This week we are diving into the novel, Interpreter of Maladies, a collection of nine short stories by an American author of Indian decent. The stories encompass and explain the lives of Indians and Indian Americans who become caught between their roots and the new explored world. India is one of the worlds largest Democracies, it consist of 1.3 billion people, and officially recognizes 16 languages. India was first colonized by England in the 1600’s but historically split and gained independence from them in 1947. Beginning in the 1960’s many Indians emigrated west to other parts of the world. This gives way to many Indians becoming exposed to other nations cultures, ideas, and people. This further allows a mix of identities to start to take root. This is when the authors idea of fighting between a persons true Indian roots and their new found countries ideals really starts to take effect. In India we do see english become the acquired language for most colonial occupants of India. In the specific story, Interpreter of Maladies, out of nine we are introduced to Mr. ad Mrs. Das. The Das’s are Indian Americans visiting the country of their heritage. During their tour they are greeted with a tour guide, Mr. Kapasi.
This novels main focus comes from the internal struggles of Indian Americans trying to find their identity in a new and ever changing world. As we look closer into the actual title more information can be found to learn and explain the themes behind many of the stories. Author, Jhumpa Lahiri uses the expression Interpreter of Maladies to “suggest clarifying or explaining aliments of the body, mind, or moral. (Sarkar, 2018)” This sparks the idea that the main purpose of these short stories is clear the conscious of struggling conflicts and or ideas that may not align with an individuals moral. This again can be seen in the story as we see many Indian Americans struggling with the idea of who they really are, their roots, and who they truly are supposed to become.
To further dive into the background of this novel we can take a look into the main themes author, Jhumpa Lahiri uses to further his ideas in the novel. The first main theme he uses is Marriage. We see the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Das in the story. We also see the theme of assimilation, using the theme of assimilation allows Lahiri to show how his characters face the challenges of adapting to an unfamiliar and unknown culture as they search for a sense of themselves. We finally can see the themes of social and emotional maladjustment. All the characters that Lahiri writes about need an understanding and compassion to come to them either by another character or cultural ideal.
Works Cited:
“Interpreter of Maladies Context.” Course Hero, www.coursehero.com/lit/Interpreter-of-Maladies/context/.
Retrieved From: https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Interpreter-of-Maladies/context/
“Interpreter of Maladies.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Feb. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpreter_of_Maladies.
Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpreter_of_Maladies
Sarkar, Somnath. “Significance of the Title of Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies.” All About English Literature, Blogger, 3 Jan. 2021, www.eng-literature.com/2018/12/significance-of-title-of-Jhumpa-Lahiri-short-story-interpreter-of-maladies.html.
Retrieved From: https://www.eng-literature.com/2018/12/significance-of-title-of-Jhumpa-Lahiri-short-story-interpreter-of-maladies.html
Thank you for showing your understanding of the material this week! I think your emphasis on the motif of identity is spot on. In this case, I think intersectionality can be applied here because many of the characters are both Indian and American which creates unique character dynamics in the “Interpretor of the Maladies.” I also really liked that Lahri presents the cultural divide through many different characters and stories.
Your understanding of the material this week was amazing in your context presentation, you listed a lot of points throughout your paragraphs. I liked that throughout the material this week, it spoke on a lot of culture and the divide throughout many of the stories. Along with looking at each of the characters and their cultural differences.
I think you did a great job highlighting the goal that the author of this week’s reading, Jhumpa Lahiri, set out to achieve in writing “Interpreter of Maladies.” As you pointed out, a lot of what the novel sets out to achieve in its various stories is summarized poignantly in the title and capture the weaving of Indian’s struggles. Obviously, a pivotal struggle faced by many Indian Americans, such as the example story you referenced, is with their identity and leveraging where they fit between living in the United States and their ancestral heritage in India. For many Indian Americans, this is a real struggle that is faced and one that is hard to reconcile with. In the case of many facing a similar identity struggle and with Mr. and Mrs. Das, visiting the country of their heritage and trying to come to terms with a merging of cultures, including sometimes controversial traditions, makes the struggle even more vague and challenging.
Great context. Interestingly enough, there are still 19 states in the United States of America where adultery is still technically a criminal offense. Even if people are barely prosecuted today, it still shows that our country also went to great lengths to create laws that forced people to remain in unhappy marriages.
You brought up some great points. It was interesting reading Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies. Learning about each character and the struggles Indian Americans face. I agree with the themes you mentioned like marriage with Mr. and Mrs. Das. The adapting and culture change many of these characters faced in the story. I thought you were spot on with all the themes and the points you made.
From my point view, you really did a good job on the understanding and analysis of “Interpreter of Maladies.”.This article analyzes the cultural differences of the country from the perspective of different tasks and also includes cultural integration.
I think the views you wrote this week are very logical and comprehensive. You have listed your points of view so that you can clearly understand your thoughts. Through these stories, I learned about the differences between different cultures and the differences between them.
Thanks for your input on this weeks material! I was intrigued by how well you understood the stories and the continued motif on views of marriage throughout different cultures and how these views in the end impact views on the differences between men and women. Great job!
Great job with your explanation. You provided a lot of information to understand this weeks materials. Your explanation was great to help me understand the impact of cultural differences on people and also provided information on the perspectives of characters which was key to understand the theme for this week.
I love how you analyze Indian culture and how Indian American who migrate tried to assimiliate the local culture and faced emotional and social maladjustment. India, a big country in Asia, has their own beautiful culture, history, tradition, religioin and phsycial appearance. The way on finding identity is a long way to experience. Self-consistence is a long process for those people to find their balance between two different cultures