A Formalist Approach to Analyse Jhumpa Lahiri’s
“Interpreter of Maladies”
Meenu Sharma
M.A In English (Ccs University, Meerut)
Net Qualified
Air Force Station, Udhampur
Jammu& Kashmir
Abstract
A formalist approach is one of the lenses used by critic to break down a literary work
scientifically. The approach is known for its objective and literal examination of a poem or
fiction. Unlike other approaches, it refuses to focus on historical, biological, and cultural
circumstances of a text but highlighted its structure. It works to emphasize how elements like
point of view, plot, character, tone, style and imageries fused together to make a marvelous
literary piece that attracts millions of readers. This research paper aims to apply this approach
towards “Interpreter Of Maladies”, a collection of short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri. The
formalist approach helps to account the function of structure in illustration of the theme of the
stories.
Key words:
Formalistic approach, point of view, plot, characters, setting, tone, style,
imageries, story collection, structure
In June, 1999, a beautiful collection of heart-touching stories illuminated the world
with its luminescence that was “Interpreter Of Maladies”. It was a debut work of an eminent
Indian-American writer ‘Jhumpa Lahiri’. She is well-known for giving words to the
experience of Indian people living in abroad, their struggle to come out of feeling, of dislocation and their search of identity they truly belong. A struggle which she experienced
herself and drafted almost in her all works. The immortal narrative won her a series of
awards, which culminated in the Pulitzer Prize.This accumulation of stories deepens the
understanding of relationships and experience of Indian immigrants. The internal structure of
the work helps to highlight this experience appositely. The tools of the formalist approach
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presented below assist to understand the importance of structure in the success of this
celebrated collection:
POINT OF VIEW:
Point of view is an insight provided by an author to the reader to trace and understand
what is going on in the story. With the aid of this literary tool writer exactly emphasis on the
details, emotions, images, etc. he wants to present in his creation. The author can make his
work more impactful by controlling this tool. In “Interpreter of Maladies” more than one
type of point of view has been used. The ingathering has total nine stories out of which six
has a third person point of view of narration. Limited omniscient third person point of view
profoundly used, in which a reader can enter into one character’s mind at a time and other
character rely upon reader’s own interpretation. One primary character, especially male shed
light on the motif of stories. In the very first story “A Temporary Matter “reader could only
peep into the mind of Shukumar. Shobha portrayed by dint of her sayings, actions, her
changed appearance, behavior and through the perception of Shukumar. He recalls:
“She wasn’t this way before. She used to put her coat on a hanger, her sneakers in the
closet, and She paid bills as soon as they came. But now she treated the house as if it were a
hotel “(ATM 11)
They both have lost their baby and mourning over it. Shukumar is sad not only for loss of
baby, but also for changed behavior of Shobha and their dying marriage, which was once
warm and healthy, but the narrator tells nothing about Shobha. The narrator says:
“In the beginning he had believed that it would pass, that he and Shoba would get
through it all somehow. She was only thirty-three. She was strong, on her feet again. But it
wasn’t a consolation.”(ATM 10)
Same in the next story, the namesake of the collection, “Interpreter Of Maladies”the narrator
presents the thoughts and feelings of Mr. Kapasi towards Mrs. Das but the reader remain in
the dilemma about Mrs. das that why she termed his job romantic until she confess her guilt
about the conception of Bobby. The narrator chooses Mr. Kapasi, again a male character to
enlighten the content. Another one in A Real Durwan the narrator is a third person who saw
everything happen to Boorima from a distance but could not help reader to enter into her
mind as nobody understand whether her stories about wealthy past are true or not. Although
successful in gathering sympathy for Boorima, the burden of other interpretation rest on the
reader’s shoulders.
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Once again a male used by narrator to tell the story “This Blessed House”. Sanjeev, the
protagonist of the story, the reader receives the whole story through his narrow and
conservative outlook. He remained indifferent toward the spirit and charm of his endearing
wife Twinkle. He is a superficial and class-driven man annoyed by twinkle’s interest in
Christian artifacts.
Apart from focusing on a male character, a limited omniscient third person narrator is also
used, who look through female point of view. Two stories can be determined under this label.
