identity, family dynamics, and relationships within an immigrant context. The first story A Temporary Matter follows Shoba and Shukumar as they cope with the death of their child through their strained relationship. They have begun to grow apart due to this tragedy but one thing brings them together: a power outage occurring every night for an hour during which they must turn off all electricity and spend time together in complete darkness. Through this temporary matter, both characters are able to gain insight into each other’s emotions thus bringing them closer together once again. In When Mr Pirzada Came To Dine ten-year-old Lilia discovers how war can affect even those far away from it when her family hosts a guest fleeing violence in his homeland of Bangladesh. Although he comes across as quite mysterious due to his constant worrying about being followed by political enemies, Lilia soon learns that he is also kind and generous as she watches him treat her family kindly despite having so much sorrow and stress himself. Finally Interpreter Of Maladies tells the story of Mr Kapasi who works as an interpreter at a hospital where Mrs Das takes her son for some medical tests. On the way there she begins talking about her marriage troubles whilst Mr Kapasi listens intently until eventually revealing his own pent up feelings about his neglected job when he confesses that he wishes people would take more interest in what he does rather than simply viewing him as nothing more than a driver or tourist guide; something which Mrs Das ironically fails to do despite her seemingly sincere attempts at conversation throughout their journey together.