Thursday, November 10, 2011

"Interpreter of Maladies" - indirect characterization

"At the tea stall Mr. And Mrs. Das bickered about who should take Tina to the toilet. Eventually Mrs. Das relented when Mr. Das pointed out that he had give the girl her bath the night before. In the rearview mirror Mr. Kapasi watched as Mrs. Das emerged slowly from his bulky white Ambassador, dragging her shaved, largely bare legs across the back seat. She did not hold the little girl's hand as they walked to the rest room."

In "Interpreter of Maladies," it does not directly say that Mrs. Das is a bad mother, inconsiderate, or rude. However, the reader can come to this conclusion by how others desribe her and how she acts. In the quote above, you can tell that she really doesn't want much to do with her children. She doesn't even want to take her daugther to the bathroom and she won't hold her hand. Mrs. Das seemed to only be concerned with herself, so it was shocking when she took in interest in Mr. Kapasi. However, her motives for her iterest in him are later revealed that she wantedhim to help her. Again it's all about Mrs. Das. She was never really interested in Mr. Kapasi, she just wanted him to fix her problems. Even though it is not expressly stated in the story, the reader can conclude that Mrs. Das is self-absorbed and inconsiderate from the indirect characterization.

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