In reading the story, Interpreter of Maladies by Jjumpa Lahiri , I found some very interesting events that occurred. In this paper, I will attempt to analyze certain situations that show "value-. The first situation that I will analyze is the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Das. After that, my focus will soley be on Mrs. Das. To me, she is the most interesting character and is the basis of how her family reacts.
Raj and Mina Das is the married couple portrayed in this story. From my interpretation of the dialogue used in the story, Mina Das is not in love with her husband Raj and seems indifferent towards her three children, Tina, Ronny and Bobby. She seems to stay in the marriage for the children and also because of "the pain- that she has been enduring for the last eight years. It seems that she feels guilty about the conception of her son Bobby with a man other than her husband Raj and is trying to make amends with the situation by "staying- in the marriage. Excerpts from her conversation with Mr. Kapasi, the tour guide, are provided below.
"Don't you see? For eight years I haven't been able to express this to anybody, not to friends, certainly not to Raj. He doesn't even suspect it. He thinks I'm still in love with him. Well, don't you have anything to say?-.
"About what I've told you. About my secret, and about how terrible it makes me feel. I feel terrible looking at my children, and at Raj, always terrible. I have terrible urges, Mr. Kapasi, to throw things away. One day I had the urge to throw everything I own out the window, the television, the children, everything. Don't you think it's unhealthy?-.
"It means that I am tired of feeling so terrible all the time. Eight years, Mr. Kapasi. I've been in pain eight years. I was hoping you could help me feel better, say the right thing. Suggest some kind of remedy."".
"Is it really pain you feel Mrs. Das, or is it guilt?-.
She turned to him and glared, mustard oil thick on her frosty pink lips.
