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Gowher Ahmad Naik, Lovely Professional University Unit 8: Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies: Detailed Study

Unit: 8 Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies: Notes
Detailed Study

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
8.1 Story Summaries and Analysis
8.2 Text—Interpreter of Maladies
8.3 Summary
8.4 Key-Words
8.5 Review Questions
8.6 Further Readings

Objectives

After reading this unit students will be able to:
• Know stories of Jhumpa Lahri.
• Discuss Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies.

Introduction
The Interpreter of Maladies is a collection of nine short stories that explore themes of identity, the
immigrant experience, cultural differences, love, and family. The characters are largely Indian or
Indian-American and their stories together paint an evocative picture of India’s diaspora. The stories
are about the lives of Indians and Indian Americans who are caught between the culture they have
inherited and the “New World.”
In A Temporary Matter, an electrical outage forces married couple Shoba and Shukumar to confront
their unspoken pain over the loss of a child. The darkness gives them a safe space to confess secrets.
Shoba and Shukumar admit minor indiscretions in the beginning and lead up to nagging doubts
about their marriage. In the end, Shoba admits she is moving out and Shukumar admits to holding
his son after he died.
In When Mr. Pirzada Comes to Dinner, a young Indian-American girl meets a Pakistani man her
family routinely invites to dinner. Somewhat cut off from the culture of her immigrant parents, Lilia
does not understand that Mr. Pirzada, since Partition, is no longer considered the same as her parents.
The Indian war with Pakistan in 1971 endangers Mr. Pirzada’s daughters. Witnessing his love and
fears, Lilia gains a new awareness of a world larger than her own.
Interpreter of Maladies is the story of Indian tour guide Mr. Kapasi. He shows the Indian-American
Das family the sun temple in Konark and reveals his second job as a translator of symptoms of
patients who speak his native tongue. Mrs. Das declares his job romantic and important, and
Mr. Kapasi becomes briefly infatuated with the woman. She is very different quite American - and he
senses she has a bad marriage, as does he. By the end of the day, Mrs. Das admits that her middle
child was fathered by another man. Seeking solace in a stranger, Mrs. Das wants a remedy for her
malady. However, Mr. Kapasi sees only guilt and cannot offer a solution to her problem.
In A Real Durwan, the residents of an apartment building cast out their old caretaker Boori Ma. Boori
Ma spins lavish tales of the luxuries of the life she had to leave as a refugee of Partition. Mrs. Dalal,
a resident with a soft spot for Boori Ma, promises the woman new bedding, but that promise is
forgotten when her husband brings home new basins. The material jealousy of their neighbors prompts
a stream of workers to parade through the building. When one of the basins is stolen, Boori Ma is

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