May 2024

Jhumpa Lahiri’s collection of short stories Interpreter of Maladies explores the role of displacement in Bengali immigrants’ lives, from the 1972 Bangladesh Independence War to their migration to a new land for better opportunities. While some of her characters grapple with separation from the Indian subcontinent, such as Mr. Pirzada in “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine,” Lahiri depicts a Bengali immigrant’s quiet celebration of her homeland after immigrating to the United States in “Mrs. Sen’s.” Though the story, which chronicles the experiences of the white American boy Eliot during his time being babysat by Mrs. Sen, is told through Eliot’s perspective, Mrs. Sen’s life in America, a nation known for its values of liberty and independence, is the focus of the story. “Mrs. Sen’s” may be a story that concerns an immigrant’s displacement, but Lahiri uses both the characters of Mrs. Sen and Eliot to critique the isolation implicitly encompassed by American independence. 

In order to join the American job market, Mrs. Sen increases her reliance on her husband’s identity over her own, and yet the married couple grow apart. Mrs. Sen’s introduction to the story is one of self-described subjugation, as evidenced by the index card she posts outside of a grocery store to advertise her babysitting services. While shopping, Eliot’s mother comes across the card, on which Mrs. Sen describes herself first as a “professor’s wife” and then adds that she is “responsible and kind” and “will care for your child in [her] home” (109). Mrs. Sen, when writing the card, intended to seem trustworthy to a potential employer; in order to do so, she gives her marriage precedence over her own personality by making it the first fact on the card about herself. She must mold her identity to be a possession of her husband in order to succeed in the American job market independently. Further, she is not given a name of her own throughout the entire story. Since Mr. Sen’s name is embedded in Mrs. Sen’s, her status as a wife is embedded in her identity. Just as Mrs. Sen relies on her identity as a “professor’s wife” to give herself credibility, she looks to her husband for reassurance when faced with words foreign to her in America. When Eliot’s mother compares Mrs. Sen’s driver in India to a “chauffeur” during their interview, Mrs. Sen did not know what the word “chauffeur” meant (111). Rather than inquiring about the meaning of the word to Eliot’s mother, a decision that would undermine her credibility to her potential employer, “she instead glanc[es] at Mr. Sen, who nodded” (111). Mrs. Sen’s identity is displaced from herself, as she has no complete ownership over it. In addition to relying on her husband during uncomfortable situations, she must rely on him whenever she wants to leave her house because she cannot drive. She does not have freedom of movement, and because of her Indian upbringing, she never learned to drive.

Lahiri’s depictions of Mr. and Mrs. Sen’s direct interactions reveal Mrs. Sen’s toxic independence in America. She is emotionally detached from her husband, who refers to her only as “Mrs. Sen” (111). Despite her husband’s coldness towards her, she continues to serve him by cooking him dinner each night. Mrs. Sen loves to cook whole fish, as the food reminds her of India and the community of women she left behind there; however, Mr. Sen must drive and pick up the fish for her from the fishmonger whenever she wishes to cook it. One time, after Mr. Sen brings her the fish, he tells her, “No more fish for a while. Cook the chicken in the freezer. I need to start holding office hours” (122). Mr. Sen’s initial use of a sentence fragment and then an imperative demonstrates the fragmented nature of his marriage to his wife, as he orders her around and values himself over her. A few days later, Mr. Sen brings Mrs. Sen to tears when she calls him at work to ask if he will pick up a fish for her (122). Lahiri does not write their interaction on the phone, as Eliot was not present for it, but she implies that Mr. Sen yelled at his wife for calling him in the middle of a meeting. Mr. Sen does not respect his wife’s attachment to her Bengali culture, and he pays no heed to her feelings. Mrs. Sen is isolated in her marriage in that she lacks a spouse who cares for her and supports her emotionally; rather, she has a man who yells at her when she inconveniences him. Mr. Sen even pushes his wife into situations uncomfortable for her, as seen when he forces her to drive their car despite her reluctance to do so because she cannot drive properly (127). Mrs. Sen embodies American independence in respect to her solitude in carrying the emotional burden of being a foreign land with no support of any kind. 

