Jhumpa Lahiri

In my perspective, Jhumpa Lahiri uses many subtlties and events not central to the story line to underscore the unmet needs of the characters. The theme of Interpreter of Maladies is the relationship between Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das. However, many minor details in the story show the relationships between the minor characters. For example, the author uses the relationship between Mrs. Das and her daughter, Tina. Lahiri uses the strong adjective “relented” to show how annoyed Mrs. Das was to her daughter. She “did not hold the little girl’s hand as they walked to the restroom” (57) and didn’t care for her child. Mrs. Das also said to “leave her alone” (62) and blamed her for messing up her nails, which shows that she is unaffectionate towards her daughter. In addition, the author shows the relationship between Bobby and Ronny by using minor details. Mr. Das told Bobby to “make sure that your brother doesn’t do anything stupid” (59). And then Bobby replied by saying “I don’t feel like it” (59). The author does not say in the story that is older. But from the text, it can be inferred that Bobby was the older brother since he had to take care of Ronny. Additionally, the author showed the personality of Mr. Das. When Ronny was about to touch something, he sternly said, “Don’t touch it” (58). It seemed like he did not take care of the children or have any interest in them like Mrs. Das. Lahiri also uses details to describe the tension in the family by writing that Mr. Das referred to Mrs. Das as her first name, Mina, in front of his children. Mr. Kapasi also thought it was strange that Mr. Das referred to his wife by her first name. This shows that the family was not close and that the children were not really taught manners. If they were polite, they would not call their mom by their first name since they follow an American culture. Furthermore, Lahiri uses the minor details to show the relationship of Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das. She showed her sudden interest by taking off her sunglasses when she saw Mr. Kapasi’s favorite temple. She wanted to know more about him and Mr. Kapasi was sexually interested in her. In the story, it says “he had never admired the backs of his wife’s legs the way he now admired those of Mrs. Das” (71). Many of these events are used by Lahiri to underscore the unmet needs of the characters.

Short Stories

     Short stories writers make an effort to teach a moral lesson throughout their story and write according to their own experiences or their life.  I think the driving force for writers is to send a message to readers based on their life and give a valuable impact for readers. In the Introduction, Tobias Wolff emphasizes the importance of reality by writing “What these writers do have between them is an exuberant, unembarrassed faith in the power of stories to clarify our sense of reality” (xvi). In addition, she said, “The dominant impulse of American fiction has been realistic” (xiii). Tobias said that the best writers were people who wrote about their true experiences instead of false encounters. One impetus to read short stories is that there should be a “sense of kinship” when reading, and that readers should have emotional feelings while reading a shorty story. According to Tobias Wolff, “we need to feel ourselves acted upon by a story, outrages, exposed, in dangers of heartbreak and change.” Stories that give readers different feelings of emotions are “the stories that endure in our memoires, to the point where they take on the nature of memory itself” (xiii). When reading a short story, the reader should be able to create images through their memory and give a view of the author. Tobias Wolff says that such passages that give imagination “inscribe themselves forever on the reader’s moral being, and bring the world into sharper focus” (xiv). She mentions that the best stories aim to give readers influence in their lives. Short stories are based on different subjects including “violence, sickness, alcoholism, sexual exploitation, marital breakup” (xiv). Instead of “upbeat stories that flog you with transcendence” (xv), stories should be real and make the readers observant during difficult situations. The authors of short stories write about their own experiences, and the readers feel a sense of commonality that lets them know that they are not the only ones overcoming obstacles in their life.

Failing/Wetherell

            Last year during freshmen year, I tried out for volleyball during the beginning of August. The tryouts were as soon as we went back to school from summer vacation. During the summer, I was worried that I would not get into the JV team but didn’t spend my time practicing before the tryouts. Although I wanted to practice, I felt too lazy to go outside. Also, I wanted to practice with friends rather than by myself. The week passed quickly and I started to panic the day before the tryouts. I regret my decision, but couldn’t do anything because it was too late. In the tryouts, I wanted to leave but one of the upperclassmen made us stay there. Although I made it into first cut, I failed in the second cut. There were some indications that I didn’t notice that I would fail.  I knew that the other people were trying hard and practicing before the tryouts, but I ignored it. Also, because of my lack of confidence, I wasn’t able to be aggressive and was scared to hit the ball. I only thought and worried about my mistakes. I wasn’t able to notice how hard people were trying and failed as a result.

            In The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant, Wetherell foreshadows that the protagonist will not be successful at impressing Sheila Mant. In the story, as the protagonist went up to her, Sheila didn’t seem to care or have any interest in him. The author wrote, “She didn’t seem to see me at all.” (Wetherell 36). This foreshadows that Sheila had no interest him at first and he would have a difficult time trying to impress her. It seemed like she had an attitude towards him because she had a “very dubious expression” and “she let herself down reluctantly into the bow.” (Wetherwell 37). Sheila was not interested in the boat she didn’t even bother to help him paddle the boat. Additionally, the personalities of Sheila and the protagonist clash in the story. When Sheila talked about the musician she liked, the protagonist “had no idea whom she meant.” (Wetherell 37). For the protagonist, fishing was his favorite, but Sheila hated fishing and thought that it was dumb and boring. The protagonist and Sheila Mant had distinct personalities and interests, which led to an unsuccessful result.