The Confession of Pain

During class, for Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Interpreter of Maladies,” we discussed the question of why Mrs. Das tells her secret to Mr. Kapasi. Obviously, because Mr. Kapasi tells the Das family about his job as an interpreter, Mrs. Das feels the need to confess her secret to someone she hopes can interpret it and help her release her feelings of both pain and guilt within, as Mr. Kapasi later states. But, was this the only reason she confessed her adultery to the tour guide/interpreter? And is Mrs. Das the only person who needs someone to vent to about her life’s problems? Did Lahiri give readers more insight into Mr. Kapasi or Mrs. Das?

From the way Lahiri frames this short story, I would say that this story is told from Mr. Kapasi’s point of view, but the small, seemingly insignificant details in which the narrator describes Mrs. Das and her actions represent her background in a way that the reader is able to paint an illustration, physically and internally, of Mrs. Das. Descriptions such as, “The car rattled considerably as it raced along the dusty road, causing them all to pop up from their seats every now and then, but Mrs. Das continued to polish her nails,” subtly describe a part of Mrs. Das and the type of life she lives (582). After reading this sentence a few times, I realized that this is how I picture Mrs. Das living her life: while life is bumpy and not always set in stone, she continues to live her life, following whatever path life decides to take her on. With this description, I see Mrs. Das as a passive woman; she failed to stop the actions of her husband’s friend and instead, just went along with whatever he wanted. Maybe this is because she felt unhappy in her marriage, but does that make her a better person or a more likable character if she uses that as an excuse? This merely presents her passivity even more. Lahiri depicts Mrs. Das as a character who lives her life in the backseat, waiting for everyone else to drive the car, to instigate the direction, to control her life. When Mr. Kapasi attempts to make the bumpy ride in the car smoother for the Das family, I saw that as a foreshadowing moment in which Mrs. Das would later try to make Mr. Kapasi make her own bumpy life smoother by using him as a person she can confess her sins to.

At the same time, it isn’t just Mrs. Das who needs someone like Mr. Kapasi; Mr. Kapasi also needs someone like Mrs. Das. I felt that Lahiri presented two people with a similar problem in the big picture but different problems surrounding that big picture. The big picture shows that both Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das need someone to be there to appreciate them, otherwise they feel like failures. Because of his own unhappiness and his thought that “the job [as an interpreter] was a sign of his failings” and that “his wife had little regard for his career as an interpreter,” he is intrigued with whoever asks about his job at the doctor’s office, not particularly Mrs. Das; she just happened to fill this void (584-5). I feel that Mr. Kapasi harbors these feelings toward Mrs. Das because she presents a fresh aspect to his life that actually makes him feel good about what he does; it makes him feel important, as contrasted with how his wife views his job. Mr. Kapasi is almost self-deprecating based on other people’s views about him and his job.

As Mrs. Das is a passive character until she realizes that Mr. Kapasi may be able to help her release her “pain and guilt,” this is the first time Lahiri shows that Mrs. Das instigates a conversation with someone. This is the time where she is the active one telling him her problems. At the same time, Mr. Kapasi hangs on to the thread Mrs. Das figuratively attaches him with because for once, he feels appreciated. (678)