Interpreter of Maladies Bio

Sydney Taylor, Anthony Tamasi, Michael Dickson

Jhumpa Lahiri Biography

Nilanjana Sudheshna Lahiri was born on July 11, 1967 in London, England to Bengali parentage. Jhumpa was the nickname her family gave her. She won the Pulitzer Prize with her debut collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies. Her parents immigrated to the United Kingdom from India and then moved the family to Rhode Island when Lahiri was a small child. Lahiri attended Barnard College and Boston University. After moving to New York, Lahiri published her first novel The Namesake in 2003. She switched back to writing short stories quickly though, with Unaccustomed Earth, a No. 1 New York Times bestseller. Returning to novels, Lahiri wrote The Lowland in 2013, a finalist for the National Book Award. 

Interpreter of Maladies shares a look into the lives of characters in both India and the United States. Lahiri is renowned for her use of prose, especially that in her best-selling short story Unaccustomed Earth which focuses on immigrant clans and United States-raised children. She won the Pulitzer Prize with her debut collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies. In a press conference in Calcutta in January of 2001, Lahiri said, "No country is my motherland. I always find myself in exile in whichever country I travel to, that's why I was tempted to write something about those living their lives in exile". This idea of exile along with issues of identity in the Disapora community are prevalent in Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies. Lahiri is a member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities and is currently a professor of creative writing at Princeton University. 

"Jhumpa Lahiri: A Brief Biography." Post Colonial Web. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015. 

Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015. 

1) What do Mrs. Das's actions toward her children at the end of the story contribute to the theme?

2) How do Mr. Kapasi's interactions with Mr. and Mrs. Das show the differences between the upper 

and working classes?

3) How does Mrs. Das's role as a woman define her relationships with her family?