Interpreter of Maladies

#2 How does the plot help to illuminate the differing cultural viewpoints of Mr. Kapasi? Which cultural viewpoint is presented with greater sympathy?

I think the cultural viewpoints are represented in the beginning when Mr. Kapasi is watching them and thinking in his head about Americans and tourists. He was commenting on thins they were wearing and doing that were tourist like. Like having maps and visors and the way Mr. Das dressed with all hi fitted clothing and the way the children acted. I think the Americans were more sympathetic because they were just totally oblivious to other culture than their own and you could tell that they just had no clue.

#8 What does the ending suggest about Mr. Kapasi’s future? Has his encounter with the Das family created any permanent change in his outlook on life or his views of himself? Is the ending happy or unhappy?

I think that Mr. Kapasi will end up being unhappier because you could see that he was starting to fall in love with Mrs. Das and was counting down the says that he was going to hear from him. I also think that he will end up leaving his wife once and for all and will probably dwell on Mrs. Das for a while and make himself feel bad for not picking up the piece of paper and will maybe blame his unhappiness on that one part of his life. He also might stop giving tours because he was too hung up on the last one. I think the ending was unhappy because he was starting to really like/love Mrs. Das and had all these dreams about them writing to each other about their marriage problems and becoming great friends and then he watched those disappear in a flash and did not do anything about it.