First one is ‘sexy’ whose heroine Miranda, an American girl having an affair with an Indian
married man, Dev. The narrator tells the story through her outlook. She didn’t think about the
plight of Dev’s wife and children until Rohin come to stay at her home. Another one is
“Mrs.Sen”. the narrator tells how much she misses her homeland India.
Another type of narrator employed in this collection is first person point of view. ‘When
Mr. Pirzada Came To Dine’ in which Lilia, a ten year old girl tells the story through her
viewpoint:
“INTHEAUTUMNOF 1971 a man used to come to our house, bearing confections in his
pocket and hopes of ascertaining the life or death of his family. His name was Mr. Pirzada.”
(WMPCTD P 20)
An instance of collective first person narrator also applied. “We”(a group of women in the
neighborhood of Bibi) in “The Treatment Of Bibi Haldar” are narrator of story. They not
only narrate the plight of Bibi, but always there to help her to come out of desolation.They
narrates:
“At every opportunity we reminded her that we surrounded her, that she could come to
us if she ever needed advice or aid of any kind. For a time we sent our children to play on the
roof in the afternoons, so that they could alert us if she was having another attack.”(TBH 89)
They also teach Bibi how to raise a child:
"One evening in September, we helped her deliver a son. We showed her how to feed
him, and bathe him, and lull him to sleep. We bought her an oilcloth and helped her stitch
clothes and pillowcases out of the fabric she had saved over the years" (TBH 52).
Only one standard first person narrator of the collection is the narrator of the last story “The
Third And Final Continent”. Mrs. Croft and Mala introduced through his outlook. Although
it is a tough task to narrate own story, but he is quite successful.
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SETTING
A setting is the canvass on which the writer sets his character to flourish and helps the
reader to imagine the story in his mind. It includes time, place, cultural and social background
on which the story set. In total nine stories of this accumulation almost all deal with Indian
characters immigrated to foreign land or sufferer of partition. The setting of collection
revolves around India and America more importantly, New England. Name of Harward, MIT
can be witnessed easily, presented as a safe place for a character to get assimilated into
America, a new world to immigrant Indians. For those stories which crafted in Indian
context, only Calcutta is chosen as setting for example, in “The Treatment Of Bibi Haldar
“and in “A Real Durwan”. All Indian immigrants have two settings in reality, one actual in
America and another in their hometown Calcutta drafting through flashback techniques. All
characters stayed at home almost all time, despite having different reason behind. They are
trying to come out of internal conflict either due to immigration as in Mrs. Sen and “The
Third And Final Continent” or due to hardships of relations for example “A Temporary
Matter “ and “This Blessed House” or due to illness as in“The Treatment Of Bibi Haldar “or
to dine and overview the news of partition and to get worried about Mr. Pirzada’s family. The
third story is a complete exception of home- bounding stories and characters as the reader
gets beautiful glimpse of Das family’s trip to Sun temple, Konark, and discovers
biculturaledness and the coldness of relations too:
“The temple, made of sandstone, was a massive pyramid-like structure in the shape of a
chariot. It was dedicated to the great master of life, the sun, which struck three sides of the
edifice as it made its journey each day across the sky. Twenty-four giant wheels were carved
on the north and south sides of the plinth. The whole thing was drawn by a team of seven
horses, speeding as if through the heavens.’ (IOM 35)
Readers can ascertain partition of Pakistan in 1971 in two stories ‘When Mr. Pirzada Came
To Dine’and in “A Real Durwan”. All settings are according to theme and help the readers to
understand the social and cultural background of the characters. The Time period of all
stories revolves around 70’s as we observe America’s moon landing on the same day as the
narrator of “The Third And Final Continent” landed on American ground and after that Mrs
Croft also mention it many times while converse with the narrator. Weather also mentioned
to delineate the mood of the story.
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Theme and tone:
Theme is the purpose behind the work of the writer or the meaning he wants to make
the reader understand. In Formalist approach theme is not intended for the writer only; it is
the interpretation of reader about work. This interpretation can be differ from reader to
reader, but lay down from the work with logical supporting examples from the original text.
