Interpreter of Maladies

"Interpreter of Maladies"
Jhumpa Lahiri

This story was very interesting, and of course a little sad because of they way the Dases treated their children and really, each other.  I did not like how they constantly rejected them and tossed them aside for the pleasures they enjoyed.  The culture difference probably stood out the most to me because we could see how both sides lived--the Indian family who was totally Americanized and the people living in India.  Mr. Das is explicitly proud of his American life and wants to see the culture without actually acknowledging his Indian roots.  Like Dee from "Everyday Life," he just wanted to experience the parts of his heritage/culture that filled his wants.  Even though he was in fact of Indian dissent, he chose the American lifestyle which was very different.  "The family looked Indian but dressed as foreigners did" (Lahiri).  The tourist aspect of the short story was very interesting because it was like the Dases were experiencing their culture through the eyes of others: they took many pictures and seemed very centered on their own wants, when most parents would cherish the opportunity to show their children where their parents came from.  On the other side of the culture difference was Mr. Kapasi who lived in India and worked as the Das' tour guide for their vacation.  The story was very sad because he had lost his son, did not seem to love his wife because their marriage had been arranged, and he had a little crush on Mina Das, who drastically offended him with the tale of her son's being another man's.  In his mind, one did not commit adultery, which was probably only possible to Mrs. Das because of American influences in her life.  She also told Kapasi that she was in a loveless marriage, which paralleled his marriage, but he probably had no intentions of calling it off with her because it wasn't done in his culture.