In this essay, Brada-Williams makes
the point that Jhumpa Lahiri’s book is not simply just a bunch of differing stories
within the same book, but a collection of stories that are woven together through
unifying themes and the balancing act of “the most important theme running
throughout the cycle” (Brada-Williams 456)- care and neglect.
Brada-Williams makes note that marriage
is one of the most common and easily noticed themes within Lahiri’s book.
Though it is in various types and forms, this is easily noticed in all of the
stories. To name a few, “A Temporary Matter” has a broken marriage, “Sexy” has
two marriages effected by affairs, and the final story “The Third and Final
Continent” has a long marriage made strong by their new lives in America. Along
with this, we see the balancing act, as well. As there is a mixture between
good and bad marriages throughout the book. This element and theme of marriage
relates to Brada-Williams’ main focus on the balancing of care and carelessness
that goes across all of the stories.
Brada-Williams focuses much of her essay
on the balancing of care and carelessness/neglect, along with the
representations of each throughout the stories. Brada-Williams writes of these images/representations
stating, “Such images serve as augurs of the characters’ emotional states and
processes” (Brada-Williams 456). For example, as carelessness/neglect is seen
in the way the Das children are treated by their parents in “The Interpreter of
Maladies”, along with the dying plant and marriage in “A Temporary Matter.” Both
show the characters’ state of mind, as Mrs. Das is unhappy with her life, and Shoba
and Shukumar are so grief stricken they forgot to take care of something as simple
as watering a plant. These acts of carelessness are balanced by the care in “Mrs.
Sen” and “The Treatment of Bibi Haldar”. In “Mrs. Sen”, Mrs. Sen takes great
care of Eliot, not letting him out of her sight as she cuts vegetables. Whereas
in “The Treatment of Bibi Haldar” the women of the community rally around Bibi
to care for her and find her a husband.
Overall, I found Brada-Williams’ essay very
interesting. I agree with everything that Brada-Williams makes note of in her
essay. After having gone through the stories again after reading this essay, it
is easy to see how all the stories share common elements and themes, and how the
author created the balancing of such themes from story to story. It wasn’t quite until I read her essay that I could
really see the balancing act that the author created in her book. At the very
end of the essay Brada-Williams makes a really great point in regards to
reading Lahiri’s novel, which states, “We are given the freedom to create our
own closure, and in many cases our own judgments as to the outcomes suggested
by Lahiri’s narratives. But with this freedom comes our responsibility to read with care”
(Brada-Williams 463). For if readers don’t take this into consideration, they
may miss the bigger the picture and may not take or learn anything from the
stories. In the end it’s up to the reader to interpret the maladies.
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