Maladies Sparknotes

Introduction This essay is based upon the book The Interpreter of Maladies, written by Jhumpa Lahiri. This book was published in 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Summary
The novel’s first short story is titled "A Temporary Matter” and is about a married couple, Shukumar and Shoba, who are dealing with the loss of their baby. When their electricity was cut off for five days they were forced to confront the true darkness that clouded their lives. It ended with them weeping for their stillborn child and lost marriage. The next story, "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine” is about a Pakistani professor named Mr. Pirzada who is staying at an Indian’s family household in America. Lilia and Mr. Pirzada become very close and Lilia feels as if none
Twinkle and Sanjeev are both Hindu but are total opposites. Through a housewarming party and Twinkle’s obsession with Christian paraphernalia Sanjeev felt excitement the way he did before they were married. The next story titled “The Treatment of Bibi Haldar” is told in first-person and tells of the story of a community. Within the community there is a woman, Bibi Haldar who is ill and lives with her cousin who doesn’t care about her. After Bibi’s cousin finds out his wife is pregnant he kicks her out and the community decides to get back at him by boycotting his shop. He leaves but later we learn that Bibi was raped but the community helps put her back on her feet and she thrives and is no longer is ill. The last story "The Third and Final Continent” surrounds around an arranged marriage between a Bengali man and am Indian woman named Mala who now live in Boston. Because they don’t know each other very well, their relationship is impersonal and distant but when he showed her where he used to live they grow closer. It ends with them falling in love and have a son who goes to Harvard.
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