Although Mrs. Sen’s connection to her native Bengali culture empowers her at home, it paradoxically isolates her in American society. Lahiri characterizes Mrs. Sen as especially powerful when she is chopping vegetables using her Dao knife. Eliot introduces the utensil as a “blade that curved like the prow of a Viking ship, sailing to battle in distant seas” (112). He watches as Mrs. Sen “[takes] whole vegetables between her hands and [hacks] them apart” (122). She splits food in half and produces various shapes, including shreds. Battle imagery saturates Lahiri’s description of Mrs. Sen using her Dao knife; therefore, Mrs. Sen, the temporary master of her home, is powerful and strong when she is chopping vegetables with her native knife. Lahiri characterizes Mrs. Sen as the Hindu god Shiva the Destroyer, one of the all-powerful Hindu trifecta of gods. Shiva holds the power of destruction, just as Mrs. Sen destroys the vegetables that come before her. Eliot describes Mrs. Sen as sitting “cross-legged, at times with legs splayed, surrounded by an array of colanders and shallow bowls of water in which she immersed her chopped ingredients” (112). Statues of Shiva often depict the god as cross-legged, surrounded by his destruction. Later, Lahiri describes the vegetables as the “catastrophic mess that barricaded Mrs. Sen” (113). She sits, surrounded by the carnage she has wrought, thus making her the embodiment of Shiva the Destroyer. Though she is powerful in her destruction, Mrs. Sen’s wreckage traps her in her space on the floor; perhaps the wreckage symbolizes Mrs. Sen’s Bengali culture, which is her jailor in America. She cannot drive and has virtually no freedom of identity in the United States. Lahiri’s inclusion of fragments of Bengali culture throughout the story only exemplifies how Mrs. Sen’s quiet refusal to assimilate into American culture exacerbates the isolation she feels. 

Mrs. Sen’s Indian upbringing inhibits her ownership of her identity, especially through the column of vermillion she wears in her hair. The vermillion, known as sindoor in India, is a symbol of Mrs. Sen’s marriage, as it visually marks her as a Hindu wife. When Lahiri describes Mrs. Sen picking up Eliot from school one day, she writes that “the column of vermilion [was] fresh in her part” (116). Through the implication that Mrs. Sen put the vermillion on just before leaving her home, Lahiri indicates that Mrs. Sen uses the vermillion, her marriage by metonymy, as a means of protection against the world at large. Her use of the sindoor in this manner mirrors Mrs. Sen’s earlier use of her marriage when advertising herself primarily as a “professor’s wife” (109). Through Mrs. Sen’s sindoor, Lahiri unleashes a commentary on a patriarchal Indian society that defines women by whether or not they belong to a man. Lahiri combats the patriarchy of Indian society through the title of her story, as she subverts the Indian tradition of male possession by naming her story “Mrs. Sen’s,” thereby allowing the woman to possess the story. 

Outside the home, Mrs. Sen’s Bengali culture does not empower her; rather, it exacerbates the isolation she faces in American society. She is alienated as she rides the bus back home with Eliot after picking up fish from the market. When an elderly, presumably white, passenger complains to the bus driver about the odor of Mrs. Sen’s fish, the driver asks Mrs. Sen what is in her bag and says, “Speak English?” when she doesn’t reply quickly (130). The bus driver disrespects Mrs. Sen, as he most likely assumes that she cannot speak English because of her sari and skin tone. After Mrs. Sen tells the bus driver that she is carrying a fish in her bag, he tells her that the smell is “bothing the other passengers” (130). Mrs. Sen is not allowed attachment to any external reminder of her homeland, such as fish. Lahiri suggests that American society deprives immigrant women of comfort by restricting them from expressing their own cultures in public. The bus driver finally addresses his fellow white male, Eliot, and tells him that “[he] should open her window or something” (130), as if Mrs. Sen were not capable of doing so herself. 

Mrs. Sen’s love of fish, a symbol of her native culture, gets her into further trouble with men in America at the conclusion of the story. Mrs. Sen gets a call about a whole fish being held for her by the fishmonger, and she goes with Eliot to claim it by driving the two of them in her husband’s car. She then gets into a car accident after she makes a wrong turn. In response to the policeman questioning her about her accident, Mrs. Sen merely repeats, “Mr. Sen teaches mathematics at the university” (131), as if her marital status might protect her as it might in India. “Mrs. Sen’s” begins and ends with Mrs. Sen’s usage of her marriage as a means of protection in American society. She, throughout the story, is subordinate to her husband and depends on him as both a housewife and a new immigrant to a foreign land. She is then made subordinate to both the fishmonger, who provides her with fish, and the bus driver, who condescends while speaking to her and alienates her for her fish. She is even subordinate to Eliot, whom she clings to as both consolation when she drives and company during her time at home alone. Mrs. Sen’s interactions with both the bus driver and the policeman are two instances of workers for public American authorities scrutinizing Mrs. Sen. The bus driver and the police officer act as a metonymy for the United States as a whole, as they are public employees. Mrs. Sen is not only subordinate to all the males with whom she comes into contact, but she is also victimized and alienated by America. Through this distinction, Lahiri critiques American society for its treatment of immigrant women, who are oppressed by both their male counterparts and by the patriarchy of American society.  

