Interpreter of Maladies: Analysis of Major Characters
"Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri presents a rich tapestry of diverse characters, each navigating the complexities of identity, relationships, and cultural dislocation. Central to the narrative are Shoba and Shukumar, a young Indian American couple grappling with the emotional aftermath of a miscarriage, which strains their marriage and leads to Shoba's decision to leave. Mr. Pirzada, a botanist from East Pakistan, embodies the themes of separation and longing as he watches the turmoil in his homeland from afar, while the Das family encounters cultural misunderstandings during a tour in India, highlighting the disconnect between personal and national identities.
Other characters, such as Mrs. Sen and Sanjeev, reflect the challenges of adaptation in a foreign culture, with Mrs. Sen's homesickness contrasting with Sanjeev's serious demeanor alongside his carefree wife, Twinkle. Meanwhile, Bibi Haldar's struggle with her mysterious ailment and her eventual motherhood underscores themes of societal expectations and personal fulfillment. The narrator, a Bengali man who transitions from India to America, serves as a lens through which these varied experiences unfold, revealing the intricate connections between loss, love, and belonging. This collection invites readers to explore the nuanced lives of its characters as they seek connection and understanding across cultural divides.
Interpreter of Maladies: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Nilanjana Sudeshna “Jhumpa” Lahiri
First published: 1999
Genre: Short story collection
Locale: Boston; Rhode Island; Konarak Sun Temple, India; Calcutta, India; Hartford, Connecticut
Plot: Psychological fiction
Time: 1964–1990s
Shoba, a young Indian American woman living in Boston with her husband, Shukumar. The two suffer from the trauma of Shoba's miscarriage. Shoba is an attractive thirty-three-year-old with long black hair who loves cranberry lipstick. Half a year ago, Shoba had a late-term miscarriage. During four nights of a scheduled nighttime power outage, Shoba suggests that she and Shukumar tell each other things they have never told each other before. They make love on the fourth night. Once power is restored on the fifth night, Shoba shocks Shukumar. She tells him she has rented a small apartment for herself, at least for a while.
Shukumar, a thirty-five-year-old Indian American graduate student and Shoba's husband. He has somewhat let himself go and forgets to brush his teeth in the morning. While he was away at a conference in Baltimore, Shoba suffered a miscarriage. After he and Shoba spend four nights sharing secrets during a power outage, Shoba announces that she is leaving him.
Mr. Pirzada, a middle-aged botanist from East Pakistan on a one-year fellowship in America. Mr. Pirzada has a slightly rotund figure, his hair is graying, and he wears a carefully trimmed mustache with turned-up ends. Whenever he visits the home of ten-year-old Indian American Lilia and her parents, Mr. Pirzada dresses formally and brings Lilia sweets. In the fall of 1971, Mr. Pirzada comes over to watch television news about his war-racked country, where he left behind a wife and seven daughters. Once East Pakistan becomes Bangladesh, Mr. Pirzada leaves for home in January 1972. His first and final letter informs Lilia and her parents that his whole family has survived the war.
Mr. Kapasi, a forty-six-year-old Indian man who drives tourists to the Sun Temple of Konarak in India. Mr. Kapasi has light brown skin and silver receding hair. Four days a week, Mr. Kapasi works for a local doctor, interpreting for Gujarati-speaking patients. When he drives the Indian American Das family to the Sun Temple, Mrs. Das becomes fascinated with Mr. Kapasi's work as interpreter. When they are alone Mrs. Das confesses to Mr. Kapasi that her oldest son was fathered by an Indian colleague of her husband. Mr. Kapasi is silently insulted by Mrs. Das's suggestion that he should interpret this act to her.
Boori Ma, a sixty-four-year-old stairway sweeper and unofficial gatekeeper at a lower-middle-class rental complex in Calcutta, India. Boori Ma is very lean, with one bad leg and a loud, shrill, and brittle voice. Boori Ma tells the residents of the riches she lost fleeing Pakistan for India in 1947. When one family gets a bit richer and improves facilities at the complex, Boori Ma is accused of dereliction of duty and dismissed when a new washbasin is stolen from the stairwell. This happens on the day a thief takes Boori Ma's own tiny savings.
Miranda, a twenty-two-year-old Caucasian American woman working as fundraiser for a Rhode Island public radio station. Her pale skin and silver eyes contrast with her dark brown glossy hair framing a narrow face with a prominent nose. She falls in love with Dev, a married Indian American investment banker. For a week while Dev's wife visits India, Dev romances Miranda. Afterward, they meet only on Sunday mornings for lovemaking. Miranda sours on the affair when she babysits a Canadian Indian boy whose father left the family for a young English woman.
Mrs. Sen, a thirtyish Indian woman who has accompanied her husband, a math professor, to America. Mrs. Sen has beautiful eyes with thick eyelashes and wears coral gloss lipstick, which frames her slightly gap-toothed mouth. Mrs. Sen wears traditional Indian make-up and sari dresses. Mrs. Sen works as an after-school babysitter for eleven-year-old Eliot, a Caucasian American boy. Mrs. Sen is very homesick for India. She is reluctant and slow to learn to drive in America. One day, she tries to drive to her favorite fresh fish stand with Eliot but has an accident. She gives up caring for him afterward.
Sanjeev, an Indian American newlywed who, with his wife, Twinkle, moves into a Connecticut home left full of semi-hidden Christian paraphernalia. At thirty-three, Sanjeev is of average height and build, with plump cheeks and long eyelashes. Sanjeev and Twinkle married three months ago in India and are just getting used to each other. Sanjeev is serious. At their housewarming party, Sanjeev resignedly supports Twinkle's treasure hunt for more Christian things in their attic.
Tanima “Twinkle,” Sanjeev's wife. At twenty-seven, she still goes by her childhood nickname of Twinkle and has retained her childlike features and temperament. Twinkle is carefree. When she and Sanjeev discover Christian objects left behind in their new house in Connecticut, Twinkle insists on putting them on display even though she and Sanjeev are not Christians.
Bibi Haldar, a poor twenty-nine-year-old Indian woman living in an unnamed Indian city. Bibi Haldar suffers from a mysterious illness that makes her lose consciousness without warning or sends her into a delirium or screaming fits. All attempts at scientific or religious cures fail. She is not considered pretty as her upper lip is thin, revealing small teeth and protruding gums when she talks. Bibi works for her cousin, recording his cosmetics inventory in a small rooftop shed. Bibi is desperate to marry but finds no suitor. After her cousin leaves her behind to live in the rooftop shed when his wife has a child, the neighbors help Bibi to sell cosmetics there. When Bibi becomes pregnant by an unknown man and has a baby boy, her mysterious illness disappears.
The Librarian, an unnamed narrator telling of his journey from India to England and to Massachusetts. He is a Bengali man of undistinguished, average features. In 1964, at twenty-one, the narrator leaves Calcutta for England to study. In 1969, he accepts a position as a librarian at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He briefly returns to Calcutta to marry Mala. Arriving alone in Cambridge in July 1969, the narrator takes a furnished room from an old Caucasian American widow, Mrs. Croft. He moves out when Mala arrives, but they visit Mrs. Croft together. Thirty years later, after he and Mala have a son and become American citizens, the narrator still remembers Mrs. Croft.