Referring to this particular work, more than one theme received in “Interpreter Of
Maladies”.As reader goes through all stories individually one thing is quite common in all
nine stories that these are maladies of relations husband –wife, parent-child, some unnamed
but beautiful relations. Some of them described properly and some left for readers to
interpret. A Reader came to understand how the lack of communication bittered the maladies
of relations and keeping secrets is not less than poison for them. Some relations are on edge
of collapse as marriage of Shukumar and Shobha and some flourishing without any effort, for
example parent-child like relation between Mr Pirzada and little Lilia and another example is
Eliot who finds a maternal love in Mrs. Sen.
Another conclusion that can be drawn from the collection is cultural conflict which is to
assimilate into the new world of abroad and maintain their root cultural values at the same
time. Mrs. Sen, who is trying to accept new lifestyle and culture of America, but deadly
urging for that everything she misses about India. Same as Sanjeev, an MIT degree holder of
This Blessed House seems to perfectly get into American culture in the start, but as soon as
his conservative thoughts clashes with his modern and cheerful wife Twinkle he reminds of
those Indian girls his mother shows him to choose for getting married.
The tone of all stories is gloomy interpreted as real lifelike stories. All characters are in
quest of something they usually want some successful other not. This is the life one can’t get
his wishes to be fulfilled every time, but as in real life one never lost hope all stories end with
a positive sign. For example Bibi in “The Treatment of Bibi Haldar” could not fulfill her
heartily wish to get married due to her illness and carelessness of her cousin. She left out
alone by her relative, then raped and impregnated by a mysterious person, but coming of new
born baby give a new life to her. She cured of her illness, start cosmetic shop and get able to
raise her child and live happily. All stories convey a message to readers that life is full of
tensions and challenges to face, but never lose hope something happy and fortunate waiting
for.
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Plot
Plot is the framework on that a writer cemented all literary tools into one like an architect
to get a beautiful structure. It is meant to lay the foundation of any story on which characters
and settings are built around and organize all elements in a sequence. At first look these
heart-touching stories seems a bunch of beautiful flowers, but as soon reader goes through it
proved clearly that these stories are the outcome of phrase that ‘Life is not a bed of roses’.
These are flowers but not those decorated with a vase, but those grown in garden with thorns
and weeds. The Plot is crafted in such a way that there is desperation, dissatisfaction
everywhere, but also a ray of hope with a lesson that its life.
First of all it experienced as a group of nine stories, but drafted in such a way as it is a novel
and can be enjoyed as a novel or a collection of stories both. The reader can take it as a bunch
of beautiful flowers with distinct color and fragrances. Every story follows the sequence
perfectly an exposition with troubled marriages, migration in an alien country and illness,
then action rise with twists and turns and after a fall story reach its resolution not with happy
ending but with a compromise or a ray of hope of some better future. Although every story
come under a different category or stream. If reader took it as one story or novel every story
plays its role very well. “A Temporary Matter”came upon reader as an exposition of the
award winning collection with total dejection and failure of marriage rather than a beautiful
love-story. The Writer provides a tool of blackout to reader to peep into a disturbed marriage
of Shukumar and Shoba and after confessions and revelations left them with low expectation
about love from this book. When very first story ends with mourning, nothing have readers,
but to hope for safety of Mr.Pirzada’s family in Bangladesh at the time of partition at the cost
of little Lilia’s heartbreak. Next one is Mr. Kapasi who gave new hope to readers in the
context of marriage after coming out of illusion of attraction towards Mrs. Das who doesn’t’
even care about him that projected with the aid of slips of paper in the end of the story. These
two stories constitute rising action of the book. After that, two such stories come which
present crisis and bring this tale to climax as brutal changes are necessary to come out of
illusion spread by rising action. First one is “A Real Durwan” in which old and alone
Boorima tossed out of the building without any fault to get a real durwan for security.
Another one is “Sexy” that gave readers a positive point as Miranda come out of an affair
which has no future and looked towards life with a positive energy. Now its turn for falling
action which present reality above all, love, feelings and emotions. Falling action can be
received in three stories ending with dissatisfaction as nobody could get what wished. Mrs
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Sen drive to fish market to get fresh fish, but not only had she failed to get fresh fish, lost her
babysitter job and Eliot also. Same thing happens with newly wedded couple Sanjeev and
twinkle and with Bibi. At last, in concluding story resolution can be found and a happy
ending with slowly developed love between couple even after arranged marriage and their
successful assimilation of new culture and land.
