Short Story Reflection

 

Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birthmark" and Jhumpa Lahiri's "Interpreter of Maladies" both center on the theme of obsession, which consequently fuels the point and purpose of the story and the action of the characters involved. The main character in "The Birthmark" is so obsessed with perfection that he even resorts to dangerously experimenting with his wife's physical imperfection. Similarly, in "Interpreter of Maladies," the fixation with their respective experience makes the character go ahead and even influence how much a character relates to other people to the extent of not making friends. In both stories, the obsession of the characters works as a tool to go into deeper truths about human nature and proves to be destructive in certain cases.

In "Interpreter of Maladies," Mr. Kapasi—the protagonist—becomes smitten with Mrs. Das, the tourist mother of two he is ferrying around town. This obsession springs out of his loneliness and a need to have something meaningful in his life, which he wrongly believes he can find through Mrs. Das. He pictures how life will look if they can go on talking and sharing secrets and more personal thoughts. His obsession with some romantic fantasy blinds him to the reality of Mrs. Das's disinterestedness and self-concern when she offhandedly dismisses the note bearing his address as indicative of the possibility of their further meeting.

The form of obsession exemplified in "The Birthmark" is different. Scientist Aylmer is obsessed with the removal of a small birthmark on his wife Georgiana's face, which he feels detracts from his otherwise perfect beauty. His obsession with the birthmark overcomes his love for her, and it leads him to dangerous experiments that would seem to be able to remove it. This obsession with creating an ideal version of his wife ultimately leads to her death, pointing to his single-minded pursuit having a destructive potential.

These two tales are examples of what an obsession can do—completely warp the senses and priorities of people. This fixation of Mr. Kapasi allows him to misread emotional cues and build unrealistic expectations, while Aylmer's fixation leads him to value an abstract ideal over his valuing of his wife's safety. Critique the nature of an obsession in a way that can lead to isolation, misunderstanding, and finally, even tragedy. Through such narrations, Lahiri and Hawthorne shed light on the impacts of obsession: it enslaves thoughts and is detrimental to relationships. The authors of the stories do not describe the consequences of acting upon obsessions, but they do warn against letting an obsession lead to actions that will be dictated by the warping of realities through their characters' experiences.