“MRS. SEN'S” BY JHUMPA LAHIRI

Mrs. Sen's

Mrs. Sen's

Introduction

Jhumpa Lahiri is an Indian American author who compiled nine short stories into a collection by the name “Interpreter of Maladies”. These stories basically depict cultural differences between India and America and the problems that are faced by the characters due to these cultural changes. Each story reveals interesting aspects of human emotions and behaviors. Out of these nine stories is Mrs. Sen's. It is a story about isolation of the main character Mrs. Sen and her different experiences especially while she babysits Elliot at her own home.

Discussion

Mrs. Sen was a wife to a university professor. She comes to America and lives alone without her family. She is mostly draped in “shimmering white sari…..more suitable for evening wear” (112). She takes up the task of providing baby-sitting services to an eleven year old child named Elliot, but within the realms of her own home. The story brings to light a unique relationship between Elliot and Mrs. Sen, who both are away from homes and in a somewhat similar situation. Both are each other's friend and only hope to live by. While the story is narrated from Elliot's perspective, it is about his interpretations of different situations in which he gets in along with Mrs. Sen. The boy soon discovered that “when Mrs. Sen said home, it meant India, not her apartment” (116) (Lahiri, 1999).

"My sister has had a baby girl. When I see her, depending if Mr. Sen gets his possession, she will be three years old. Her own aunt will be an unfamiliar person. If we sit side by side on a train she will not know my face." She put away the letter, and then placed a hand on Eliot's head. "Do you miss your mother, Eliot, these afternoons with me?" [122] (Noelle, 2004).

In most parts of the story Mrs. Sen's traditional ways of dressing and shopping for fish is discussed where she abides my her old customs and dreads to follow new advanced trends like that of buying canned fishes and even driving. She realizes that she should know how to drive her way to places especially if she is alone and without any family members. Driving should have helped her in accessing different resources and would have made living easy for her. The fish holds emotional attachment to Mrs. Sen because it reminds her of her old times at home. Fish shopping thus had become a tradition for her, something she just could not resist doing. However she faced difficulty in reaching the same shop that was far off, and she did not know how to drive (Noelle, 2004).

Throughout the story, it has been shown that Mrs. Sen preferred to keep material things with her, more than human relations and people. Whenever she shops for fish, it reminds her of Calcutta, her native city. She also treasured keeping her old blade that she always used while cutting ...