Children and Relationships in Interpreter of Maladies Serena Huang 12th Grade

In society, people view children as innocent and ignorant beings because they lack worldly experiences. As a result, the fact that children can cause and shed light on problems in adult relationships is often overlooked. Jhumpa Lahiri’s collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, discusses the factors that contribute to the success or failure of relationships. In the stories, “A Temporary Matter,” “Interpreter of Maladies,” and “Sexy,” children directly affect the fate of each romantic relationship. Therefore, Lahiri uses children as catalysts to propel relationships towards their destinies.

First of all, in “A Temporary Matter,” the death of Shoba and Shukumar’s child leads to their eventual separation. At the time their child is born, the two are physically far apart--Shukumar is in Baltimore and Shoba is in Boston. They each cope with the death of their child differently, and thus, they continue to drift away from each other. For instance, though unreasonable, Shoba blames Shukumar for not being with her at the time of the incident. Her once caring attitude disappears, as shown by the fact that she stops cooking and stops dressing nicely. Meanwhile, the two put as much distance between themselves as possible while...