After reading and observing the human conditions represented in our short story Interpreter of Maladies, I did a lot of research to look further into this concept we have been discussing involving post-modernism. Not many people have a concrete answer to what this idea of a post-modern world is, nor can you easily define this notion yourself. Little things such as the way Mr. and Mrs. Das react to their children’s actions shows somewhat of a post-modern world in that they will just let their children do whatever they please, such as messing with the locks in the back seat when Mr. Kapasi purposely adjusted them safely. Also how Mrs. Das cheated on her husband with his own friend, which is a terrible act seen more and more throughout a post-modern world, and also seen in recent pieces of literature we have read. However one thing really stood out to me while reading this story.
Mr. Kapasi is extremely vulnerable to his own imagination, and as we used earlier in this semester, the theme of Fantasy over reality. This extremely descriptive fantasy takes over his thought process from the moment Mrs. Das compliments what he thought to be a "thankless job", to the conversation held on page 62 when Mrs. Das begins spilling her deepest darkest secret revealing the truth behind her depression. Considering the significance of Kapsi’s imagination expressed in class, I did research to better understand the differences between the human conditions in a modern world to a post-modern world. The answer I found was very insightful in how I see the world today, and in the psychological approach people use to arouse their fantasies.
In a post-modern world, people believe heavily into myth, or this so called fantasy. For example if you are hearbroken over a significant other, you may go on believing your next love will be with a model with a ton of money and support you and you will live happily ever after. When you take a look back to modernism, one’s self is more psychologically concerned with truths, and tangible entities. Although Mrs. Das gave him an exemplary compliment, he had no means to overthink her intentions to the extent in which he did. From the gap between the compliments to the confession, Mr. Kapasi is so busy obsessing over Mrs. Das and their future relations. In a more modern piece of literature Lahiri probably would have just let their tour continue without a detailed self-conscious thought process registering through Kapasi. However, considering this is a piece reflecting a post-modern world, he begins to let his imagination grow, and this fantasy become his reality and changes his perspective of his tour. He begins to take more notice of Mrs. Das, as seen when she is being sang a popular Hindu love song. Lahiri even goes on in the next paragraoh to say "he observed her" (page 46). It isn’t until Mrs. Das confesses to Mrs. Kapasi the tragic fate of her emotions that he begins to let himself slip back into reality. I believe in this generation, as seen through my eyes, people will do whatever it takes and believe whatever they wish to believe, to numb their internal pain. Considering the tragic fate of Kapasi’s son, his wife’s lack of acknowledgment, and his own recognition of failure, Mr. Kapasi let himself fall to the very same patterns we as a post-modern world conduct today. To believe in what we wish, just to realize in the end, what you thought to be so great, and what you wished so much for, is not necessarily what you are going to get.
Mr. Kapasi is extremely vulnerable to his own imagination, and as we used earlier in this semester, the theme of Fantasy over reality. This extremely descriptive fantasy takes over his thought process from the moment Mrs. Das compliments what he thought to be a "thankless job", to the conversation held on page 62 when Mrs. Das begins spilling her deepest darkest secret revealing the truth behind her depression. Considering the significance of Kapsi’s imagination expressed in class, I did research to better understand the differences between the human conditions in a modern world to a post-modern world. The answer I found was very insightful in how I see the world today, and in the psychological approach people use to arouse their fantasies.
In a post-modern world, people believe heavily into myth, or this so called fantasy. For example if you are hearbroken over a significant other, you may go on believing your next love will be with a model with a ton of money and support you and you will live happily ever after. When you take a look back to modernism, one’s self is more psychologically concerned with truths, and tangible entities. Although Mrs. Das gave him an exemplary compliment, he had no means to overthink her intentions to the extent in which he did. From the gap between the compliments to the confession, Mr. Kapasi is so busy obsessing over Mrs. Das and their future relations. In a more modern piece of literature Lahiri probably would have just let their tour continue without a detailed self-conscious thought process registering through Kapasi. However, considering this is a piece reflecting a post-modern world, he begins to let his imagination grow, and this fantasy become his reality and changes his perspective of his tour. He begins to take more notice of Mrs. Das, as seen when she is being sang a popular Hindu love song. Lahiri even goes on in the next paragraoh to say "he observed her" (page 46). It isn’t until Mrs. Das confesses to Mrs. Kapasi the tragic fate of her emotions that he begins to let himself slip back into reality. I believe in this generation, as seen through my eyes, people will do whatever it takes and believe whatever they wish to believe, to numb their internal pain. Considering the tragic fate of Kapasi’s son, his wife’s lack of acknowledgment, and his own recognition of failure, Mr. Kapasi let himself fall to the very same patterns we as a post-modern world conduct today. To believe in what we wish, just to realize in the end, what you thought to be so great, and what you wished so much for, is not necessarily what you are going to get.
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