Lahiri and Culture

One of the strengths of Lahiri's "Interpreter of Maladies" is that the American/Indian cultures are presented as multi-faceted, or as things that "cut both ways". In "Mrs. Sen's", for example, the cultures are presented quite ambivalently. It is the facet of traditional, patriarchal marriage that forces Mrs. Sen to a new country where she seems quite alone and somewhat melancholy (her mumblings and the way she zealously reads and rereads the letters from back home indicates this). However, this traditional marriage structure also provides the warm and loving home for Elliot to be exposed to. Mrs. Sen's home is presented very positively, especially compared to Elliot's home life. The freedom of American marriages, the lack of historical grit holding outdated cultural practices in place, leaves Elliot's mother and father free to divorce with relative ease (it seems inconceivable for such a situation to arise in the Sen household). However, this same freedom doesn't allow Elliot's mother to provide the warm loving household that the Sens can. She is tired and overworked from being a single parent, smoking cigarettes and drinking wine to unwind, unable to provide that same warmth and love for Elliot.

In "The Treatment of Bibi Haldar" and "A Real Durwan", our stories protagonists (sort of hermetic old ladies) are situated in an urban context far removed from the suburban context of stories like "Mrs. Sen's" and "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine". Whereas the urban Indian context is shown as a tighter, closer-knit community that has the benefits of constant financial and emotional support, it is also shown as prattling and unstable. It's hard to imagine anyone really caring much about Bibi in the United States, but then again it's hard to imagine Mr. Pirzada's kids being threatened by war violence in the United States either.

By treating cultures in this way, Lahiri is able to do a lot of work as once. One culture isn't a foil for the other--they are both foils for each other.

Of course, Interpreter of Maladies is still a fiction collection, and shouldn't be treated as an anthropological article or fully realized cultural study (that you might find in an academic journal or such). But by injecting some of these elements into her story, she makes the fiction much more real and relevant.