How Jhumpa Lahiri expresses the unmet needs of the characters through her short story, "Intepreter of Maladies"

In the short story, “Interpreter of Maladies”, Jhumpa Lahiri uses the minor action and subtle details to express the unmet needs through Mrs. Das, Tina, and Mr. Kapasi. Mrs. Das married at an early age not able to enjoy her young life. She had a baby in her early twenties and while her friends were out playing, she would be testing the milk on her hands to see if it was warm for her baby. She met her husband, Mr. Das in high school and married him after college. By doing so, she was not able to enjoy her love life with other men. She felt as if she was unloved, unappreciated, and jealous of those who did not have children. Mrs. Das did not feel love from her husband because he was always busy at work and never had the time to give his all to her. She felt unappreciated because she was always at home, taking care of Ronny and no one acknowledged it. This lead to her cheating on her husband, although it was completely wrong to do, it allowed her to have some fun and feel wanted for once in her life. Tina, Mrs. Das’s daughter also has unmet needs. She always wants love and attention from her mom, which she never gets. Tina tries hard to me like her mother, but Mrs. Das never realizes. In the short story, Tina has a white American doll she always carries around. She plays with that doll because she does not get attention from her mom. The doll symbolizes her mother, the short hair, the American heritage, and the clothes. Because she cannot get the love and appreciation from her own mom, she puts out her anger towards the doll. She throws it around and abuses it, showing to respect for it at all. She shows the opposite reaction to her mom, showing her kind side while hiding the other and expresses through her doll. Besides Mrs. Das and Tina, Mr. Kapasi too has unmet needs. His wife shows no appreciation towards his job and life, which leads him to lose interest in her and starts to have feelings towards Mrs. Das. She was the only woman who ever acknowledged his job and appreciated what he did. The unmet needs in “Interpreter of Maladies” makes this short story a bit more interesting, not only does it hype up the scene and make you wonder what’s going to happen next, it also leads you to make your own endings and have your own little short story towards the end.

What is the driving force in short stories? What is your impetus when reading them?

Short stories get to the point faster than reading books. The author’s make it intriguing in order for the reader not to lose interest. When reading short stories, I have realized that they all have a scene where it is so intense you do not want to stop reading. I think that is one of the main points when writing a short story- the driving force that lures the reader into the narrative. When the class was reading the short story by Tobias Wolff, we were all ensnared by the story because of the curiosity of what would happen to the girl. The driving force for this story was the creepy man who knew everything of the girl. We all wanted to know what he was going to do next, or who he actually is. The driving force for short story writers are the characters they place in their books. What kind of character they are, how they act, and how they represent themselves. Are they interesting, are they boring, do they play a main role? How the author’s present the characters is what really matters. If the protagonist is not interesting, then why should the reader want to read? The character must be full of mystery, fun, or have an interesting life where the reader wants to learn more of him or her. If the protagonist is mysterious, we as readers have the urge to read more and find out their true personality or whatever he or she is going to do. If the main character is fun, then the readers would want to know what kind of other things they are going to do or say. It also goes for them having an interesting life. We would want to know more of it, maybe we can relate to it- maybe not. This is what the driving force for short story writers are and our impetus would be our curiosity.

My Divided Interests and How I Chose them. "The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant"

Every kid wants to become someone significant when they grow up. We all start off saying we want to become a doctor, a firefighter, a surgeon, a teacher, a president, a businessman, a captain, and so many more. But, as we grow older we start to realize what our talents are and how we want to show it in our future. I wanted to be everything I listed when I was little. I thought I could have multiple jobs and be the richest woman on earth. But of course, my senses came to reality and I realized I have to choose one and persevere to become successful, no matter how hard it is. This was when I started to have many divided interests. I narrowed my list down to becoming a fashion designer, an artist, a doctor, and a businesswoman. All these jobs were in different categories and I was confused on what I wanted to become. I know what you may be thinking… This girl is only 15 she has plenty of time to decide what she wants to be. But I’m the kind of girl that likes to plan out how I want to live in my future. I don’t want to take the wrong paths and have regrets later on. I found out that being a fashion designer can be tough, and when I started learning about designing it didn’t really catch my attention as much as I thought it would. Visioning myself become an artist in the future was hard to imagine, since I lack creativity- so that got crossed out. Then I wanted to be a doctor, but little did I know I cannot stand blood and literally faint when I see it. This left me with becoming a businesswoman, I knew I could follow my dad’s footsteps and become as successful as him. I could also combine my interest of fashion in it too. From then on, I knew it was going to be the perfect job for me.
In the short story, “The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant,” the author foreshadows that the protagonist will be unsuccessful at wooing Sheila Mant because he realizes they do not share a common interest. When the protagonist comes to pick up Sheila Mant, her expression to the boat was not a satisfying expression. It’s as if she expected to be picked up in a Corvette instead of the boat he planned on riding. From there, he realizes that he has already lost her interest. When they were riding the boat, Sheila Mant only talked about herself and showed no interest in the protagonist’s life. He realizes he won’t be able to woo Sheila when she states that “[she] think[s] fishing’s dumb” ( (38, Wetherell). The fact that Sheila hates the idea of fishing and thinks it’s gross put the protagonist in a position where he feels like there is another else to show off. This immediately shows that he has given a slight bit of hope, therefore it shows that he would not be able to woo Sheila Mant into his arms.

