Narration in “Interpreter of Maladies”

[srinidhimuralidhar]

Mar 23, 2022 9:15:38 GMT -8 Safi Saleem said:

Mar 23, 2022 7:18:58 GMT -8 Makayla Hernandez said:

After watching the college board video, I was able to take away a good amount of information about the narrator and how well they can persuade the story simply with just their choice of words. The video emphasized the narrator’s influence in what the readers will understand about the story and its characters, shaping how the story is being told. This roots from what information they choose to reveal to and/or hold back from the audience. This raises questions such as, “why didn’t the narrator tell them?” or “what are they hiding?” We also learn that first person point of view is very limiting in terms of perspective due to the fact that we as readers cannot have insight into the other characters’ thoughts as well. The story of “Interpreter of Maladies” would be different if we saw it from another point of view, such as the children, because of their very different interactions; for example, the children’s feelings of neglect were not showcased from the current perspective of the story, although, if we heard it from their side, we would most likely get more hints as to how much or how little Mr. and Mrs. Das’ actions affect them. The flirtation between Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das might not have even been discovered if it was from a different perspective because no one else really seemed to notice it, such as when they were near each other, admiring the sculptures while Mrs. Das continued to walk past her own children as if they were strangers.

I like how you noticed that the different perspective is crucial in us the reader discovering the flirtation between Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das.

I like the way that you pointed out that the narrator choice of wording, which may not seem so important, can really impact what they are trying to convey in the story. Well Done. 

[Justin Hsieh]

So as narration goes it seems like but little to realize that the narrator plays a major role in all stories whether they tell it in third person or first person matters a ton. Those stories that have multiple character’s perspectives are more of a third person narrative as the narrator explains thoughts and feelings through the characters' way. While first person narration follows the track where this character does this because and so on. Narrators usually use a bias, motif, or an understanding to show perspectives and show narrator's emotions. For example, the character could be doing something wrong and the narrator explains it with “Mrs. Das regretted her decisions harshly” compared to something like “Mrs. Das regretted it sarcastically.” Narrator of a story decides what information is given and not basically chooses what details can be shared. Stories that are unclear can be filled in as if the narrator is distributed to a character with lines that represent “he says” or “she says” which gives a more clear and understandable point of view that provides context and flow to the story. Creating a complex and well written story that provides many perspectives of a character or characters. In the story “Interpreter of Maladies” the point of view is shown through Mr. Kapasi’s eyes so the narrator would be a first person for him. The story continuously makes the reader follow along with Mr. Kapasi’s thoughts and forces the reader to go through his point of view. Making things clearly voted and skewed toward a specific way.

[Kryslin Vu]

The narrator controls which details are present in the story and how they are presented, first-person narrators have a more limited perspective, which means they show things the way they think they should be shown, which leads to bias, and a third-person view allows the narrator to show everyone but can't go into great detail on people's experiences and thoughts. Because the narrator can only convey the tale from their perspective, prejudice is sure to appear, and the narrative point of view has an influence on the narrative by bringing bias and a limited view point. When we examine IoM, we do it from a third-person perspective, with a focus on Mr. Kapasi. As a result, the narrator is unable to convey Mr. Das', the children's, and Mrs. Das' ideas effectively. Mr. Kapasi, who is dissatisfied in his marriage, is fascinated with Mrs. Das, demonstrating his prejudice and motive. Being an expert on the tour also demonstrates that he understands the family's desires. Mr. Das would appear less enticing and Mr. Kapasi would appear more appealing if the narrative were written through the perspective of Mrs. Das. Mrs. Das' anguish would also be brought up frequently. "She didn't behave romantically toward her spouse, and yet she had used the phrase to describe him," Mr. Kapasi writes in Interpreter of Maladies. This demonstrates Mr. Kapasi's prejudice because he is clearly emphasizing on the romantic aspect of the story when it may have played out quite differently or far less romantically than he portrays it.

