Identity Unit Post 5

"Interpreter of Maladies"
Jhumpa Lahiri

Number 7

In the beginning of the story, Mr. Kapasi began to admire Mrs. Das. He imagined them having a relationship after she returned to the United States through letters. They felt comfortable around each other. Mrs. Das reveals a deep, guilt-ridden secret to Mr. Kapasi because of the confidence. Although it must have felt good to tell someone her secret, it shoves a barrier between the two. This function is supposed to create  a cultural barrier in between the heritage of America and that of India. Although they are both unhappy in their marriages, Mrs. Das and Mr. Kapasi provide different solutions to their predicament. Mr. Kapasi realizes the horrors of American marriages. Having an affair, Mrs. Das's son is not her husband's son: "Raj's. He's not Raj's son (Lahiri, 161)". In the United States, affairs occur many times over affairs in India although they have the right to choose whomever they marry instead of having it arranged. It baffles Kapasi that this event could occur since he has never seen his wife nude. Hitherto, Kapasi wanted a relationship, but now, he wants to create a barrier. He like the readers do not feel sympathy because they see it mostly from the Indian perspective.