Interpreter Again

"When she whipped out the hairbrush, the slip of paper with Mr. Kapasi's address on it fluttered away in the wind." pg 166
Interpreter of Maladies
Jhumpa Lahiri


Throughout the story, there is a sympathetic tone set up toward Mr. Kapasi's character.  He finds his job as an interpreter for doctor's to be mundane and unimportant. He had always hoped to be something more honorable like an interpreter for diplomats. He is a lonely tour guide too, even though he is married. His marriage seem to be failing, as his wife does not appear to be truly in love with him. He finds hope in Mrs. Das's kindness and interest in him, yet his hopes all come crashing down as the story comes to a close, and his address flies away from her purse. All of these things cause us to feel sorry for or sympathetic toward Mr. Kapasi.  The ending of this story was unhappy because Mr. Kapasi realized that he wasn't fit for Mrs. Das and her life. I feel bad for Mr. Kapasi because he doesn't seem to have any joy in his life. Meanwhile, Mrs. Das has children and a husband that does care about her, and she does not seem to fully appreciate them. Mr. Kapasi really just wants to be noticed, which is why he initially took interest in Mrs. Das, because she displayed curiosity about his job as an interpreter.  Even though Mr. Kapasi doesn't realize it, he does have worth and meaning in his life: he helps to cure people from maladies all the time, which couldn't even be done without his interpretations.