Interpreter of Maladies Study Guide

Interpreter of Maladies Themes

Preview of Interpreter of Maladies Summary:

Secrets Withheld and Revealed

Secrecy is a recurrent theme in this collection of short stories. Main characters keep secrets from their partner or community. The telling game Shoba and Shukumar play set a tone for the effect secrets have. Narrative method creates an ongoing sense of secrecy. The reader is told how or what characters think about each other. Specific secrets may have a positive or negative impact on characters. Some secrets are better not revealed.

Shoba's drink with Gillian and Shukumar's vest secret ease the tellers' mind and are fairly neutral. Shukumar tells Shoba their baby's sex to hurt her for moving out. Mrs. Das tells Mr. Kapasi her secret about Bobby to find a remedy. She is angry when he suggests it is guilt she feels. The telling alone might ease her guilt. There is no suggestion she wants Raj Das or Bobby to know. She runs back to them in an...
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