Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Interpreter of Maladies

"When she whipped out the hairbrush, the slip of paper with Mr. Kapasi's address on it fluttered away in the wind. No one but Mr. Kapasi noticed. He watched as it rose, carried higher and higher by the breeze, into the trees where the monkeys now sat, solemnly observing the scene below."

Throughout the story, I sort of pitied Mr. Kapasi. He had these impressive dreams of becoming "an interpreter for diplomats and dignitaries," but those crumbled as he had to care for his family. Instead of such an important position, he settles for giving tours and interpreting for a doctor. He also is very lonely, becoming accustomed to his wife's indifference towards him. It was the culmination of these things that led to his overall unhappiness and his brief obsession with Mrs. Das. He planned out the relationship they would have, even going so far as to calculate when her first letter would arrive. His hope seems desperate and a little pathetic, but his pursuit of Mrs. Das is resolved at the end. His dreams of being with her float away with his address. Even though this conflict was resolved, I don't think the story had a happy ending; nothing really changed for Mr. Kapasi. Another smaller conflict in the story was when Mrs. Das demanded Mr. Kapasi to ease her pain and guilt. This situation was ironic because they interpreted the meaning of his position as an interpreter in two different ways, and the title lends itself to this misunderstanding.

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