Characters:
characters are souls of any fiction, especially in case of, Interpreter Of Maladies as all
stories are based on relations and conflicts whether cultural or internal. When talk about
characters, can be gotten swarmed by the readers in this cluster of shining stars. There are
only two-three main character in every story and a group of others those help in setting. A
physical description of every main character is presented in such a precise way with color of
dress, body structure and gestures that it is quite easy for readers to picture all not only
physically but their mental agony too. For example, physical description of Shobha, leading
lady of “A Temporary Matter “ doesn’t only tell us how she looks, but also informed how the
loss of her stillborn baby affects her physically and emotionally:
“She wore a navy blue poplin raincoat over gray sweatpants and white sneakers,
looking, at thirty-three, like the type of woman she’d once claimed she would never resemble.
Her cranberry lipstick was visible only on the outer reaches of her mouth, and her eyeliner
had left charcoal patches beneath her lower lashes”. (ATM 09)
There are no comments in stories about the nature of the characters, these are words and
actions of them, which help the readers to understand the characterization. Some descriptions
are so minute that it feels reader is watching the character in front of him. For example
description of Mrs. Sen:
“She was about thirty. She had a small gap between her teeth and faded pockmarks on
her chin, et her eyes were beautiful, with thick, flaring brows and liquid flourishes that
extended beyond the natural width of the lids. She wore a shimmering white sari patterned
with orange paisleys, more suitable for an evening affair than for that quiet, faintly drizzling
August afternoon. Her lips were coated in a complementary coral gloss, and a bit of the color
had strayed beyond the borders”. (Mrs. Sen’s 61)
Her one dialogue is sufficient to tell us how lonely and insecure she feels in America:
Eliot, if I began to scream right now at the top of my lungs, would someone come?”
(Mrs. Sen’s 63)
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The collection has characters who struggle to come out of their conflict and some who help
the main characters to take right decisions as Rohin a seven year old little boy unknowingly
help Miranda, protagonist of the story named “Sexy” to realize that she is indulged in an
immoral relationship with Dev without thinking of his wife and children. As little Rohin
understand her mother’s predicament and give a new turn to Miranda’s life and story too:
“My mother has puffiness. She says it’s a cold, but really she cries, sometimes for hours.
Sometimes straight through dinner. Sometimes she cries so hard her eyes puff up like
bullfrogs’. (SEXY 57)
Another example is collective narrators or neighborhood women who helped Bibi in her
critical situation when her cousin renounced her alone and then she raped and impregnated by
an unknown stranger:
“We helped her deliver a son. We showed her how to feed him, and bathe him, and lull
him to sleep. We bought her an oilcloth and helped her stitch clothes and pillowcases out of
the fabric she had saved over the years.” (TBH 89)
All characters in collection are real lifelike character. Their physical delineation, their words
and actions seem so real that it feels either they have seen by reader somewhere or known
them personally. The actions are so worldwide that whoever is at their place took the same
decision. There are no super heroes and super-villains in stories, but simple real life people
victim of natural causes like miscarriage, illness, partition and migration to an alien country.
No character of this collection seems to be superficial and unnecessary, but drafted to
emphasize the theme.
Imageries and Symbols
Imagery means to use ornamental phrases with figures of speech like simile, metaphor,
personification and onomatopoeia evoke an image in the reader’s mind and appeal to his
senses. Imagery not only prettify a literary piece, but assist readers to visualize the character,
scenes and more distinctly or profoundly. It can be obtained that clumps of imageries in each
story created to provide an envision to the reader to get an image of characters and scenes
more vivid and as clear as possible.
Imageries are paramount in all these tales which save them from being humdrum instead give
it a charm that inebriate the readers. The reader can discover sensual images in, Interpreter
Of Maladies running throughout the story. The carvings on the temple of naked bodies
making love aided to support the illusion of Mr. Kapasi, of having a romance with Mrs. Das:
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“Mr. Kapasi was pleased that they liked the temple, pleased, especially that it appealed
to Mrs. Das. She stopped every three or four paces, staring silently at the carved lovers, and
the processions of elephants, and the topless female musicians beating on two-sided drums”.
