Dedicated to the study of literature.
1. What seems to be the author’s intention or purpose for writing the narrative? Try to think of several purposes and consider varying audiences in your response.
2. Describe the role of faith in the author’s ordeal or in the narrative as a whole.
2a. In general, what would a Puritan say about God and his providence in their everyday lives?
3. Describe the relationship between Mary and her captors.
4. Based on the reading, what do you think the characteristics of a “good” Puritan are?
5. How do you think Mary feels about her captivity by the end of it?
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A Temporary Matter
"A Temporary Matter" tells the story of a couple that has been slowly distancing from each other. Ever since their child was born a stillbirth, Shoba and Shukumar have been separating themselves through their work, avoiding each other as much as possible. "The more Shoba stayed out, the more she began putting in extra hours at work and taking on additional projects, the more he wanted to stay in" (Lahiri 2). They both blame themselves for the death of their child and they do not want to let each other know about their guilty feelings. Shukumar seems to beat himself up over the fact he was not there during Shoba's labor. His guilt about this is shown when he remembers Shoba's mother scolding him about it. "Once, when he had mentioned the baby's death, she looked up from her knitting, and said, 'But you weren't even there'" (Lahiri 9). As they start to accept their new separate lifestyle as no longer a “temporary matter,” a chance for them to reconnect appears. The city is going to have utility workers repair some power lines at night, and these power outages give Shoba and Shukumar some time together. They start to reveal secrets to each other for these five nights of darkness. Knowing these secrets, for so long kept personal to each other; enables them to understand their feelings and grow closer together. “Something happened when the house was dark. They were able to talk to each other again” (Lahiri 19). This reconnection ends on the fifth night though, when Shoba reveals she is planning on leaving Shukumar. In his anger he reveals something Shoba never wanted to know, that their baby was a boy. In the end the couple sits together and cries, leaving the reader to decide if they managed to reconnect or not.
When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine
Mr. Pirzada is a foreigner from Dacca visiting America. His wife and seven daughters are still in Dacca, which is in the middle of a civil war for independence. He feels alone in America, and is scared for his wife and daughters. To help him with this, he visits Lilia’s family and has dinner with them often. He gives Lilia gifts of candy when he visits, and this helps him deal with missing his daughters. “Each week Mr. Pirzada wrote letters to his wife, and sent comic books to each of his seven daughters, but the postal system, along with everything else in Dacca, had collapsed, and he had not heard word of them in over six months” (Lahiri 24). Unable to know whether his gifts are reaching their destination he spoils Lilia. This shows his wanting to spoil his daughters. While visiting Lilia’s family, Mr. Pirzada watches the news to hear about the war in Dacca. It makes him feel closer to his family there. Over the weeks news of happenings in Dacca grow scarce, so he does more activities with Lilia’s family. He carves a pumpkin for Halloween with them, even though he knows little about this American holiday. “For the first time we all gathered around the dining table, my mother, my father, Mr. Pirzada, and I” (Lahiri 35). Ignoring the news and carving the pumpkin makes him feel like he is doing activities with his own family, which puts Mr. Pirzada in a happy mood. This quickly goes away when the war worsens. Mr. Pirzada goes back to intently watching the news. “I remember some nights helping my mother spread a sheet and blankets on the couch so that Mr. Pirzada could sleep there” (Lahiri 41). He stays close to the TV, so that he could be close to his family during this time. After a couple months, he returns to Dacca and is able to reunite with his family. This gives Lilia a sense of what Mr. Pirzada went through, because now she misses him coming over for dinner.
Interpreter of Maladies
“Interpreter of Maladies” is about an American family sightseeing in India. The family is far from perfect, since the parents do not seem to pay attention to their children and the wife is annoyed to be near her husband. Mr. Kapasi, the man driving them around on their tour, notices this and relates it to his own relationship with his wife, and how they hardly ever talk. He starts to talk with Mr. and Mrs. Das and tells them about his second job as an interpreter for a doctor. Mrs. Das becomes interested and wants him to tell her more about his job, complementing him about it. “She did not behave in a romantic way towards her husband, and yet she had used the word to describe him” (Lahiri 53). Her sudden interest and saying the job is very important makes Mr. Kapasi feel attracted towards her. He spends the rest of the tour glancing at her, wanting to be alone to talk with her. On the way back to the hotel he wants the tour to last longer. He suggests that they make another stop, and there Mrs. Das stays behind in the car with Mr. Kapasi. She confides in him that her son Bobby is and illegitimate child. “‘Don’t you realize what it means for me to tell you?’ ‘What does it mean?’ ‘It means that I’m tired of feeling so terrible all the time’” (Lahiri 65). Mr. Kapasi now realizes that Mrs. Das only talked to him because she thought his job as an interpreter could help her deal with her guilt. Mr. Kapasi is not a psychiatrist, so he is not sure what he should tell her. When she realizes this, she leaves to go back to her family, and Mr. Kapasi sees that she really does not care for him. He gives up thinking that he could have a relationship with her.
