Mr. Kapasi's Interpreter Of Maladies

In Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story “Interpreter of Maladies”, the characters Mina and Mr. Kapasi are alike and different. Altogether, the two complement each other and differ from each other in their behavior, psychologically, and cultural values. Mr. Kapasi and Mina tend to have a similar outlook on their lives. In comparison, Mina and Mr. Kapasi share broken marriages and secrets. In contrast, Mina is immature and naïve and Mr. Kapasi shows experience and sacrifice. To begin with, Mr. Kapasi and Mina are different in their behavior. Mina displays a lackadaisical and self-absorbent behavior. In the beginning of the story, Mina exhibits naivety and immaturity. She refuses to share her food, play with her children, be patient, care about her family,

Kapasi displays a more compassionate and unifying type of behavior. Countless times in the story, he displays compassionate behavior by entertaining the children, counseling Mina, and tending to everyone’s needs. As the story progresses, Mr. Kapasi often entertains the children, Raj, and Mina. He pays close attention to everyone’s needs and wants. Mr. Kapasi often presents himself throughout the story as a counselor to the family. It is notably obvious that “Mr. Kapasi might be able to interpret both his own maladies and …other’s [maladies]” (Lewis, par. 9). Mr. Kapasi is also very vigilant over the children. When Bobby disappears, Mr. Kapasi is the only one who notices Bobby’s absence. Even though Mr. Kapasi truly “finds [Mina] sexually attractive” (Lewis, par. 7), he saves Bobby. Because he saves Bobby, his address is left floating in the wind disconnecting him from Mina. This leaves Mr. Kapasi alone “with a mental impression only of the Das family instead of the personal correspondence with Mrs. Das that he had anticipated” (Lewis, par. 2). After Mina’s confession, Mr. Kapasi realizes how bitter she truly is. With his new knowledge of Mina’s secret, he develops compassion for Bobby. Mr. Kapasi’s compassion tempts him to reveal Mina’s secret to Bobby. Due to Bobby’s innocence and Mr. Kapasi’s wavering love for Mina, he decides not to reveal the secret to Bobby. When he saves Bobby, he becomes even more disenchanted with Mina as he “watches [Mina

Kapasi are culturally different. Firstly, Mina is from America. She lives in a world where “women are used to a good deal of independence and privacy, making her affair more credible than if she had been a native born resident of India” (Brian, par. 16). Mina is free to decide a good or bad life for herself. Throughout the story, she constantly pouts, complains, argues, and flirts. This happens because she is allowed to express these emotions in her culture and she has the right to freely express her thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Instead of choosing to be neat, caring, joyful, and alert, she chooses to be sloppy, rude, lazy, and gluttonous. In Mina’s society, women can dress however they please, freely talk, and have vast life opportunities. Therefore, Mina is able to flaunt her figure by wearing sexy clothes, shove food in her mouth, and be greedy, spiteful, and sexual. Also, she is very mouthy and lazy because in her society women can speak freely. Finally, Mina has vast opportunities in her culture. She can get a job or stay at home. She can also choose who she wants to be married to and how she wants to act in the relationship. This leads to her choosing her childhood sweetheart (Raj) to be her husband. Ultimately, she ruins her future when she chooses to cheat on Raj. She is only able to cheat because her culture allows the freedom of choice. These American rights differ culturally from Mr. Kapasi’s Indian