Mr. Kapasis
unhappiness stems from his sons recent death. His loneliness and personal disdain for his life
make him vulnerable to Mrs. Das. This is the beginning of the conflict that occurs in Theby .
The Indian/Americans Mr. and Mrs. Das vacation in India and want to visit the Sun Temple. Like
Mr. Kapasi, this family struggles to maintain a fa§ade of a happy family.
Despite Mr. Kapasis mediocre jobs, he is a well-educated man who studied languages. He
feels that he is a failure. He has an unhappy, arranged marriage. His wife demeans his
interpreting job in which he translates for a doctor who does not speak his patients language.
The wife connects his job with the death of the son to typhoid. Their marriage is loveless with
no intimacy.
Mr. and Mrs. Das were in love when they married. They are now
estranged. When the story starts, they are arguing about who should take their little girl to
the restroom. Obviously, it should be Mrs. Kapasi; however, she seems unattached to her
children. They also annoy her. It is apparent that she is not happy.
What is the primary conflict?
When Mr.
Kapasi explains his interpreting job to the family, Mrs. Dass attitude toward him changes. She
appears intrigued by his ability to work with a doctor. She asks him questions and even
includes him in the family picture. Mr. Kapasi gives her his address for her to send him a copy
of the picture. The problem arises from the difficulty in communication between the two
cultures. Both are Indian, but Mr. Kapasi is a true Indian and the Das couple is Americanized.
Mr. Kapasi begins a fantasy about Mrs. Das. He thinks that they will have
a brilliant correspondence. He believes that they have similar problems in their marriages.
Feeling that they can commune with each other, he also thinks that Mrs. Das is infatuated with
him. .
The conflict which arises is within Mr. Kapasi. He is unhappy and
believes that he will have something to look forward to with the potential correspondence with
Mrs. Das. In his mind, he builds a relationship between the two of them.
When Mrs. Das stays behind with Mr., Kapasi, he is delighted. Mrs. Das wants to
confide in Mr. Kapasi because she believes that his work with the doctor qualifies him to
interpret her problem.
She admits that she had an affair and her son Bobby is
not her husbands child. Unfortunately, Mr. Kapasi is hurt by her obvious lack of feeling for
him personally. He listens to her and tells her that it is the guilt about her affair that keeps
her from being happy. She does not respond.
Mrs. Das makes an immediate
change and is more involved with her family. Her selfish attitude ignores or misunderstands the
rapport that Kapasi desired from her. Mr. Kapasi feels disgusted by Mrs. Das. He has faced the
death of his son and the real unhappiness of marriage. She has forced him to look at his own
actions.
I told you because of your talents. About my
secret and about how terrible it makes me fell. I feel terrible looking at my children and at
Raj. One day I had the urge to throw everything I own out of the window. Dont you think that
is unhealthy?€¦and so he [Mr. Kapasi] asked, Is it really pain that you
feel, Mrs. Das, or is it guilt?
The problem stems from
the cultural gap between the Kapasi and Mrs. Das. His fantasy ends, and he must become the
ordinary tour guide again with no change in his future.
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