Class Lecture 2: Interpreter of Maladies

On this day, we specifically discussed some themes of "Interpretor of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri. This was one of my favorite short stories that we read this semester. We were asked to find certain characteristics of both Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das. In fishbowl, we agreed that Mr. Kapasi was regretful, degraded, and humble. We also found that Mrs. Das was rather selfish, regretful, and withdrawn. Some of the themes from this story were failure, unworthiness, and apathy. I was really able to connect to this lecture because it showed that human beings all make mistakes and regret them later on in life. I feel that anybody can understand how Mr. Kapasi or Mrs. Das felt in the story, and even share specific commonalities with each character. The definition of "malady" is a deeply rooted concern or disease. Everybody has demons within them, and sometimes just talking about them can make a person feel much better, just as Mrs. Das was seeking comfort in sharing her maladies with Mr. Kapasi.