Though Mrs. Sen is Lahiri’s main focus throughout her story, Lahiri utilizes the characters of Eliot and his mother to critique American society for its division of families and social expectations of women. In order to survive in the American job market, Eliot’s mother must grow apart from her son by leaving Eliot with strangers. Lahiri establishes from the first page of the story that Eliot is constantly between babysitters because his mother works a day job with long hours. His parents are divorced, and he hardly sees his father. Eliot’s relationship with his mother is not close, as evidenced by his response to Mrs. Sen asking if he ever misses his mother, “The thought had never occurred to him” (120). Though he may reside with his mother, Eliot is displaced from his family, just as Mrs. Sen is displaced from her own family back in India; however, Eliot’s emotional disconnect with his mother is due to American capitalism and its equating of work with success. Eliot’s mother must work rather than stay at home; therefore, she serves as the antithesis of Mrs. Sen, who stays at home while her husband goes to work. Rather, Eliot’s mother is a mirror of Mr. Sen, who leaves Mrs. Sen every morning to go to work at the university. As a single mother, Eliot’s mother is the sole provider for her family, and she must work to sustain both herself and Eliot, just as Mr. Sen’s job sustains him and his wife. The Bengali Sens fulfill conventional gender roles, whereas the American family of Eliot and his mother does not. 

The characters of Mr. Sen, Mrs. Sen, Eliot, and Eliot’s mother are a chiasmus, as the pairs of Eliot’s mother and Mr. Sen, as well as Eliot and Mrs. Sen, serve as respective mirrors of one another. Lahiri describes Eliot’s mother as wearing “cuffed, beige shorts and rope-soled shoes,” which Eliot sees as odd next to Mrs. Sen’s “shimmering white sari patterned with orange paisley” (110). Mrs. Sen, in Lahiri’s description of her, models the archetype of a Bengali woman, from her sari to her “thick flaring brows” (110) and the black eyeliner she wears. Traditionally in India, women do not work jobs and typically stay at home while their husbands go to work; Mrs. Sen is bound to her house when she is in America, since she cannot drive. She represents the transposition of Indian culture onto America, a country where she faces isolation due to her homebound nature. Eliot’s mother, on the other hand, is the archetype of a twenty-first-century American woman. She is free to bare her knees and thighs in her dress; she wears her hair “cropped” (110), and she provides for her son by working a job. Despite Lahiri’s empowerment of Eliot’s mother, she and Mrs. Sen are similar to each other in that neither of them are named throughout the entire story. The two women are only known in relation to, or as in the possession of, the men in their lives—Mrs. Sen to Mr. Sen and Eliot’s mother to Eliot. They are also bound by their respective societies’ expectations of them: Mrs. Sen to domesticity due to Bengali society’s traditions and Eliot’s mother to constant labor, as required by modern American capitalist society. 

The promising bond between Eliot and Mrs. Sen is broken by American demands for a certain kind of independence, and Eliot learns that American independence insists on isolation. Eliot and his mother live in a “tiny beach house year-round” (111), and they must carry a portable heater whenever they move from one room to another. Eliot and his mother are not physically comfortable in their home; their situation, though theirs is to a lesser degree, mimics Mrs. Sen’s discomfort in her new home, America. Eliot’s emotional solitude contributes to his discomfort, and he embodies American independence in his ability to be alone. His mother describes him on the first page of the story as “being able to feed and entertain himself” (109), despite his young age. Eliot’s independence, a characteristic he developed due to his nurture, grants him maturity. He is particularly keen at reading situations and emotions throughout the story, namely Mrs. Sen’s sadness in America and the unhappiness she experiences in her marriage. Eliot’s independence brings him isolation at home, just like Mrs. Sen. When describing the atmosphere of Eliot’s home, Lahiri states that “the beach was barren and dull to play on alone” and that Eliot’s only neighbors had no children (112). Lahiri later writes more on Eliot’s alienation from his neighborhood, with the mention of a Labor Day Party hosted by their neighbors, to which “Eliot and his mother were not invited” (114). Eliot has no one his age who lives near him, and Lahiri never makes mention of any friends he has either at school or in his town. For Eliot, his entire life consists of his mother and Mrs. Sen, with the occasional addition of Mr. Sen. Just as Eliot is isolated from people his age and his neighborhood, Mrs. Sen has no Bengali compatriots near her, and she feels removed from her community back in India. 

The inclusion of a child narrator is present in numerous of Lahiri’s stories in her collection, Interpreter of Maladies. In “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine,” the ten year-old Lilia is the lens through which Lahiri depicts the internal struggles of the adults around her. Eliot is similar to Lilia in that they are both Americans by birth; however, unlike Eliot, Lilia struggles with reconciling her Indian identity with its American counterpart. Though Lilia is not as markedly mature as Eliot in her skills of observation and empathy, she too acts as a companion for an adult displaced from his homeland, the Bengali Mr. Pirzada. Lilia is a source of consolation to Mr. Pirzada, the father of seven daughters missing in East Pakistan; similarly, Eliot is able to console Mrs. Sen by simply being present next to her as she faces the American world outside her house. Throughout Interpreter of Maladies, Lahiri utilizes the perspectives of children when observing the struggles of Bengali immigrants in America. By placing the child as the perspective through whom she tells her stories of troubled men and trapped housewives, Lahiri suggests that children are the true interpreters of maladies.