[Logan Eyong]

My main takeaways from Unit 7 4.D stem from the usage of narration in literature. Narration reveals information otherwise unknown from the reader's point of view. A character's biases, motivations, and understandings are disclosed by narration. The narration of a story shapes what details are shared. In interpreter of maladies the narration comes from Mr. Kapasi’s point of view. This discloses his opinions on the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Das. Having Kapasi be the point of narration allows the reader to step into an outsider's perspective on a complicated companionship. This allows an unbiased opinion to be presented which is very effective when presenting something foreign to the reader. 4.D highlights that Narrators influence readers' understanding of characters and that’s very true in Interpreter of Maladies. Everything the reader experiences comes from the perspective of Mr. Kapasi so we understand the characters as Mr. Kapasi sees them. This comprehension could be completely different from the perspective of Mr. Das or Mrs. Das. The point of view is extremely important when trying to understand the world and characters in a story.

[Kaelyn Santelices]

Three main takeaways outlined in the video are the narrator of a story shapes what details are shared, a first person narrator has a limited perspective, and a third person narrator may be able to convey more about multiple characters. In the short story "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri readers are exposed to a third person limited point of view. In this case, the story is being told by Mr. Kapasi which may lead to skewed observations and biases towards Mr. and Mrs. Das' relationship. Much of the marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Das is described as cold and tense from Mr. Kapasi's point of view. This is shown in observations such as "She did not behave in a romantic way toward her husband, and yet she had used the word to describe him. He wondered if Mr and Mrs. Das were a bad match.” In the beginning, Mr. Kapasi assumes the marriage is a facade, not knowing the full story. Under this impression, the narrator shapes Mr. and Mrs. Das out to be bad parents who have little care for their image or the care and treatment of their kids. However, as the story continues and Mr. Kapasi is left alone with Mrs. Das we see a change in perspective as Mr. Kapasi understands the hardships Mrs. Das endured and the reasoning for her distance towards her husband as well as the secrets that have never seen the light of day. This shift in understanding has the readers believing that Mrs. Das is just a women who gave up her future in exchange for youthful ignorance and excess codependence. Under these circumstances of a limited point of view, readers are forced to take on the same emotions and attitudes as the narrator causing readers to quickly jump to conclusions and follow along in the same revelation as Mr. Kapasi.

[Madi Zhuang]

Mar 23, 2022 18:52:02 GMT -8 Ryan Huynh said:

Three takeaways I got from the video are that the narrator controls which details are present in the story and how they are presented, the first-person narrators have a more limited perspective, meaning they show things in a way they think it should be shown, which means bias, and a third-person view allows the narrator to show everyone, yet can't be too in depth on people's experiences and thoughts. The narrative point of view impacts the narrative by introducing bias and a restricted view point because the narrator can really only present the story from their perspective, which means bias is bound to present itself. When looking at IoM, we see it from a third-person point of view, but with an emphasis on Mr. Kapasi. So, the narrator is unable to include the thoughts of Mr. Das, the kids, and Mrs. Das clearly. Mr. Kapasi, who is unhappy about his marriage, looks at Mrs. Das and is enchanted by her, showing his bias and motivation. Also, being an expert on the tour shows his understanding of what the family wants. If the story was told from Mrs. Das' eyes, Mr. Das would look much less appealing and Mr. Kapasi would be much more appealing. Also, Mrs. Das' pain would be mentioned a lot. In IoM, Mr. Kapasi mentions that "“She did not behave in a romantic way toward her husband, and yet she had used the word to describe him,”. This shows Mr. Kapasi's bias because he his clearly focusing on the romantic part when it could have occurred much differently or much less romantic as he presents it as.

I think it was important that you pointed out the detail of Mr. Kapasi being unhappy in his own marriage, as this can show his bias as to how he interprets how Mrs. Das feels about her own relationship with her husband. Amazing work!! Keep it up!!

