Interpreter of Maladies

by Jhumpa Lahiri

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Characters

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Mr. Kapasi

Mr. Kapasi is the main character, the protagonist of the story. He is a middle-aged Indian man with a few children and a loveless marriage, and he acts as the Das family’s tour guide on their vacation in India. His wife blames him for the death of their son from typhoid years prior. Mr. Kapasi works as an interpreter in a doctor’s office, translating for doctor and patient when they do not speak the same language. His wife wonders how it is that he can help all these strangers so effectively but that he could not help his son. Mr. Kapasi feels like a failure because he had once been a scholar of languages with dreams of being an interpreter for dignitaries or the government, with a hand in important discussions and deals. Now, however, he feels that his job is a sign of his failings—that is, until Mrs. Das calls his work “romantic” and begins to ask lots of questions that flatter him and make him feel important and valuable. Mr. Kapasi is attracted to Mrs. Das and fantasizes about developing a relationship with her, but by the end of the story, his fantasy has evaporated.

Mr. Das

Mr. Kapasi identifies his clients, Mr. Das and his wife, as acting more like siblings of their children than as parents. Mr. Das always seems to have his guide book to India or his camera in front of his face. Just as his vision is blocked by his book or camera, his ability to really see the truth is blocked as well. He does not see that his wife is not in love with him, that his children do not listen to him at all, or that one of the children is not actually even his. He cannot see his wife’s unhappiness or imagine that she would have an affair with his own friend in his own house. He is blind to the truth in front of him, symbolized by everything he keeps in front of his face.

Mrs. Das

Mrs. Das is arguably a bad mother and a fairly bad person. She might have been sympathetic as a result of her getting married so young, getting pregnant right away, and being confined to a very adult life before she really had a chance to enjoy her youth, if it weren’t for her selfishness and the awful way she treats her children. Interestingly, the narrator describes her as having “paws” early in the story, as though she is a little inhuman in her failure to care about others’ feelings. She asks Mr. Kapasi to suggest a remedy for her unhappiness and pain, but when he suggests that what she actually feels is guilt, she turns on him.

Ronny, Bobby, and Tina

The Dases have three children—Ronny, Bobby, and Tina—and they seem like decent children who perhaps just lack some parental guidance. At one point, Mr. Das tells Bobby to make sure Ronny doesn’t get into trouble, but Bobby says he doesn’t “feel like it.” Tina simply seems to want her mother’s attention. Bobby is not actually the son of Mr. Das, though Mr. Das does not know that. Toward the end of the story, Bobby is surrounded by monkeys, and Mr. Kapasi rescues him.

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