A Real Durwan
Boori Ma is an old woman who sweeps the stairs of an apartment building, and the residents also regard her as a durwan. A durwan seems to be a doorman or something similar. Boori Ma keeps people from entering the building, stealing things “and could, with a few slaps of her broom, rout any suspicious character who strayed into the area” (Lahiri 73). The residents appreciate this even though they have very little worth stealing. As Boori Ma sweeps the stairs everyday she talks about how she used to be a wealthy woman with every luxury imaginable. The residents are not sure if her tales are true, but they all like to listen to her stories. The residents become upset though, when Mr. Dalal gets a promotion at his job and buys two sinks. “Mr. Dalal had decided to install one basin in the sitting room of their flat, and the other one on the stairwell of the building, on the first-floor landing” (Lahiri 78). The other guests are jealous that Mr. Dalal kept a sink for him and his wife, while the rest of them have to share one. They also are jealous that Mr. Dalal has the money to improve the apartment building. They start to barter their valuables in order to improve the building, by hiring painters and exterminators. So many workers are moving around the building that Boori Ma cannot sweep the stairs, so she spends her days walking around the city. One day the sink on the stairs is stolen, and the residents all blame Boori Ma for telling thieves to steal it. “‘Believe me, believe me. I did not inform the robbers.’ ‘For years we have put up with your lies,’ they retorted. ‘You expect us, now, to believe you?’” (Lahiri 81). The guests think she is a liar because of her stories of wealth, so they kick her out of the building and decide to hire a real durwan. This shows how when a balance is upset, like the balance of everyone in the hotel being poor, it can have unfair consequences.
Sexy
“Sexy” tells the story of Miranda, who is having an affair with a Bengali man named Dev. At the same time Miranda’s friend, Laxmi, has a relative that is also being affected by an affair. Laxmi’s cousin’s husband is having an affair and the cousin is falling apart. The cousin said she will wait because she knows her husband will come back, but Laxmi says “‘If my husband so much as looked at another woman I’d change the locks’” (Lahiri 92). Even though she sees how an affair can destroy a marriage, Miranda continues to have hers with Dev. Since Dev’s wife is away in India at the moment, she feels no remorse for what they are doing. Miranda wants the relationship with Dev because he makes her feel important to him. “It was the first time a man had called her sexy” (Lahiri 92). They plan to continue the affair, even when his wife returned, by meeting every Sunday. Then, on a Saturday, Miranda is asked to watch Laxmi’s cousin’s son for the day. Rohin does not seem to be as affected by the affair as his mother has, and says “‘My father met a pretty woman on the plane’” (Lahiri 102). After spending most of the day with Rohin, he finds a cocktail dress she bought to impress Dev, and asks her to put it on. She decides to wear and Rohin says that she is sexy. She becomes confused and asks Rohin what sexy means. “‘It means loving someone you don’t know’” (Lahiri 107). Dev used the same word to describe her, but what Rohin says makes her realize that Dev might not actually think she is that important. She calls Dev and asks him what he whispered that day in the Mapparium, and he says “‘Let’s go back to your place’” (Lahiri 109). Since he does not remember Miranda breaks away from him and ends their affair.
Mrs. Sen’s
Mrs. Sen is an Indian woman who watches Eliot after school until his mother gets off at work. She moved to America with her husband, who teaches at the university. Most of the things she does reflect her closeness to life in India. She is very skilled at cutting up vegetables and meat for India dishes. “She split things in half, then quarters, speedily producing florets, cubes, slices, and shreds” (Lahiri 114). She prepares Indian dishes everyday, cooking large pots of food even though they are only for her and her husband. She talks about how she and the other women in her neighborhood in India would get together and cut up vegetables for big events, and seems to miss this time with other people she can easily relate to. She becomes excited when she receives letters from her family back home, but at the same time is upset she cannot participate in what is happening. “‘My sister has had a baby girl. By the time I see her, depending if Mr. Sen gets his tenure, she will be three years old. Her own aunt will be a stranger” (Lahiri 122). She also has trouble with the more American task of driving. She is scared of the fast moving traffic, and is not sure what to do most of the time. She wants to learn how to drive, but is so daunted by the task she seems to give up on it all together. “‘I hate it. I hate driving. I won’t go on’” (Lahiri 131). She gives up on driving, just like how she gives up on trying to be a typical American. She wants to return to India, to be able to be immersed in her own culture and lifestyle again. She cannot go back yet, and this makes her time in America harder on her.