[Alysha Lee]

A main takeaway from the college board video is how the author can use point of view as a tool to completely shape how the readers understand the story, plot, and characters. Reading the story in first person limits the reader's understanding of the situation or complexities as a whole, second point of view limits the reader's understanding to what the main character, which is still the author, wants you to know, and finally third person or narrative point of view limits the readers of understanding certain character's motives and feelings about other characters or situations. A narrative point of view is effective at adding mystery and an unbiased run down for the reader of the situation and how certain characters behave in varying events. Third person point of view is truly the most unbiased for the readers, it leaves certain motives unknown and the readers will only understand what the author/narrator want them to know. For example, if "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri, was told by a first person point of view from Mr. Kapasi, the story could have been completely altered or even twisted in favor of what the character tells. Mr. Kapasi's bias toward himself could have projected Mrs. Das as leading him on or sending him mixed emotions, when in reality the feelings were a one way road that were not reciprocated and the audience knows this only because the story was told in a third person narrative. Being told in the third person narrative allows the readers to know how Mr. Kapasi felt nervous around Mrs. Das, however, it also limits us to knowing how Mrs. Das feels in respond.

[Alysha Lee]

Mar 23, 2022 22:06:52 GMT -8 Justin Hsieh said:

So as narration goes it seems like but little to realize that the narrator plays a major role in all stories whether they tell it in third person or first person matters a ton. Those stories that have multiple character’s perspectives are more of a third person narrative as the narrator explains thoughts and feelings through the characters' way. While first person narration follows the track where this character does this because and so on. Narrators usually use a bias, motif, or an understanding to show perspectives and show narrator's emotions. For example, the character could be doing something wrong and the narrator explains it with “Mrs. Das regretted her decisions harshly” compared to something like “Mrs. Das regretted it sarcastically.” Narrator of a story decides what information is given and not basically chooses what details can be shared. Stories that are unclear can be filled in as if the narrator is distributed to a character with lines that represent “he says” or “she says” which gives a more clear and understandable point of view that provides context and flow to the story. Creating a complex and well written story that provides many perspectives of a character or characters. In the story “Interpreter of Maladies” the point of view is shown through Mr. Kapasi’s eyes so the narrator would be a first person for him. The story continuously makes the reader follow along with Mr. Kapasi’s thoughts and forces the reader to go through his point of view. Making things clearly voted and skewed toward a specific way.

I agree with what you're saying Justin as different point of views such as first person are indicated through words like "I, me, or my" and third person contains words such as "she, he, they" which important to figuring out which perspective the story is being told. First person point of views can be biased and limit the reader to understanding the full situation in a story, however, in third person point of views the audience is limited to what the author wants us to know which discludes how a character accurately feels.

[NicholasChou]

My three takeaways from the video is that 1: the limitation of being the third person narrator is that they can’t see what the characters themselves would feel first hand. 2: a narrator's perspective can reveal certain biases with reading and different understandings. And finally 3: Readers can infer the narrator's biases by the details they choose to include and which is omitted. For example, Mr. Kapasi (the narrator) in the "Interpreter of Maladies", had chosen not to include what Mr. Das feels and how he thinks about the relationship. The whole time it was Mrs. Das feeling lost in the relationship and disillusioned but we never get the same type of nuance reasoning for Mr. Das. Also, we don’t know how Mr. Das interacts with his children when Mrs. Das was speaking to Mr. Kapasi. The lack of detail for this character shows the bias towards Mrs. Das and what she really feels like.

[NicholasChou]

Mar 23, 2022 22:37:12 GMT -8 Kaelyn Santelices said:

