How Does Jhumpa Lahiri Use Literary Techniques

Jhumpa Lahiri obviously uses indirect literary techniques to characterize Mrs. Das. Some of these characterization techniques Lahiri uses to describe Mrs. Das include: physical description, details, dialogue, and background information.

“The family looked Indian but dressed as foreigners did, the children in stiff, brightly colored clothing and caps with translucent visors.” (Lahiri 147) In the beginning of the story we can see in this quote that Lahiri shows a theme, the difficulty of communication, where it shows a contrast between Indians and Indian Americans. Mr. Kapasi, after checking out Mrs. Das hopes that they will find something in common and will pursue his romance; yet, later on he does find that American gap that leads to disappointment.

Das gets back in the car, Mrs. Das apparently does not show any parental figure and doesn’t seem any more mature than any of her children. Lahiri describes Mrs. Das’s emotional traits, “She did not hold the little girl’s hand as they walked to the rest room. This quote depicts Mrs. Das personality because she obviously doesn’t show any warmth toward her children. Mrs. Das’s is overwhelmingly self-centered. She only thinks about herself and we can clearly see this in page 150 “As soon as the car began to move the little girl began to play… Mrs. Das said nothing to stop her. “ Mrs. Das not only did she not share her food but disengages from her family. Additionally Lahiri, uses her physical traits, Lahiri uses details that describe in page 149 “She was wearing a large dark brown sunglasses with a pinkish tint to them…” Lahiri uses these exact details to convey to the reader that Mrs. Das is hiding behind her