Setting:“Interpreter of Maladies”

[solomon xu]

The setting of the car contrasted with the setting of the outside world. The car's physical features of private and tight creates an environment for close communications while the outside's physical features of public and opened suggests freedom and interaction of the nature instead of people. Although these settings can be supported by the interactions between Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das in the car and the family's interactions with monkeys at the outside, the settings doesn't apply to the Das family by itself. There were little positive interactions between the family members in the car, which is exemplified by the dialogues "Leave me alone..." and "Quit complaining."(16) However, when the characters got outside, the family was able to interact together and took a group photo. This creates a contradiction between the action of the characters and the physical settings, which was resulted from Mrs. Das being able to overcome her guilt and complains and open up to her family.
Mrs. Das' relief can also be shown through the settings, which Mrs. Das was always "munching on some puffed rice"(17), but wasn't able to share it with Mr. Kapasi and her family. According to HTRLLAP, Mrs. Das' action of sharing the puffed rice is a sign of offering communion, which symbolizes shared humanity and similarities. The refusal from Mr. Kapasi and her family predicted a weak relationship, which are evident through Mr. Kapasi's realization that "he was not even important enough to be properly insulted"(28) and the already weak relationship between the Das Family. However, near the end of the story, Mrs. Das' dropped puffed rice were "raked over by the monkeys’ hands"(28). Although this was not intended by Mrs. Das, it is likely the author's suggestion that Mrs. Das was able to forgive herself and achieve freedom, which is represented by the monkeys in the wild.

[NicholasChou]

From "Interpreter of Maladies", there are several changes in setting through the character's sightseeing tour. An example of this is when the family and tour guide went from the temple in Konarak to their car where they decide to take a detour heading back. From the change in settings brought change of story as seen in Konrak, Mr. Kapasi was enthralled about the idea of Mrs. Das interested in him and the things he does; however, once they switch to the car Mrs. Das feels overwhelmed by guilt and dumps it onto Mr. Kapasi. Out of the temple, They were able to feel free in the open, fresh air. Adding on, the temple helped to represent to the connection to other realities and world, like the idea Mr. Kapasi reflected with thinking about Mrs. Das's interest in him and his fantasy of a relationship with her. Again, their imagined relationship was truly from a different reality because both were married to other people, as well as Mrs. Das not actually being interested in him and more of what he be exploited for. Switching to another setting and the idea of being in a different life into the tight confines of Mr. Kapasi's car. Suffocating in the space and heat represented Mrs. Das with her own feelings of cheating and having an illegitimate child. This heavily contradicts our previous setting from the open and free to the car's restricting and suffocating confines. More than this, the setting of the Temple reveals Mr. Kapasi's own issues with his own marriage. At the temple that "Though Mr. Kapasi Had been to the temple countless times, it occurred to him, as he too, gazed at the topless women, that he had never seen his own wife fully naked." This makes the audience see that Mr. Kapasi knows more about the tour sites and Mrs. Das even more than he knows his own wife. Exposing this shows his lack of any deep connection with his wife for him to be so interested at his misinterpreted connection with Mrs. Das herself.

[NicholasChou]

Mar 24, 2022 20:52:44 GMT -8 Alysha Lee said:

The change of settings communicates a shift in the story as Mr. And Mrs. Das travel around India and face many different conflicts with different characters in the story. Mr. And Mrs. Das are in India with their children which is drastically different from their life back in America and ultimately contributes to more stress and tension pushing on their straining marriage. Due to the never ending bickering Mr. And Mrs. Das are entangled in, the couple are often split up despite being with their children in a foreign country. Usually families tend to stick to one another while traveling to ensure each other's safety and protection of being together however, for the Das family it seems that the only time that there is peace is when they are separated. This also reveals the values of Mr. And Mrs. Das because although they seem to value connecting with their culture as well as exposing their children to it, they completely abandon this motive due to all the bickering, disrespect to one another and constant separation showing that they value their pride and ego more. Mr. Das with the children and Mrs. Das with Mr. Kapasi. Being with Mr. Kapasi changes the setting drastically; there is finally time to focus on the sights and temples of India however, in addition to the extinguished mood, the relationship complex between Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das create an unexpected setting of high arousal and curiosity. While being alone together, the two characters set a faster paced speed to the story and establish a sense of mild anxiety and excitement while being round one another which is mildly inappropriate for the circumstances however, are extremely effective at reeling in the reader to continue the story. The contradictions between the unhappily married couple are what create the altering settings of distress, tension, tranquility and eventually excitement.

