Blog 2- Interpreter of Maladies & Literary Techniques

    Upon reading the short story, Interpreter of Maladies, by Jhumpa Lahiri, the theme of the novel was revealed to me through careful consideration and literary techniques. The author uses imagery and flashbacks to give a better understanding to what the overarching idea and meaning of the work as a whole is. Mr. Kapasi, being lonely and unsatisfied with the way his life has panned out, meets Mrs. Das, who I believe to be equally lost and unhappy with her life. I came to this assumption from reading just at the beginning that "Mr. and Mrs. Das bickered about who should take Tina to the toilet," (Lahiri). This, gives the first impression that Mr. and Mrs. Das are immature parents who act inexperienced and overall, irritated with having children. Even later in the novel, my assumption that Mrs. Das is disappointed with her life is proven in her confiding to Mr. Kapasi about her lies to her husband concerning her children and their biological fathers. Mrs. Das' flashbacks to her past concerning her children's birth, her secret from Raj, and her failed friendships with college friends signify her downward spiral in life. Furthermore, the theme which is realized before this, becomes clear and has more meaning at the end of the novel when Mrs. Das comes to terms with reality and starts to accept parenthood. The theme, "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," (Lahiri). In the end, Mr. Kapasi watches his address float away without anyone else's notice and takes a mental picture of the Das', finally a loving family. Life's mistakes, like Mrs. Das' lies and untold secrets, in the end come out alright.