Literary Elements

Lahiri’s collection of short stories are told through the third person limited omniscient narrative, as each story is filtered through the eyes of a character(s).  Being that the book is of the short story genre, there are few characters in each story, yet each contains the same elements of the fiction genre.

            The stories take place often in or around the homes of the characters in Lahiri’s book. Very brief descriptions are given of the place and location by Lahiri, fitting of the short story genre, as the readers are thrust into the lives of the characters. This is fitting as each character’s struggle or problem remains personal, and is virtually confined to his/her environment. In “The Treatment of Bibi Haldar” Bibi struggles with her illness and life in her small closet of a home, while in “This Blessed House” Sanjeev’s issue with Twinkle and the Christian items she finds is confined to only his home.

            Characteristic of the short story genre, the reader is catapulted straight to the height of the action/drama when the stories begin in the Interpreter of Maladies. Readers are caught in the middle of the characters’ stories, often where the stakes are high for each of them. In this book, this tends to be a problem that is affecting the daily life/lives of the characters. For example, in “Mrs. Sen”, Mrs. Sen’s homesickness and her failure to fully adjust to life in America leaves her throwing saris around her room, and her happiness and unease begins to affect her driving. However, as each story progresses the story and plots come to a close, and the reader is left with some sense of closure.

            Lahiri’s book takes on the characteristic of the short story cycle. In this case, many themes and elements reoccur in other stories that in some way unify them.  For example, marriage and love appear as common elements and themes. This can be seen in just about every story included in the book. The story “A Temporary Matter” showcases an unhappy, rather loveless marriage, while “The Third and Final Continent” shows an arranged marriage, where love is also lacking, but grows over time. While “A Real Durwan” and “The Treatment of Bibi Haldar” do not have married main characters, there are other married couples in the story, along with Bibi who is searching for a husband and someone to love.

            Being that the book is of short story genre, readers only get a brief description of the characters, as the story is already in full swing before we get a brief introduction to them. That being said, readers are able to gain enough knowledge and characteristics of each character simply by their actions and interactions with others. Like in “A Temporary Matter”, from the way Shoba dresses, and acts-no longer cooking meals, and having little interaction with Shukumar, we learn enough to know her life has taken a complete turn and her feelings of grief have left her in somewhat of a careless state.