Interpreter of Maladies

Postmodernism relies on understanding and interpretation; “reality only comes into being through our interpretations of what the world means to us individually.” “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri shows the complexity of human wants and how males and females sometimes differ in their wants. Mrs. Das and Mr. Kapasi are drawn to one another but for very different reasons. In a way however, they both need a friend but that doesn’t always work out.

            Mr. Kapasi is hired to be the Das family's tour guide for their trip to India. It's lean red that Mr. Kapasi was once fluent in several languages but now speaks only english. He always had a dream of becoming a diplomat but he never achieved it. Now he works as a translator in a doctor's office and also as a tour guide. Mr. Kapasi also has an arranged and loveless marriage. Kapasi reflects postmodern literature because his character is going through the struggle of how unfulfilled his life has been so far. “In those moments Mr. Kapasi used to believe that all was right with the world, that all struggles were rewarded, that all of life’s mistakes made sense in the end. The promise that he would hear from Mrs. Das now filled him with the same belief” (Lahiri 21). This excerpt shows that Mr. Kapasi is looking for something to fill a boring void in his life. The simplicity of Mrs. Das writing him a letter and sending him a photograph got him all worked up and made him picture the subsequent months and their friendship that would form. He does interpret all her signs as flirting and ultimately makes mini fantasies in his head, but only to be disappointed with Mrs. Das in the end and no longer wants a friendship with her.

Mrs. Das has a desire of her own. She is stuck with her husband who she no longer loves and wants a release. She’s quite self-absorbed; she even paints her nails during the tour and ignored her daughter. The reader sees her children calling her by her first name, Mina, and also get a sense of the disconnect between the family and her. Mr. Kapasi picks up on this disconnect but doesn’t mention it. Mrs. Das does have a secret; she had sex with another man and even conceived a child with him. She told Mr. Das that it was his son and until this trip, she never told anyone otherwise. She sees Mr. Kapasi as a shoulder to lean on and confide in, she felt guilty that she has fallen out of love and cheated on her husband. Mr. Kapasi asked her, “is it really pain you feel, Mrs. Das, or is it guilt?" Mrs. Das was very offended by the question and she then raced to be a part of her family again.

This story exemplifies post modernism because it shows that humans can’t rely on simply interpreting what others are saying and that we need to hear the hard facts behind their words or else we could end up disappointed. It also shows how, if humans don’t hear facts, they create fantasies of what they want and what they imagine in others. In “Interpreter of Maladies” the characters only end up disgusted by the other; Mr. Kapasi, upset that Mrs. Das only wants him to be a parent figure and Mrs. Das is angry that Mr. Kapasi doesn’t want to hear her out and help her resolve her internal issues.