Interpreter of Maladies
Jhumpa Lahiri
The Das family is visiting India as tourists from America. This somewhat shocks their tour guide, Mr Kapasi because they look Indian, but behave very American. It turns out Mr and Mrs Das' parents live in India, and they are just visiting them. Kapasi is a very observant man, and as the tour progresses he begins deciphering the family. The kids are unruly, and the parents don't do much to quell them. The father is very invested in the tour and his tour book, while the mother could care less about the vacation and seemingly only cares about herself. Kapasi notes that "Mr and Mrs Das behaved like older brother and sister, not parents. It seem that they were in charge of the children only for the day..." (Lahiri 151). Randomly Mrs Das begins asking about Kapasi's job and he reveals that he is an interpreter for a doctor. This interests Mrs Das, and she becomes more humanized and she seems kinder. The more questions she asks, the more Kapasi over-thinks the situation. He assumes she is interested in him, and he begins being interested in her. He observes her every physical feature, making me personally quite uncomfortable. He imagines their future love letters back and forth to each other. This thinking continues until Mrs Das reveals why she was so curious in his job; she wanted help on her marital troubles. She had slept with another man which made her son Bobby illegitimate unknowing to everyone but her. She had kept the secret and demanded Kapasi to help her, but he was so shocked to such behavior that he had no response. His response came in his actions when he saved the family from raging monkeys (this story is really all over the place). The chaos had united the family the way a family should be, caring for each other and loving them unconditionally.
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