Interpreter of Maladies: "Interpreter of Maladies"

by Jhumpa Lahiri
The title story of Jhumpa Lahiri's collection explores the way people try, and fail, to communicate with one another.

Here are links to our lists for other stories in the Pulitzer Prize-winning collection:
A Temporary Matter
When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine
A Real Durwan
Sexy
Mrs. Sen's
This Blessed House
The Treatment of Bibi Haldar
The Third and Final Continent

Here is a link to The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. malady
    impairment of normal physiological function
    He found nothing noble in interpreting people’s maladies, assiduously translating the symptoms of so many swollen bones, countless cramps of bellies and bowels, spots on people’s palms that changed color, shape, or size.
  2. dignitary
    an important or influential person
    He had dreamed of being an interpreter for diplomats and dignitaries, resolving conflicts between people and nations, settling disputes of which he alone could understand both sides.
  3. interpreter
    someone who mediates between speakers of different languages
    He had taken the job as an interpreter after his first son, at the age of seven, contracted typhoid — that was how he had first made the acquaintance of the doctor.
  4. exorbitant
    greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation
    At the time Mr. Kapasi had been teaching English in a grammar school, and he bartered his skills as an interpreter to pay the increasingly exorbitant medical bills.
  5. protracted
    relatively long in duration
    The signs he recognized from his own marriage were there — the bickering, the indifference, the protracted silences.
  6. intoxicating
    extremely exciting
    Her sudden interest in him, an interest she did not express in either her husband or her children, was mildly intoxicating. When Mr. Kapasi thought once again about how she had said "romantic,” the feeling of intoxication grew.
  7. unencumbered
    free of anything that impedes or is burdensome
    It was similar to a feeling he used to experience long ago when, after months of translating with the aid of a dictionary, he would finally read a passage from a French novel, or an Italian sonnet, and understand the words, one after another, unencumbered by his own efforts.
  8. commemorate
    be or provide a memorial to a person or an event
    As they approached, Mr. Kapasi explained that the temple had been built between a.d. 1243 and 1255, with the efforts of twelve hundred artisans, by the great ruler of the Ganga dynasty, King Narasimhadeva the First, to commemorate his victory against the Muslim army.
  9. trivial
    concerned only with minor or unimportant things
    Mr. Kapasi felt insulted that Mrs. Das should ask him to interpret her common, trivial little secret.
  10. mediator
    a negotiator who acts as a link between parties
    Perhaps he would offer to preside over the discussion, as a mediator.
Created on Tue May 16 10:03:01 EDT 2017 (updated Wed Jul 23 13:56:28 EDT 2025)

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