Mr. Pirzada Came To Dine

The short story “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine” by Jhumpa Lahiri, is about a young Indian girl named Lilia’s relationship with a man known as Mr. Pirzada, who is from East Pakistan. Despite the conflict between East Pakistan and India, the man and the girl share a unique friendship. Lihiri uses character interactions, diction, and point of view in order to express the idea that friendship can overcome barriers, no matter how big.

First of all, the character interactions in the story greatly support the theme that friendship can occur despite differences. One of the examples in the story that shows this is when Mr. Pirzada helps Lilia make Jack-O-Lanterns (1038). The act of making a jack-o-lantern is apparently very strange to him, and
Firstly, despite the fact that Mr. Pirzada isn’t on the same side of the Indian-Pakistani civil war, Lilia is still “charmed” by his “rotund elegance” (1035). Lihiri uses these sophisticated words to show how Lilia thinks of him in such a positive manner. Lilia’s great deal of respect for him is apparent despite their differences. This language describing great wealth continues through the story when Lilia refers to the candy he gives her as “treasure” and how she would treat it as a “jewel” or “coin” (1035). This shows that the simple act of giving her candy extends far beyond what it is and signifies their relationship. The fact that he would give her this candy shows how he cares about her. When the war intensifies when Mr. Pirzada is carving the jack-o-lantern, the pumpkin is described as having “an expression of placid astonishment” (1039). This is symbolic of the worry that Mr. Pirzada is feeling, and he he realizes that their friendship could be in serious jeopardy. The fact that he thinks of this then shows just how close their friendship has gotten. The variety of word choice in the story is able to reveal the characters’ motions well and exactly how their friendship