Interpreter of maladies by jhumpa lahiri - Essay Example

One malady that Lahiri tries to portray is the morally slanted behavior that is a malady not only of the characters but of many people in the actual society today. Due to differences in cultural backgrounds, there might be several areas where morals are viewed to be slanted from the perspective of different cultures. Lahiri’s Interpreter of the Maladies is a representation of the slanted morals that are found within every community despite the cultural background or practices. A case of slanted morals is observed when the guide, Mr.

Kapasi, describes the Das family to his guests as the people who look like Indians but are dressed like foreigners (Lahiri, 43-44). This cultural difference, as viewed by Mr. Kapasi, is a contradiction of culture and Mr. Kapasi does not understand how an Indian can be dressed like a foreigner. To him, this looks like an awkward rejection of one’s inalienable identity and culture. The morals of the Das family are portrayed by Mr. Kapasi as slanted, as they have rejected their cultural identity to assume the culture of foreigners in a way that Mr.

Kapasi cannot understand. Though it’s just a conflict between two cultures and lifestyles, Mr. Kapasi can neither understand nor accept it and considers it as being immoral. To affirm this, he goes forward and laments that each of them is far much absorbed: both parents and children behave like siblings (Lahiri, 49). To Mr. Kapasi, there are naturally expected behaviors from such people that have to differentiate between children and parents, but they lack. By remarking that they are like siblings, Mr.

Kapasi portrays that adults in the Das family do not behave as expected in the Indian culture; that is why Mr. Kapasi considers it immoral and unacceptable. According to Mr. Kapasi, its a representation of slanted morals by Indians who behave like foreigners. As the couple drives along, Mr. Das stops and takes a photo “of a