Bahmanpour

Bahmanpour’s  “Female subjects and negotiating identities in Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies” analyses females culture identity conflicts in the book Interpreter of Maladies. The author defines three ways of assimilating or dealing with other cultures then compares them to four short stories in Interpreter of Maladies where females take the protagonist role. The three approaches of viewing one’s own assimilation to another culture are: self and other, hybridity, and liminality. The author then analyses each of the short stories and compares them to each of these views. Mrs. Sen’s who is a first generation immigrant who looks after a little boy. She struggles with adapting to American society and continues to withhold her traditions, which is more like the liminality view. In This Blessed House the female in the story, as a second generation immigrant, does not struggle with assimilating to the American culture. This is shown in the story when she finds Christian icons and chooses to display them in her house even though she is Hindu. The Treatment of Bibi Haldar on the other hand takes place in India where the protagonist struggles to fit in to her own culture. Sexy is a story about an American woman in the United States who has an affair with an Indian man and is inclined to know more about the culture. These women all lead lives which deal with other cultures and whether they try to assimilate or keep their own culture it still, at times, presents a conflict to them.

This blessed house Lahiri

This Blessed House

The short story “This blessed house” by Jhumpa Lahiri is about a couple of newlyweds who move into a house where they begin to find Christian religious items. The first thing they find is a statue of Jesus. Sanjeev, the husband, tells his wife to throw it away. “We’re not Christian” (137) he says to his wife but his wife decides to display it for she thinks it was important to someone and she cannot find herself throwing it away. Twinkle continues to find Christian icons, which causes conflict between her and her husband as she wants to display the items and he wants to throw them away. His wife’s unwillingness to throw away the items and inclination to keep them causes Sanjeev to question their marriage and even his love for her. One night as Sanjeev rakes the lawn, Twinkle finds a statue of the Virgin Mary and wants to display it on the lawn but Sanjeev worries what others will think of him as a Hindu. At their housewarming party some people ask Sanjeev whether he is Christian but it is not made a big deal of.  I think the reoccurring theme of the story is Sanjeev’s worry of what people may think of the Christian displays. Sanjeev wants to keep his cultural traditions even though he lives in the United States now. On the other hand, Twinkle seems to be more flexible to Western culture which leads Sanjeev to become irritated with her. I think Sanjeev’s behavior symbolizes his fear of losing his identity as a Hindu. Throughout the story Sanjeev conflicts with his wife but in the end of the story when Twinkle is showing the guests around he feels that love he felt for her at the beginning. This makes me think that he realizes that she is confident of who she is and that the Christian icons do not change them or their identities.

When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine

When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine

Short story When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine in the book Interpreter of Maladies takes place in Boston. The story is narrated by Lilia who talks about a man from Dacca that was sent to United States to study foliage from Pakistan.  Mr. Pirzada lives in the dormitories at the university. He has left behind, in Dacca, a wife and seven young girls. Lilia’s parents invite Mr. Pirzada for dinner every day because of his financial situation. Lilia grows so accustomed to Mr. Pirzada’s presence at dinner that one day while taking out an extra cup for their guest Lilia’s father tells her “Mr. Pirzada is no longer considered Indian… Not since the partition” (25). Lilia is surprised by this division since she can distinguish almost no differences between her parents and Mr. Pirzada.  Every afternoon Lilia’s parents and Mr. Pirzada watch the news and learn that there is a Civil War between Pakistan and India. Throughout the book Lilia becomes in touch with her roots and learns the ignorance of the ongoing war in her school.  Lilia worries for Mr. Pirzada because she knows he is concerned for his family. After the war Mr. Pirzada travels back to his hometown and reunites with his wife and children and sends a postcard. When Mr. Pirzada travels back home Lilia misses him and she mentions how her family sits quietly at dinner which shows that Mr. Pirzada brought a taste of home to her family. I think this short story shows strong symbolism of unity and sense of community.  Even though Mr. Pirzada was no longer considered Indian and Mr. Pirzada and Lilia’s parents’ hometown were at war, they still had dinner together because of their shared homelands even over thousands of miles away.  I think Lahiri points out that even though you may be thousands of miles away from your homeland you will have a shared sense of identity with individuals who share same customs and culture.