Interpreter of Maladies

Interpreter of Maladies is a 1999 short story collection by Jhumpa Lahiri, who is an American of Indian (specifically Bengali) heritage. The collection, Lahiri’s debut, was well-received and garnered many awards, including the 2000 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction and the PEN/Hemingway prize. The nine stories are works of literary realism split between the immigrant experience in America and contemporary Indian life and have been held up as a model for high cultural pluralism, a subgenre of literary realism that focuses on identity, particularly regarding race, culture, and nationality.

Plot Summary

The stories in the book are not linked but mostly share a common thematic purpose: an exploration of the immigrant experience and how it changes or alienates people from their heritage. Six of the nine stories in the collection focus on Indian immigrants of the first or second generation living in America, and the conflict is often driven by their difference or difficulty adjusting to life in America. Three stories are set in India, with two of those concerning women living in poverty and their role in the community.

“A Temporary Matter” is the debut story and the one that veers furthest from the themes in other stories. Shoba and Shukumar are comfortably settled in America but are struggling with a miscarriage that has disrupted their marriage. When they learn that the power will be shut off in their home for an hour each night, the two take the opportunity to confess secrets to each other in the darkness. Each night, Shukumar’s confessions grow more intimate, and he thinks that he and his wife are headed toward reconnection; however, on the final night of their game, Shoba reveals that she has found a new apartment. Shukumar makes one last confession—that he held their child’s body before he was buried—and the two cry together in grief.

In “When Mr. Pirzada Comes to Dine,” a young Indian girl is introduced to Mr. Pirzada, a friend of the family whose hometown of Dacca has been invaded at the beginning of the Bangladesh War for Independence. His wife and daughters are still in Dacca, so he spends evenings with the family watching the news for word of what’s happening. Meanwhile, the young girl struggles to understand the difference between her family and Mr. Pirzada, since they are of different nationalities. Mr. Pirzada and the girl grow close, and when he leaves to find his family, she learns what it is to miss someone.

“Interpreter of Maladies” is the story of a tour guide, Mr. Kapasi, taking the Das family, who are Americanized Indian immigrants, on a tour of a temple in East India. Mr. Das views the family as strange and undisciplined, but he takes a liking to Mrs. Das when she shows an interest in his other job as an interpreter at a doctor’s office. He tries to prolong the tour by offering to take them to another site, and when they arrive, Mrs. Das stays in the car with him and confesses that one of her children is not her husband’s. Mr. Kapasi’s image of her fades, and when that child is attacked by monkeys, Mr. Kapasi saves him, knowing that he has a secret that has ruined the illusion of this family.

“A Real Durwan” concerns an old woman who is living in the stairwell of a run-down building. The tenants put up with the stories of her fall from grace since she watches over the building, but when one resident installs a wash basin in the stairwell, her life is disrupted as other tenants jealously compete to add improvements of their own. She takes to sleeping on the roof and wandering the streets during the day; she is robbed of her life savings, and her absence from the building leads to the wash basin’s theft. She is cast out by the tenants, who no longer have any sympathy for her.

In “Sexy,” a young woman named Miranda begins an affair with an Indian man, Dev, at the same time as her Indian colleague’s cousin is going through a separation due to her husband’s infidelity. Miranda is caught up in the whirlwind romance and buys a sexy cocktail dress, but when Dev’s wife returns home, their affair becomes a routine weekly occurrence without any excitement. She agrees to watch the cousin’s son while her colleague takes her around the city; her experience with the boy disabuses her of any hope of getting what she wants with Dev, and she breaks off the affair.

“Mrs. Sen’s” is the story of a woman who is relatively new to America and her experience watching over a young boy, Eliot, after school. Eliot and Mrs. Sen grow close, and Eliot watches as Mrs. Sen struggles to learn to drive and experiences loneliness as an immigrant without a support network. After going back and forth with her husband on driving, Mrs. Sen decides to learn the bus schedule instead, but she is insulted when bringing home fresh fish—her favorite indulgence—on the bus. The next time she wants fish, she drives, but she is in an accident, leading to the end of her time with Eliot.

“This Blessed House” is about a newly married immigrant couple, Sanjeev and Twinkle, who keep finding Christian artifacts in their new home. Twinkle wants to display the artifacts, but Sanjeev finds them distasteful, and this difference leads him to consider if he really loves his new wife. He presses her to get rid of them before a housewarming party, but she refuses; at the party, the guests are charmed by her and decide to go on a scavenger hunt for more items. They all go to the attic, and Sanjeev considers shutting them in there until Twinkle returns with a giant bust of Christ, leading Sanjeev to resign himself to who she is.

“The Treatment of Bibi Haldar” depicts the plight of a poor Indian woman who suffers from seizures. Although she tries everything, there is no treatment, and she is left in the care of her cousin and his wife, who dislike her. The community agrees she should be married, but they cannot find a suitor. Nevertheless, they teach her how to be a proper Indian woman. When the cousin’s treatment of her grows worse, the community puts him out of business, and he and his wife leave the city, leaving Bibi alone. The community thinks she has isolated herself in depression, but it turns out she is hiding a pregnancy. Though the father is never found, she is happy and opens her own store to support the child.

“The Third and Final Continent” is about a young man arriving in America after a time in London and a brief return home for an arranged marriage. He spends six weeks renting a room from a woman who is over 100 years old, and he grows to respect her and worry about her. When his wife arrives from India, they get an apartment and begin their life together, but he does not feel close to her until he takes her to see the old woman, who declares her perfect. The couple begin to explore their city and find community, and over their lives they make a home in America. The story closes with the narrator reminiscing in wonder on the journey he took to get here—it’s an ordinary one, the immigrant experience, but still beyond his comprehension.