Your interpretation of the clashing and friction between this fighting couple was very interesting to read. I like your specific interpretation of how the parents bringing their children there to connect with their lineage and culture, looking at the big picture, but ultimately failing to see how their own actions are bringing the vacation trip to the ground.

[NicholasChou]

Mar 23, 2022 8:51:57 GMT -8 Anuthmi Waas said:

In the "Interpreter of Maladies'' the shift in setting within the story from the car to the Sun Temple and to watch the monkeys reveals the true nature of Mr. and Mrs. Das' relationship and their family relationship as well as the subtle development that Mrs. Das undergoes. At the beginning when they first enter the car, Mrs Das complains "Isn't this an air-conditioned car" to which Mr. Das tells her to stop complaining. This small conversation is very reflective of Mr. and Mrs. Das' time in the cab, as they seem to merely tolerate each other. Complaining about something that Mr. Das purchased, the tour displays Mrs. Das' disapproval of Mr. Das and even further shows their complex relationship. This disapproval from Mrs. Das seems to extend further than her own husband, as in the cab, she is very short and somewhat ignorant towards her children. In fact, she only seems to show some friendliness inside the cab when talking to Mr. Kapaski. Initially, this reveals that the family is not close and is likely very fractured. Once the setting changes to the Sun Temple, Mrs. Das seems to spend more time with Mr. Kapaski than her family as "She was lost behind her sunglasses, ignoring her husband’s requests that she pose for another picture, walking past her children as if they were strangers." Even at the sun temple, Mrs. Das appears to be separate from her family. This represents how the relationship between Mr and Mrs Kapaski is not well and continually fractured. However, at the final setting in the short story, Mrs Das runs to her family to console her son who is hurt. This represents how fractured the family and Mr and Mrs Das' relationship seems, they will ultimately come back to one another. This is reaffirmed as Mr. Kapaski's phone number and address float away, while the family is all together and taking care of one of their own. This also shows the growing of Mrs. Das as she realizes her family may not always be constant and is something she should appreciate and love.

I really like your interpretation on the monkeys to truly reveal the broken nature of their relationship and Mrs. Das's development. Another interpretation that I find interesting is the idea that the boy himself is the symbol of their relationship, broken and scarred by your interpretation of the actions of the monkey's correlating to that of the parents' own actions.

[Ximena Juarez]

In the "Interpreter of Maladies", the way in which the setting changes throughout the story, helps to reveal the hidden intentions and emotions in the characters. The contrast in areas and tone that it also conveys helps to also learn more about the characters themselves as it highlights their certain thoughts and personalities. The first setting displayed in the text is where the family is boarding the tour guide's car as they are visiting India. Mr. Kapasi, the tour guide, saw "Mr. and Mrs. Das, standing with their children under the portico of the hotel." (13) The visual that this helps to provide to the reader is a happy family who are all together in unison ready to enjoy their trip. They are sheltered and protected, which in this case refers to the secret that Mrs. Das had been ironically hiding from her family. The contrasts in settings shows where there is stability of the setting, it then makes the instability of the characters in the story more noticeable to the reader. Additionally, instability is reflected in an instable setting the end of the story once everything has been revealed to the reader. The text states, "In his nervousness he accidentally pressed the shutter on his camera; the whirring noise of the advancing film excited the monkeys, and the one with the stick began to beat Bobby more intently." (29) The character Bobby, whos backstory had just been revealed by his mother to the tour guide is placed in a terrifying scenario, this highlights how he is unaware of his mother's wrongdoings as she has been hiding something from him and his father. The crazy setting shows the display of the plot of the story itself, making the characters seem more flustered and highlights the shift that had occurred in the story. 

