INTERPRETER OF THE MALADIES

Jhumpa Lhari (1999)

Historical background: The British Empire

In the 19th Century the British Empire was the largest in the world

The Partition of India in 1947

The Empire began to break apart in the 20th Century. Britain sliced up its vision of a united, multicultural India, into the countries we know today.

The creation of new states and countries led to massive conflict.

Following Independence form Britain and the partition of India in 1948 there was a huge movement of people, often based on religious lines. This lead to further conflict

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971This war was fought between India and Pakistan and was closely linked to the Bangladesh’s fight for independence.

After months of violence and twelve days of war, East Pakistan separated from West Pakistan. East Pakistan became Bangladesh.

The Caste system

Poor CountryHuge populationWidespread

homelessness

Huge division between the “haves’ and the “have nots”

The caste system dictates where people live and what jobs they can hold.

Migration: a diaspora

The diaspora that resulted from the conflict and poverty in India meant that many Indians found themselves living in countries such as Britain, Australia, Canada and the United States.

Jhumpa Lahiri was born in 1967 in London, England, and moved to Rhode Island when she was 3. Her father and mother emigrated from Calcutta, India, and Lahiri spoke Bengali with them at home.

THE AUTHOR

CULTURAL CLASH

Lahiri never felt fully American

Her parents had a strong connection with India and the family travelled there several times. In addition, Lahiri was born in another country,

SETTINGMost of Lahiri’s work focuses on the lives of Indian Americans, and the stories in Interpreter of Maladies are set in India or parts of the United States, including Cambridge, Massachusetts, and an unnamed university town very much like Cambridge.

India is a part of each story, although its influence varies in as it does in each character’s life.

INDIAN AMERICANSIndians have immigrated to the United States in large numbers since the 1960s. Largely well educated and highly skilled, Indian immigrants come for a variety of reasons, but often to seek work in technological fields.

Indian Americans now constitute the third-largest Asian American community in the United States.

Central themes of “Interpreter of Maladies” include the difficulties that Indians have in relating to Americans and the ways in which Indian Americans are caught in the middle of two very different cultures.

TASK: Write a paragraph explaining what you think some of these clashes might be? • 

INDIAN FAMILY LIFE TRADITIONS and CUSTOMS

Each of the different stories trace the individual characters’ ability to adapt to a new culture and changing times.