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.