Interpreter of Maladies Lesson Plan

Why do you think Miranda is attracted to Dev? Use evidence from the story to support your reasoning.

Strong responses will note that there is a lot of focus on Dev's cultural differences from Miranda's perspective. She views Dev as exotic and worldly, which no doubt makes her more attracted to him. This form of exoticism, where a person fetishizes another culture because it is different, frames the other culture in an unrealistic way. Students should use examples like Miranda going to the Indian grocery store and writing her name in Bengali as examples of how she is viewing Indian culture as exotic. She is also attracted to him because he's older and wealthier. The...