Interpreter of Maladies

Throughout life, people are faced with many obstacles, but one of the main things for people to do is adapt to the obstacles and learn how to move through and around them. Individuals have to change in order to adapt to the life around them, but there are times when it is too difficult for some to change. Some may experience immense trauma and find it difficult to move on from things whilst others find it hard to come to terms with new life. No matter what people are forced to do things that they may not want to do, but they have to choose whether to adapt to these changes, or suffer the consequences.

Being able to adapt in life is an important skill as people are faced with having to change daily. However, some individuals do not have the skills required to adapt, or they have been through traumatic experiences that inhibit that ability to adapt. Shoba and Shukumar in the story “A Temporary Matter” are faced with a horrific ordeal which forces them to adapt to new life, this however, does not turn out the way they had planned and they eventually split up from not being able to fully adapt and accept the changes “they’d been through enough” and Shoba “needed some time alone”, their relationship eventually dissolves. A similar thing happened to Mrs Sen in “Mrs Sen’s.” She was forced to adapt to a new country and learn their way of life, this although, proves to be too difficult for Mrs Sen as she was unable to successfully learn how to drive “I hate it. I hate driving. I won’t go on.” Mrs Sen just ends up frustrated and defeated. Her main challenge was her inability to adapt to a new culture as she was living in her past, constantly trying to mix the two cultures together. This turns out unsuccessful as well as she finds people in her new home, treat her as if she was strange, “an old woman on the bus kept watching them” the people around Mrs Sen felt uncomfortable at times which made it even more difficult for Mrs Sen to adapt and change to the new community and