Week 4- Interpreter of Maladies

In this story, I feel as though I am reading about 3 separate lives. The life of Mr. Kapasi, the life of Mr. Das and the kids, and the life of Mrs. Das. The life of Mr. Das and the kids is, in a way, separate from Mrs. Das' life on her own. Yes, she is physically there, sometimes, when she is not isolating herself in that way, but she is mentally absent. She is self-absorbed and does not show her love (if she has any) for her husband or for her children. I believe that this self-absorbed isolation began after her affair with Mr. Das' friend that stayed with them for a week while he was interviewing. The affair lead to the birth of Bobby. Neither Boddy nor Mr. Das is aware of the affair, or of the fact that they are not biologically related. Mrs. Das has kept this a secret and plans to keep it a secret from her family. For this reason, I look down so much on Mrs. Das' character. She is dishonest, unloving, selfish, and lost. She is a very unhappy person who cannot see past her own dismay in order to realize what is in front of her. She has a devoted husband, 3 children whom love her, especially her daughter, Tina.
I want to cover the questions at the end of the story from the book:
1.I think Mr. Kapasi sees them as foreign in the way that they dress, they belongings they carry, and in the way that they relate to each other. Although he is used to foreigners, he says that there is something different about them, in particular, Mrs. Das. He entertains the idea of building a relationship with Mrs. Das because of her expressions of interest in his semmingly uninteresting and underwhelming life. Although he is flattered by her interest in him, he cannot move past her infidelity and how selfish she is.
2. Mr. Kapasi's encounter with the Das family may alter his sense of being Indian because although they appear Indian in their physical features (minus the way that they dress), nothing else about them resembles what he finds as important about his culture. You know this because of the places he takes them (religious shrines). He knows much about them and admire the fact that they find these things as interesting as he does. But after getting to know the Das family, Mr. Kapasi probably thinks more highly of himself.
3. The thematic significance of Mrs. Das' revelation to Mr. Kapasi is that things may seem shiny and beautiful on the outside, but once you learn about their foundation, their upbringing, their story, you might not find those things so appealing. It is human nature to be attracted to things that we find attractive.