Mr. Kapasi's 'Interpreter Of Maladies'

Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Interpreter of Maladies” exhibits Mr. Kapasi and Mina Das’s insufficient communication among their lives and the outside world. They both are carrying burdens within their marriage and children which occasionally allows them to understand one another. The many frustrated attempts of communication with one another always tend to lead to hurt feelings. Although the two are culturally diverse, they share many similarities and differences. This story imparts a conflict between two people with failing marriages who additionally romanticize each other, however, in different ways. Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Mina Das are trapped in a failing marriage. Mr. Kapasi feels dispassionate emotion from his wife because of her apathy in him and his job “never ask[ing] him about the patients who came to the doctor’s office, or said that his job was a big responsibility” (Lahiri 454). His job working as an interpreter, for the doctor who failed to save their young son’s life, only reminds his wife more of their son causing grief with little recovery from his
Kapasi and Mrs. Mina Das are both Indian, the “gulf of misunderstanding between [them] results from cultural rather than racial differences” (Lewis, par. 2). Mr. Kapasi finds it odd when Mrs. Das “refer[s] to his wife by her first name” (450). This reveals the lack of respect Mr. and Mrs. Das have for one another exhibiting cultural difference from Mr. Kapasi. Also, when Mr. Kapasi introduces himself, “[he presses] his palms together in greeting” where “Mrs. Das, for her part, [flexes] one side of her mouth, smiling dutifully” (448). The differences between Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das are the perfect example of the differences between a native Indian and an American born Indian. As the Das’s view the Sun Temple, Mr. Kapasi realizes that he has never seen his wife naked. The covering of the body is a significant aspect of the Indian culture. Whereas, Americans, like Mrs. Das, do not have the same