You know how sometimes you're just really curious about that other person who's different from you? In the world of Interpreter of Maladies, everyone ends up appearing "foreign" or "other" and, in fact, being an "other" is just an invitation to get to know that person more (and sometimes intimately). So if you're expecting this theme to be about how Bengali-Indian immigrants have it rough as the "Other," Lahiri makes it more complex than that.
Questions About Foreignness and the "Other"
- How does "Othering" work in the book when a character (like Boori Ma or Bibi Haldar) is Bengali/Indian, living in India?
- Are people who seem foreign to you more attractive and appealing?
- How do the Bengali immigrants in the stories view Americans as "foreign" and "Other"?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Anyone can appear "foreign"; it just depends on your perspective.
Only the Bengali/Indian characters truly experience that feeling of being "Other" in this book.