[Ximena Juarez]

Mar 25, 2022 6:34:56 GMT -8 solomon xu said:

The setting of the car contrasted with the setting of the outside world. The car's physical features of private and tight creates an environment for close communications while the outside's physical features of public and opened suggests freedom and interaction of the nature instead of people. Although these settings can be supported by the interactions between Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das in the car and the family's interactions with monkeys at the outside, the settings doesn't apply to the Das family by itself. There were little positive interactions between the family members in the car, which is exemplified by the dialogues "Leave me alone..." and "Quit complaining."(16) However, when the characters got outside, the family was able to interact together and took a group photo. This creates a contradiction between the action of the characters and the physical settings, which was resulted from Mrs. Das being able to overcome her guilt and complains and open up to her family.
Mrs. Das' relief can also be shown through the settings, which Mrs. Das was always "munching on some puffed rice"(17), but wasn't able to share it with Mr. Kapasi and her family. According to HTRLLAP, Mrs. Das' action of sharing the puffed rice is a sign of offering communion, which symbolizes shared humanity and similarities. The refusal from Mr. Kapasi and her family predicted a weak relationship, which are evident through Mr. Kapasi's realization that "he was not even important enough to be properly insulted"(28) and the already weak relationship between the Das Family. However, near the end of the story, Mrs. Das' dropped puffed rice were "raked over by the monkeys’ hands"(28). Although this was not intended by Mrs. Das, it is likely the author's suggestion that Mrs. Das was able to forgive herself and achieve freedom, which is represented by the monkeys in the wild.

I enjoyed reading your interpretation of the setting in the short story. I agree that the car referred to security while the outside world contributed to the family being able to let loose a little bit. I believe this also symbolizes the constraint that they felt as they were being forced together by the children in the story. The young parents were obviously not very fond of each other but were happiest when they had more freedom and were not being to spend time with one another.

[Ximena Juarez]

Mar 23, 2022 16:21:55 GMT -8 Emily Willett said:

In the short story “Interpreter of Maladies” there are several changes in setting as the characters are touring different sightseeing places in India. One example of a change in setting is when they went from the temple in Konarak back to the car where they decide to take a detour on the way back. This indicated a shift in the story because in Konarak, Mr. Kapasi was excited about thinking Mrs. Das was genuinely interested in him and the things that he liked but when they switch to the car, Mrs. Das is overwhelmed by guilt of her past cheating and dumps this onto Mr. Kapasi. Outside at the temple, they were out in the fresh air where they were able to feel free. On top of this, the temple represents a connection to other worlds and reality, which Mr. Kapasi reflected as he was thinking about Mrs. Das was interested in him and he wanted a relationship with her. However, a relationship between these two would have to be in another reality because Mrs. Das was married and wasn’t truly interested in Mr. Kapasi. Then, the setting switches from this perception of being in another reality to the tight confines of the small, hot car. The car represents suffocating Mrs. Das with her feelings of regret and guilt about her cheating on Mr. Das. This contradicts the previous setting that was more freeing while this new setting of the car is restrictive and suffocating. Even more, the setting of the temple at Konarak reveals Mr. Kapasi’s issues with his own marriage. At the temple the narrator says “Though Mr. Kapasi had been to the temple countless times, it occurred to him, as he, too, gazed at the topless women, that he had never seen his own wife fully naked.” This reveals that Mr. Kapasi didn’t even take the time get to know his wife as well as he got to know the history of India’s tourism sites and even Mrs. Das. There is a lack of deep connection that he has with his own wife that led him to be so interested in his perceived connection with Mrs. Das.

Your interpretation of the setting in the story was extremely insightful. The part where you compare the temple and the alternate reality of Mr. Kapasi's fantasy was a really good way of looking at it. He was in one of his favorite places but was taken away by this euphoric feeling that he began to entwine the idea of Mrs. Das into his life. The car being suffocating and using it as a metaphor for the feelings of the guilt that Mrs. Das was also something I really enjoyed and thought was a great analysis of the text.