Fashion and Clothing in Interpreter of Maladies Essay Example

In both literature and real life, clothing is a significant method one uses to express personality or self. People use fashion to express themselves, and the way one uses clothing can allude to more than tastes and preferences. In “The Interpreter of Maldives”, Mr. Kapasi’s character is displayed through both his own clothing and the way he interprets others’ clothing. Mr. Kapasi’s own fashion choices and his interpretation of Mrs. Das’ clothing display the contrast between the fantasies and reality of his identity, as well as the lack of cultural and emotional understanding between the two characters. 

When introducing Mr. Kapasi, Lahiri directs his description to what he does to maintain his appearance, such as “...his butterscotch complexion and his underlined brow, which he treated…to dabs of lotus-oil balm” (Lahiri 45). Lahiri continues by directing her description to his suit, stating how “he wore gray trousers and a matching jacket-style shirt” which he “specified both the cut and the fabric to his tailor” (Lahiri 45). In this, it can be determined that Mr. Kapasi wears such fanciful clothing in order to express himself as an educated and important person, as he was a “devoted scholar of foreign languages” (Lahiri 52) in his youth. However, the key detail in Mr. Kapasi’s suit is that, despite the matching suit pieces and the specified tailoring, it is “made of a thin but durable synthetic material” (Lahiri 45). This important detail displays the irony of Mr. Kapasi’s suit, and thus, his character. The suit, despite being altered to appear expensive, is still made of cheap fabric. This choice of presentation, therefore, reflects Mr. Kapasi’s character, as the suit represents how his life’s dreams and desires contrast that of his reality. He wishes that he were the expensive, educated man that his suit would appear to reflect, as he “dreamed of being an interpreter for diplomats and dignitaries, resolving conflicts between people and nations…” (Lahiri 52). However, his reality is that of the cheap fabric: a tour guide. This reflection of Mr. Kapasi’s character in correlation with the suit illuminates how Mr. Kapasi thinks of his life as a failure, and still dreams of achieving more. Further, this component of his character emphasizes Lahiri’s narrative surrounding how the lines between Mr. Kapasi’s fantasy and reality are both juxtaposing components of his identity. 

However, Mr. Kapasi’s suit could be argued to display practicality rather than irony. In his description, Mr. Kapasi’s suit was “...his preferred uniform for giving tours because it did not get crushed during his long hours behind the wheel” (Lahiri 45). This could be the foundation for the argument that Mr. Kapasi’s cheap material was to represent practicality. Lahiri is using the suit not to display Mr. Kapasi’s identity through his clothing, but rather to display the lack of identity. The suit is worn simply because it does not get crushed, which would thus display Kr. Kapasi’s character is incapable of self-expression due to such. However, Lahiri focuses a large portion of a page on this illustration of Mr. Kapasi, and through her detailed description of the suit, she uses the emphasis on this piece of clothing to give the readers insight into Mr. Kapsi’s identity. Lahiri uses phrases such as “... made it easy to imagine what he must have looked like at an earlier age” (Lahiri 45) to emphasize correlating his appearance now to his youth. Reference to his “earlier age” refers to that of when he was a scholar, which thus undermines the argument of practicality. Lahiri uses Mr. Kapasi’s clothing as a method of expressing his desired self. He wishes he were the scholar he was in his youth, and that he were able to achieve the dreams he had. Yet, his dreams differ from the reality of his life and identity, as he was unable to achieve his dreams of being an interpreter for diplomats because of the bogging down of everyday monotonous life. 

For Mrs. Das, there are two components of her clothing and its significance: the way she is dressed as self-expression and the way Mr. Kapasi’s interpretation of her clothing reflects his own character and identity. Firstly, Mrs. Das is dressed in a “red-and-white-checkered skirt that stopped above her knees'' (Lahiri 46), a wooden heel, and a “close-fitting blouse styled like a man’s undershirt” (Lahiri 46) which has a “calico applique in the shape of a strawberry” (Lahiri 46) on the chest. In this, Mrs. Das is using her clothing as a means of self-expression not in particular to her age and sexuality. For being a mother, her youthful style of clothing depicts the sexuality in the life she did not get to live. In addition, her description is mainly done through Mr. Kapasi’s perception. Because of this, although her outfit is fairly normal for an American woman, Mr. Kapasi’s descriptions give her cartoon-like qualities with certain items seeming out of proportion such as her “hands like paws”, her “big straw bag, almost as big as her torso”, and her “large sunglasses” (Lahiri 46). In this, the specific focus on comically large or disproportionate qualities depicts an unrealistic looking woman, which, given Mr. Kapasi’s desires and lack of differentiation between fantasy and reality, illuminates how Mr. Kapasi views her unrealistically and eventually what she will mean to him. This is supported as he begins to fantasize about writing her letters and imagining a romantic future with Mrs. Das, which is later shut down because of Mr. Kapasi’s unrealistic ideas of Mrs. Das, whereas the reality is that they lack a cultural and emotional connection. As Mrs. Das expects Mr. Kapasi to help her resolve her marital problems and Mr. Kapasi sees a romantic and diplomatic future with Mrs. Das which would help him achieve his fantasies. Therefore, this lack of understanding and connection illuminates Lahiri’s display of distinction between fantasy and reality in identity as Mr. Kapasi’s view of Mrs. Das is fantastical in both her physical and emotional qualities which differ from her reality. 

Lahiri uses articles of clothing as a means of discussing self-expression and identity in “The Interpreter of Maladies” by focusing on the irony behind Mr. Kapasi’s suit. The effort put into the suit to make him appear as fanciful and educated despite the cheap material it is made of represents Mr. Kapasi’s projection of his fantasies into reality, and how he struggles to manage the two. Mrs. Das’ outfit and description are done intentionally to further illuminate the lack of connection between Mrs. Das and Mr. Kapasi despite Mr. Kapasi romanticizing Mrs. Das to suit his fantasies. Therefore, the clothing choices and descriptions are used to create Lahiri’s narrative surrounding that of fantasy and reality as displayed by self-expression as crucial pieces to one’s identity.