This Blessed House

       “This Blessed House” is one of Jhumpa Lahiri’s shot stories in her book Interpreter of Maladies. In this story we are introduced to a recently married couple who have purchased their first home. From the day they move in, until the day of their house warming party Sanjeev and Twinkle find Christian artifacts all over their home. These artifacts are what lead to the theme of this story, which I argue is respect, for both a religion as well as for a spouse. In this story Twinkle is represented as the dominant force in the relationship, since she has all the masculine traits that would describe a man, especially that of having the final say. It is through Twinkle that we first see a respect for a religion when she finds a statue of a Christ figure and decides to keep it; “No, we’re not Christian. We’re good little Hindus.” (Lahiri, p. 137, 1999) Twinkle not only stands up to Sanjeev in order protect this Christian artifact, but many more such as the Christ poster, the Mary and Joseph salt shakers and a statue of Mary as well. Although Sanjeev is angered at the sole fact of having those artifacts in his home or outside his home, he still displays respect at simply going along with Twinkle’s decisions. This is evident, when “Sanjeev pressed the massive silver face to his ribs, careful not to let the feather hat slip, and followed her.” (Laniri, p.157, 1999) This quote not only shows respect for a religion, but for both his spouse and a religion. Reason being is that Sanjeev, not  only respects his wife, but also loves her, and it is threw his love for her that he is able to understand her and respect the things she believes. “Please. I would feel terrible throwing them away. Obviously they were important to the people who used to live here. It would feel, I don’t know, sacrilegious or something.” ( Lahiri, p. 138, 1999)

Bahareh Bahmanpour

Bahareh Bahmanpour’s article “Female Subjects and Negotiating Identities in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies” examines four short stories of Jhumpa Lahiri. Bahmanpour uses "Mrs. Sen”, “This Blessed House”, “The Treatment of Bibi Heldar” and “Sexy”, in order to take a close look at the at the female characters  that are trying to find their identity between two cultures.  This is proven when the author states: “the lives of Indians and Indian-Americans whose hyphenated Indian identity has led them to be caught between the Indian traditions that they have left behind and a totally different western world that they have to face culminating in an ongoing struggle to adjust between the two worlds of the two cultures.” (Bahmanpour, 2010) In this article the author uses words such as “hybridity" and “liminality” to show how these immigrants react when it comes to finding their identity. The author then explains how each character in Lahiri’s stories travel threw their experience of finding their identity, which is constantly changing. The reason for theses constantly changing identities the author argues is because identities are constantly negotiating from one to another. In the end Bahmanpour concludes that through Lahiri's stories Indian women are able to have a voice. This is something that I must agree with, because women, especially in Indian culture, have always had less power than men, which had led them to silencing all of their pain and suffering.

Debarati Bandyopadhyay

Negotiating Borders of Culture: Jhumpa Lahiri’s Fiction by Debarati Bandyopadhyay is an academic article that focuses on analyzing Jhumpa Lahiri’s writing. In this article the author argues that in Lahiri’s work there is a variety of movement between continents and cultures in which Indians seek in order to establish their identities on alien shores. (Bandyopadhyay, p. 97, 2009) In order to support her argument Bandyopadhyay uses stories from both of Lahiri’s books: The Namesake and Interpreter of Maladies.  What Bandyopadhyay is suggesting by analyzing Lahiri’s work is that it is necessary for one to adapt to multiculturalism, in which the individual can be at a “transitional point between two hemispheres-East and West- and two segments of the world hierarchy- Third and First-“(Bandyopadhyay, p. 98, 2009) Bandyopadhyay points out that, until there is a perfect balance between both cultures one may suffer from feelings of being alone or a lack of a sense of belonging. This is evident in Interpreter of Maladies in the short story When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine. In this story Mr. Pirzada continues to have a strong tie with his homeland and does not adapt to life in the U.S. This in return makes him feel like if he does not belong and yearns to return to his own country. The author also points out that in The Namesake, Gogol being born in the U.S. and feeling as American as one can be ends up cherishing his homeland, but not until he has lost everything: “Now that one peripatetic Gogol Ganguli loses the only fixed point, his `home` containing his roots, he is able to understand the value of the `homeland.` (Bandyopadhyay, p. 107, 2009) At it is seen even if you are a U.S. citizen or born outside the U.S. as long as you are from a different background, culture, set of beliefs etc. you can never feel at ease with yourself by leaving your old culture behind and embracing your new culture, and vise verse. In conclusion I must have to say that I agree with the author’s suggestion of embracing multiculturalism, because it leaves you in between both cultures in which you can go to and from one another.

When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine

When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine, is one of nine short stories in Jhumpa Lahiris’ Interpreter of Maladies.  This story revolves around the experience of a young girl (Lilia) divided between two cultures.  However, Lilia has no clue of what her Indian culture is about or its history, which is what, brings her between the culture she was born in that the culture she was born into. When Lilia is first told by her dad that Mr. Pirzada is no longer considered Indian, she is curious as to why that is. She explains that how come a person who acts the same way, eats the same things, and says the same things as her and her parents are considered to be different. Her father then shows her a map points to where Mr. Pirzada is from and where they are from and says “As you see, Lilia, it is a different country, a different color”. (Lahiri, p. 26, 1999) After his talk with his daughter, Lilia’s father is bothered by the fact her daughter knows nothing about her culture and asks of her to watch the news with them every night in order for her to learn what the current situation of her parents’ home country. After watching the news for several days Lilia starts to notice the differences and her separation from her Indian culture. This is evident when she notes “No one at school talked about the war fallowed so faithfully in my living room.” (Lahiri, p. 32, 1999) Lilia also starts to notice the differences in school, when she is assigned a project on the American Revolution and was ordered to put a book about Asia back on the shelf, because it is not a part what they were studying.  Even at a friend’s house Lilia notice the differences when she calls her mom after a night of trick-or-treating: “When I replaced the phone on the receiver it occurred to me that the television wasn’t on at Dora’s house at all.” (Lahiri, p. 39, 1999) After all of her experiences it is evident that Lilia is placed between her Indian and American culture, because she lives and was born in America, but has parents that raise her with Indian beliefs and customs.