(IOM 35)
Another one is a comparison between the voluptuous attire of Mrs. Das and unfashionable
images of his wife project the internal conflict of Mr. Kapasi.Here is an image of how
Shukumar in“A Temporary Matter “dreamed of parent life of his and Shoba when leaving for
the airport in a station wagon:
“Each time he thought of that moment, the last moment he saw Shoba pregnant, it was the
cab he remembered most, a station wagon, painted red with blue lettering. It was cavernous
compared to their own car….. As the cab sped down Beacon Street, he imagined a day when
he and Shoba might need to buy a station wagon of their own, to cart their children back and
forth from music lessons and dentist appointments. He imagined himself gripping the wheel,
as Shoba turned around to hand the children juice boxes. Once, these images of parenthood
had troubled Shukumar, adding to his anxiety that he was still a student at thirty-five. But
that early autumn morning, the trees still heavy with bronze leaves, he welcomed the image
for the first time.” (ATM 9-10)
Symbols can be a person, place or any object that has much deeper and significant
meaning as shifting its literal meaning adhere to the context in which it is applied. Symbols
may have the same significance for all readers or may have distinct rely upon writer used
public or private symbols in his craft. In her debut work, Writer used this stroke profoundly.
Metaphor, simile, allegory and other literary tools have been employed to give a twist to
public and obvious symbols. Bunches of symbols can be received by the readers in each and
every story of the collection.
The first example is from the very first story “A Temporary Matter “ is blackout which laid
the foundation of the plot. Although blackout or darkness always exhibited something
unpleasant or unfavorable but it is an optimistic turn given by the writer through character of
Shukumar who took the blackout as an opportunity to remove the difference between with
hopes of having their relation back as it used to be. Here blackout turns to be a symbol of
honesty and involvement for Shukumar:
“Something happened when the house was dark. They were able to talk to each other
again. The third night after supper they'd sat together on the sofa, and once it was dark, he
began kissing her awkwardly on her forehead and her face, and though it was dark he closed
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his eyes, and knew that she did, too. The fourth night they walked carefully upstairs, to bed,
feeling together for the final step with their feet before the landing, and making love with a
desperation they had forgotten. “(ATM 17)
Food is a multi-tasking symbol in these stories. It serves as a symbol of marital happiness in
“A Temporary Matter “ of affinity in WMPCTD, of multiculturalism in IOM, of cultural
identity in Mrs Sen, of peace and settlement in The Third And Final Continent. In “A
Temporary Matter “ Shukumar reminded of a kitchen when the couple lived happily before
the death of stillborn baby:
“The pantry was always stocked with extra bottles of olive and corn oil, depending on
whether they were cooking Italian or Indian. There were endless boxes of pasta in all shapes
and colors, zippered sacks of basmati rice, whole sides of lambs…….(ATM 11)
After the miscarriage situation is entirely different, coldness of relations can be felt even in
their food habits:
“For months now they'd served themselves from the stove, and he'd taken his plate into
the study, letting the meal grow cold on his desk before shoving it into his mouth without
pause, while Shoba took her plate to the living room and watched game shows.” (ATM 12)
Not only objects, but a person also serves as a symbol, as Bibi’s baby symbolize a medicine
to her illness. As soon as she delivered the baby cured of her lifelong illness. Another
beautiful example is Mrs. Croft in “The Third And Final Continent”. The narrator and his
wife were strangers to each other till they meet Mrs. Croft and she remarked about Mala:
“She is a perfect lady!”(TFC 100)
Ice in relations starting to get melt and they accept each other.
The above discussion throws light on formalist aspect of the story collection. It
Conclusionrates that not only content but form also has an important role behind the charm of
“ Interpreter Of Maladies”. The author has been successful in using all structural tools
emphatically to tell these stories.
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References:
(1) Lahiri, Jhumpa. Interpreter of Maladies. NEW YORK: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Mariner Books 1999. Print
(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpreter_of_Maladies
(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formalism_(literature)
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