INTERPRETER OF MALADIES

[chronus18]

can anyone pls give me a good points on what to talk about the essay "Interpreter Of Maladies shows that all erlationships are fraught with difficulties. To what extent do you agree? "

[LOLs99]

Hey Im doing Interpreter of Maladies next yr but are you studying Identity and belonging context? Just wanna make sure cos Im preparing to get some resources for context.

[greenbeans]

Interpreter of Maladies is part of Analytical essays in the exam and SACs, aka. Part A. Part B is when you look at your themes, contexts, etc. like Identity and belonging. Hope that helps. You deal with each section separately, but a big no-no is referencing your Part A texts in your Part B responses.

In response to your question, however:
Draw up some sort of character map for each of the short stories so you get an idea of each character. Then look for similarities between them (i.e. western ones and indian ones is a good idea), whether they are experiencing similar difficulties with their 'maladies' (i.e. do some characters have more vocalised maladies than others, are some maladies more obvious than others?) In this specific essay question, you need to break down what you mean by difficulties and define this as what these characters find hard in their new environments in, say, America or wherever depending on the character. THEN you need to figure out what Lahiri is trying to say about difficulties. Is she saying that there is a constant level of difficulty for these newbies when encountering relationships in these new environments? Are there any structural aspects to this book that relate to how these difficulties in relationships are organised? AND THEN once you have considered this, work out whether you agree with what Lahiri is suggesting. I.e. What extent. You can have 2 paragraphs agreeing and 2 opposing, they can go yes, no, yes, no or whatever combination you like so long as they flow with your topic sentences and your contention! That's just a little something to get you thinking and the ballrolling. So don't worry about writing just as yet, start THINKING and exploring these issues, jotting things down on paper!

[liuetenant]

um..i'm very vague on interpreter...(haven't read it since feb 2011!) So, i will try to help out where i can...So, in regards to relationships fraught with difficulties...

the first story, with shumukar and shoba...you can see that their marriage was once very happy. I think it's symbolised by their cooking. When they were happy, the dishes that they made were lavish. their relationship was once very joyful, full of laughter and stuff. However, after the stillborn of their child, things changed. They no longer communicate to each other--like Shumukar would go up to his study for dinner, and Shoba would be downstairs (or something like that. Their relationship turns into experiences of hardship, alienation and the inability to communicate.

um, the story where the dallas family goes to India...interpreter of maladies? i think that's it. you see tht the relationship between the members of the family are also very distant. the parents act more like "teenagers" to the kids, rather than actual parents (you acutally get a quote on this from the narrator himself). So, in this story, you can tell that the relationships are also very difficult. Mrs Dallas finds it difficult to communicate to her husband: she confesses that she's kept her infidelity from him for all these years. you can even go on talking about how American born Indians have a difficult relationship assimilating or fitting back in and understanding their own home country. I remember thatMr dallas takes photos of poor men as though they are "sights" to be seen in India. He doesn't look with pity or sympathy, but rather as though the poor of India are just "items."

In terms of the actual essay question itself, where it says that "ALL" relationships are fraught...etc....you can argue whether this is true or not. Perhaps you could take a different approach, saying, yes, all the r/ships are difficult, but it is this difficulty that helps the characters realise that communication and understanding are significant to their lives or something like that. LOL.

Point is, just brainstorm...and see what you can come up with that not only agrees/disagrees with the topic, but takes an interesting angle.

I hoped i helped!

[liuetenant]

PS....ARE THEY called the Dallas family? haha..or did i just completely make that up?

[greenbeans]

Point is, just brainstorm...and see what you can come up with that not only agrees/disagrees with the topic, but takes an interesting angle.

This.

And know the book back to front.

(Mr and Mrs Das)