This Blessed House
“This Blessed House” is about a young Indian couple moving into their new home. Sanjeev and Twinkle are opposites of each other. Sanjeev likes to have everything organized and clean. He worries about his appearance to others. “Though he was of average build, his cheeks had a plumpness to them; this, along with the eyelashes, detracted from what he hoped was a distinguished profile” (Lahiri 140). He seems to worry about these things because he always wants to make a good impression on people. Twinkle, on the other hand, is a lot easier going than he is. She does not care what people think of her and tends to have more fun because of it. This is shown more when Twinkle starts to find Christian paraphernalia scattered around the house. “‘Each day is like a treasure hunt’” (Lahiri 141). Twinkle excitement over this is confusing to Sanjeev, especially since they are not Christians. Twinkle proceeds to display each of her treasures on the mantel which really annoys Sanjeev. “Sanjeev had planned to ask if she would consider clearing the menagerie off the mantel, if only for the party” (Lahiri 150). He is worried that the people from his work coming to their house warming party will think they are weird for having that stuff displayed. He doesn’t even really consider these people as friends, just as acquaintances, but he is still worried about their opinion. His guests are actually interested in the items, as Twinkle explains that they find the items randomly throughout the house. Twinkle leads the guests to explore the house to find another object and they manage to find a silver bust of Jesus in the attic. She asks Sanjeev if they can display it on the mantel for the rest of the day. Sanjeev knows the bust will remain there long after, but he seems to finally accept Twinkle for herself. Despite their differences, they manage to put up with each other’s quirks.
The Treatment of Bibi Haldar
Bibi has been plagued by a mysterious illness since she was a child. She is really an epileptic, nobody knows about epilepsy. People have tried many ways to cure her, using everything from spiritual remedies to the latest in medical science. Her father puts his life into figuring out what is wrong with her. Nothing seems to help her, and after her father dies she goes to live with her cousins. Her cousins have her work in the storage shed of their business, taking inventory for them in order to pay for food and shelter. Every day Bibi talks to the other people in the building about how she wants a husband more than anything else. “She wanted to be spoken for, protected, placed on her path in life” (Lahiri 160). She wants the feeling of security that a husband could provide for her. She becomes more excited when a doctor’s diagnosis says that a possible cure could be for her to get married. Bibi spends her time trying to become more attractive so she can get a husband. The other women in the building help her by giving her tips about meeting men and on how to be a good wife. “As practice for the event of encountering a possible suitor, we urged her to engage in small conversations with nearby men” (Lahiri 165). Her cousin tries to discourage her by refusing to take her to get her picture taken. He gets tougher on Bibi when his wife becomes pregnant. “‘She says I’m contagious, like the pox. She says I’ll spoil the baby’” (Lahiri 167). Out of fear for their baby they force Bibi to live in the shed, which sends her into depression. Eventually the cousins move away and leave Bibi, and the other people in the building see that she is taken care of. They eventually stop seeing Bibi come out of her room, and figure that she is very sick. When someone checks on her, they find out she is pregnant. Once the child is born they help her raise him and start a small business. The people never find out who the father is, but for some reason, Bibi is cured of her aliment.
The Third and Final Continent
The narrator of “The Third and Final Continent” is an Indian man who has moved around a lot during his life. His first move was from India to England, where he furthered his education. Then he moved to America because he got a job offer from MIT. On each move he has to adapt to the new culture and habits. He eventually gets used to the new lifestyles, but one thing that he has trouble adapting to is an Indian tradition, his arranged marriage. Before his wife is able to come over from India, he decides to stay is a boarding house. Mrs. Croft, the landlady, seems a bit strange to him because she has the same conversation with him every night about the recent moon landing. He later learns that she is 103 years old, and develops a new sense of respect for her. He stays with her until his wife, Mala, is supposed to arrive in America. He goes to get an apartment for them, and meets her at the airport. “I waited to get used to her, to her presence at my side, at my table and in my bed, but a week later we were still strangers” (Lahiri 192). He thinks that he and his wife will never grow to love eachother. One night while showing Mala around town, he takes her to meet Mrs. Croft. When he explains who Mala is Mrs. Croft looks at her and studies her. “At last Mrs. Croft declared, with the equal measures of disbelief and delight I knew well: ‘She is a perfect lady!’” (Lahiri 195). The narrator now sees Mala differently, and sees the sacrifices she has made for him, coming to America and leaving her family. From then on he and Mala grow much closer together and start their own family. It was all made possible by the words of Mrs. Croft.
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