Friday, April 8, 2022

For Monday: Lahiri, "The Interpreter of Maladies" & "A Real Durwan"

 


Answer TWO of the following: 

Q1: Mr. Kapasi observes early on that Mr. Das “looked exactly like a magnified version of Ronny. He had a sapphire blue visor, and was dressed in shorts, sneakers, and a T-shirt. The camera slung around his neck...was the only complicated thing he wore” (44). Why does Mr. Kapasi disapprove of the family, and the parents in particular? What makes them strange and “alien” to him?

Q2: How do modern conveniences change the residents and break up the community? Why does Boori Ma no longer fit into this world?

Q3: When Mr. Kapasi dismisses his day job as "a job like any other," Mrs. Das exclaims, "But so romantic" (50). Why does she find it romantic, and why does she suddenly decide to make him her confidant? How does she also change for him in this instant? 

Q4: How is “The Interpreter of Maladies” a story about the clash between East and West, and why ‘translation’ is so difficult? Why is culture more than language and custom? What is Mr. Kapasi unable to translate for Mrs. Das and for himself?

Q5: Why is Boori Ma accepted as a “durwan” even though “under normal circumstances this was no job for a woman” (73)? What makes her able to break the social norms?

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