Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri General Analysis

Interpreter of Maladies portrays the cultural differences between Indian and American. The Dases represent the American culture, while Mr. Kapasi represents the Indian one. Even though The Dases come of Indian descent and likeness to the Indian race, Mr. and Mrs. Das were actually born in America. They also grew and were raised there. They only visit India occasionally, so their customs are more American than Indian. The first difference between those cultures is the fashion style. This statement is proven by the line, “The family looked Indian but dressed as foreigners did, the children in stiff, brightly colored clothing and caps with translucent visors.” It shows that the way Indian and American dress themselves is different. The other difference appears when they are introducing each other. It can be seen in the line, “When he’d introduced himself, Mr. Kapasi had pressed his palms together in greeting, but Mr. Das squeezed hands like an American so that Mr. Kapasi felt it in his elbow.” The Indian greeting is called Anjali Mudra and is also considered a gesture of prayer. The Indian is using that gesture of greeting rather than the one that American use. The Indian one is more cultural, while the American one is just shaking hands.

Another difference is the slang between American English and Indian English. Not all of the American slang is known by Indian people. There is a scene when Mr. Kapasi does not understand Mrs. Das’s words. It can be seen in the line, “She raised her sunglasses for a moment, then put them back on again. "Neat." Mr. Kapasi was not certain exactly what the word suggested, but he had a feeling it was a favorable response.” The line, “Mr. Kapasi found it strange that Mr. Das should refer to his wife by her first name when speaking to the little girl” shows the different culture where in America, it is common to call the parents only by their first name but in India, it is impolite to call parents by name.

Mrs. Das tells her secret to Mr. Kapasi for the reason that she does not have a person to speak up to, so when she meets and talks with Mr. Kapasi and when knows that he is an interpreter, she feels that Mr. Kapasi is the one who can give her advice or just a view from another perspective regarding her problem. And also, because Mr. Kapasi’s age is almost double her age, she considers Mr. Kapasi as the figure of her parents. Although in the end, this led Mr. Kapasi to misunderstand that she was romantically attracted to him.

 The story presented how marriage is not seen as a holy thing. It is just like two people who got to live together. For Mr. and Mrs. Das, it can be seen from Mrs. Das’s statement when she tells the story to Mr. Kapasi, "We married when we were still in college. We were in high school when he proposed. We went to the same college, of course. Back then, we couldn’t stand the thought of being separated, not for a day, not for a minute.” “The things we did those Friday and Saturday nights, while our parents sat downstairs drinking tea... I could tell you stories, Mr. Kapasi." It is like hinting that it was a result of puppy love that has crossed the line. In my consideration, Mrs. Das had their first child before marriage. Because their parents are good friends and the term ‘marriage’ is not foreign to their ears since they used to joke about their marriage. It is proven in the line, “We were sent upstairs to play together while our parents joked about our marriage.” It seems that Mrs. Das was tired of being a mother at a young age. Even more with her last child, who was not the child of her husband. She felt the burden of hiding the secret all these years and probably also felt guilty towards Mr. Das, but she could not reveal it to him either. For Mr. Kapasi, it seems that he and his wife are not that close, or it can say that their relationship is not really intimate. In the line, “it occurred to him, as he, too, gazed at the topless women, that he had never seen his own wife fully naked.” There was still clothing even when they made love. “and enjoy the evening newspaper and a cup of tea that his wife would serve him in silence.” It makes it obvious that they only live together without love because husband and wife will normally talk warmly, even a little.

Being an interpreter symbolizes a person who can understand others. Mr. Kapasi’s job is as a liaison between two people who do not understand each other, in this case, the doctor and Gujarati patients. In that area, many people do not speak Gujarati, so they need an interpreter who can speak both languages. For that reason, Mrs. Das approached Mr. Kapasi to give her a suggestion for her problem if he understood it. But Mr. Kapasi declines it because, in his consideration, being an interpreter is not the same with a counselor. He only interprets the language, not other people’s problems.

            I would say that the plot of this story continues the way it should. The ending shows that Mrs. Das is taking care of her son, Bobby, who has been attacked by monkeys until she does not care about the slip of paper with Mr. Kapasi’s address blown by the wind. Let alone care; she did not even notice it. Family is still family. Even with what Mrs. Das felt toward them, they have lived together for years, and of course, they have a lot of memories made. Mr. Kapasi must realize that the connection between the tourist and the tour guide is only to that extent. Especially when they already have their own families. So, for me, the ending is not surprising at all.