This week we are reading Interpreter of Maladies, which is made up of multiple short stories. After reading all of the short stories, the one I found myself interested in the most was “Sexy”. This short story was told from the point of view of Miranda who is, from what I understand, a middle aged white woman from Michigan now living in Boston. This story focused on Miranda’s life, and we learned a lot about her and the relationships she has.
The story centered around the different encounters Miranda has with a man named Dev, and how that relationship is affecting other aspects of her life. The story starts off right away with the topic of cheating, and this is very much carried throughout the rest of the story. We hear the different sides to the story of cheating, and the different perspectives of those involved. I really liked how this short story really focused on this point, and every storyline somehow connected to a story about cheating.
We mainly got to hear the perspective of Miranda, who was seeing a man who was married. But, we also got to hear Dev’s perspective of being the one cheating on his wife with another woman. Lastly, we heard the perspective of Laxmi’s cousin whose husband cheated on her after being married and having a child together.
I enjoyed the way this story was written and the back and forth of who you felt bad for and who you agreed with. I also felt I could relate to this story and the general theme of being a female and the different stages of relationships we go through in life. I think all of the women reading this story can relate to Miranda, Laxmi and Laxmi’s cousin in some sort of way.
This short story really showed how different perspectives can change your view, and how the reader feels. This short story also shows how different encounters can change the rest of your life. We saw Miranda’s life change after she had the small encounter with Dev in the store and we saw how Laxmi’s cousin’s life changed forever after her husband had a small encounter with a woman on an airplane.