Where Would The Article 'No News from Auschwitz' by Rosenthal Belong?

The article ‘No News from Auschwitz’ by Rosenthal was an inspiring and touching story; I believe that this article would have been in the middle of the New York Times newspaper. Since this article is about the past event that occurred, it would not be in the front, unless something huge or eventful just happened. Although I do not read newspapers on a daily basis, I do occasionally look at them time to time. I realized that the most important news that happened throughout the week is always on the first page. Towards the back would be open job listings and the topics that do not really connect or have anything interesting to read to the readers out there. I believe that the article was written to help remember how terrible the holocaust was and how people should not look at it so lightly. ‘No News from Auschwitz’ was also to help the readers realize that there was such a place that existed in this world. It might have also been written to show some sense of reality to the ones who are ignorant to the events that happened. New York Times would have most likely put this article somewhere in the middle of the newspaper. It is not as important as the top news that is occurring at the time, but it is also not pointless or ineffective to the readers. But, just because the article is in the middle, does not mean it is unimportant. Newspapers only include stories that can relate to the readers or remind them of an event that should not be forgotten. For example, every year, since year 2001, on September 9 there is an article about 9-11 to respect the ones who lost there loved ones. This is why I believe that ‘No News from Auschwitz’ should belong in the middle of the New York Times newspaper.

A Collage of My Words

The Authors Tone Differences

Langston Hughes and Malcolm X both view their position in the white and black status differently.  In the poem, “Theme for English B”, Hughes has optimism tone in his words. Although he understands that black people do not fit in the ranking for white people, he believes they are equal in some ways. For instance, near the end of the poem he tells his professor that they are both a part of each other. Although the professor might not want to be a part of him, but because of the assignment he assigned, they are. Langston Hughes starts off putting himself in a low position because of his color. But as the story goes on, he starts to slowly show that he is proud for who he is. That although he may be a minority in the city he lives in- he can be equal to the whites as well. He states that black people and white people can all learn from each other, although they are  “somewhat more free”.  Unlike Langston Hughes, Malcolm X had a different perspective and viewed himself lower than he actually was. His tone in his voice is pessimistic and tried to change his self image in the beginning. His negativity towards his race leads him to going through pain to change himself and make himself look more “white”.  Going through pain finally made Malcolm X realize that white people were not superior towards black people. As he says in his memoir, changing his hair color was self-degradation to himself and his race as well. His tone in his writing, lead him to believe that burning his scalp and going through pain will help him feel as if he was a little bit closer to the ranking of white people. But, in the end he regrets his actions and also starts to believe that black people should not be inferior to the Caucasians. The author’s tone of voice leads both of them to what they say or do.

Accepting Who You Are

In the two memoirs, Malcolm X and Langston Hughes, both feel degraded by their own race. They were both born and raised in a white populated community. Both knowing that they do not belong and that they are not equal to the whites. But, they handle the situations in a different manner. Malcolm X did not believe that Caucasian and African American people could be together, or treated equal. He always believed that the White people had the priority and that they were above his own race. This is what had led him into the decision of changing his own appearance to become like the “white” people. He went through pain and suffering to bleach his hair so that it looked like a white man’s hair color. Despite the fact that he had different color hair, it did not change the fact that no matter what he did, he would still be African American. In the end, Malcolm X regretted his actions and realized that there nothing wrong with his looks in the first place. On the other hand, Langston Hughes had different perspectives. He had a more passive approach and tried to think of everything in an optimistic matter. He believed that both “White” and “Black” people could learn from each other. In the poem, Hughes lists the things he likes because he tried to show that he is not pessimistic about his life. He was also expressing individuality and commonality with the instructor and the others. Unlike Malcolm X, Hughes accepted himself for who he was. He did not try to change his appearance to “fit in” nor did he try to act a different way to socialize with the white people. Aside from all the differences, they also had similar ways of thinking. They both were uncomfortable with the color of their skin. This was because they lived in white community. Which led them to being uncomfortable with adaption and change. This all leads to accepting who you are and no matter what, you should never look down on yourself.