Interpreter Of Maladies Essay
Caitlin Glade
English 101
Interpreter of Maladies
Loneliness is something that can drive someone to the brink of insanity. There have been studies where people who have not had human interaction in a long period of time can’t function in normal society. In Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumoa Lahiri we get a glimpse into the life of a seemingly happy man only to see how lonely he really is. Mr. Kapasi is a tour guide and as he takes an American family on a tour to an Indian temple we start to realize that he is not living the life he had always wanted. He is in fact living a life filled with loneliness and failed dreams. Mr. Kapasi is unhappy with his life and that is revealed though his interactions with the Das family. Mr. Kapasi is …show more content…
Kapasi and as the story progresses it is clear that the main conflict is an internal one that Mr. Kapasi is facing. Mr. Kapasi is a lonely character, he feels he has failed himself by not getting the job he had always dreamed of, so when Mrs. Das expresses an interest he can’t help but be intrigued. “It flattered Mr. Kapasi that Mrs. Das was intrigued by his job. Unlike his wife, she had reminded him of it’s intellectual challenges. She had also used the word “romantic”. She did not behave in a romantic way toward her husband, and yet she used the word to describe him”(90). Mr. Kapasi notices all of the horrid things about this family and this woman such as her unloving coldness toward her children and her husband, however he ignores them all in hopes of connecting with her, and becoming her friend. For becoming her friend would mean that he had someone that he could talk to about his job and his hopes and dreams and it would rejuvenate his spirit to how it was when he was young and had nothing but a dream. “In those moments Mr. Kapasi used to believe that all was right with the world, that all struggles were rewarded, that all of life’s mistakes made sense in the end.”
English 101
Interpreter of Maladies
Loneliness is something that can drive someone to the brink of insanity. There have been studies where people who have not had human interaction in a long period of time can’t function in normal society. In Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumoa Lahiri we get a glimpse into the life of a seemingly happy man only to see how lonely he really is. Mr. Kapasi is a tour guide and as he takes an American family on a tour to an Indian temple we start to realize that he is not living the life he had always wanted. He is in fact living a life filled with loneliness and failed dreams. Mr. Kapasi is unhappy with his life and that is revealed though his interactions with the Das family. Mr. Kapasi is …show more content…
Kapasi and as the story progresses it is clear that the main conflict is an internal one that Mr. Kapasi is facing. Mr. Kapasi is a lonely character, he feels he has failed himself by not getting the job he had always dreamed of, so when Mrs. Das expresses an interest he can’t help but be intrigued. “It flattered Mr. Kapasi that Mrs. Das was intrigued by his job. Unlike his wife, she had reminded him of it’s intellectual challenges. She had also used the word “romantic”. She did not behave in a romantic way toward her husband, and yet she used the word to describe him”(90). Mr. Kapasi notices all of the horrid things about this family and this woman such as her unloving coldness toward her children and her husband, however he ignores them all in hopes of connecting with her, and becoming her friend. For becoming her friend would mean that he had someone that he could talk to about his job and his hopes and dreams and it would rejuvenate his spirit to how it was when he was young and had nothing but a dream. “In those moments Mr. Kapasi used to believe that all was right with the world, that all struggles were rewarded, that all of life’s mistakes made sense in the end.”