Three main takeaways outlined in the video are the narrator of a story shapes what details are shared, a first person narrator has a limited perspective, and a third person narrator may be able to convey more about multiple characters. In the short story "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri readers are exposed to a third person limited point of view. In this case, the story is being told by Mr. Kapasi which may lead to skewed observations and biases towards Mr. and Mrs. Das' relationship. Much of the marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Das is described as cold and tense from Mr. Kapasi's point of view. This is shown in observations such as "She did not behave in a romantic way toward her husband, and yet she had used the word to describe him. He wondered if Mr and Mrs. Das were a bad match.” In the beginning, Mr. Kapasi assumes the marriage is a facade, not knowing the full story. Under this impression, the narrator shapes Mr. and Mrs. Das out to be bad parents who have little care for their image or the care and treatment of their kids. However, as the story continues and Mr. Kapasi is left alone with Mrs. Das we see a change in perspective as Mr. Kapasi understands the hardships Mrs. Das endured and the reasoning for her distance towards her husband as well as the secrets that have never seen the light of day. This shift in understanding has the readers believing that Mrs. Das is just a women who gave up her future in exchange for youthful ignorance and excess codependence. Under these circumstances of a limited point of view, readers are forced to take on the same emotions and attitudes as the narrator causing readers to quickly jump to conclusions and follow along in the same revelation as Mr. Kapasi.

i like how you thought about the different perspectives and internal thoughts provided, doing so will help us bring us various, different understandings of the complex relationship that bubbles between these two. Nice job.

[Trinity Hallberg]

Three takeaways from the college board video on narration is that it is used to recreate the experience of thought, it is characterized by sensory details, unconventional grammar, and unorganized, imcomplete ideas, and deepens the reader's access to the narrator's perspective. Knowing now what narration is, we can apply this to the narration of "Interpreter of Maladies". We can see from Mr. Kapasi's perspective that he is attracted to Mrs. Das which appears in his ramblings of him imagining a future of them together and many possibilities, when in reality there may or may not be any attraction from Mrs. Das. The bias of Mr. Kapasi is that he thinks that Mrs. Das is attracted to him and is doing things with her behavior on purpose. However, if the perspective of Mrs. Das it may've been a completely different story. By telling Mr. Kapasi all of this personal information she could've just been trying to reach out for companionship, help, or someone to talk to. It's possible that Mrs. Das wasn't attracted to Mr. Kapasi at all. The limitations of Mr. Kapasi is that he doesn't truly know how the entire family feels, how Mr. and Mrs. Das feels, or the children, he only knows his own feelings and his own interpretations. For instance, from Mr. Kapasi's perspective of Mrs. Das and his imaginary future actions, "The paper curled as Mr. Kapasi wrote his address in clear, careful letters. She would write to him, asking about his days interpreting at the doctor’s office, and he would respond eloquently, choosing only the most entertaining anecdotes, ones that would make her laugh out loud as she read them in her house in New Jersey" (20). Mr. Kapasi is in his own world at this point and it can be seen with what he describes in his imagination, while Mrs. Das may not be thinking anything like this at all.

[Trinity Hallberg]

Mar 24, 2022 20:51:48 GMT -8 Alysha Lee said:

A main takeaway from the college board video is how the author can use point of view as a tool to completely shape how the readers understand the story, plot, and characters. Reading the story in first person limits the reader's understanding of the situation or complexities as a whole, second point of view limits the reader's understanding to what the main character, which is still the author, wants you to know, and finally third person or narrative point of view limits the readers of understanding certain character's motives and feelings about other characters or situations. A narrative point of view is effective at adding mystery and an unbiased run down for the reader of the situation and how certain characters behave in varying events. Third person point of view is truly the most unbiased for the readers, it leaves certain motives unknown and the readers will only understand what the author/narrator want them to know. For example, if "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri, was told by a first person point of view from Mr. Kapasi, the story could have been completely altered or even twisted in favor of what the character tells. Mr. Kapasi's bias toward himself could have projected Mrs. Das as leading him on or sending him mixed emotions, when in reality the feelings were a one way road that were not reciprocated and the audience knows this only because the story was told in a third person narrative. Being told in the third person narrative allows the readers to know how Mr. Kapasi felt nervous around Mrs. Das, however, it also limits us to knowing how Mrs. Das feels in respond.

I agree that Mr. Kapasi has perhaps twisted reality in away that is beneficial to him, but inconsiderate or ignorant of the perspectives of other people around him.