Abstract This article analyses the use of food as a metaphor and how it is connected to the characters in Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Interpreter of Maladies”. Williams points out the general importance of food in literature and on the basis of “A Temporary Matter”, “Mrs. Sen’s” and “A Blessed House” she goes more detailed into the topic. It is portrayed that the food reflects the character’s personality and relationships. Williams makes the conclusion that Lahiri gives the reader an insight into the life of the immigrants, so non-immigrant readers can understand them more easily.

Summary In the text to be summarized Laura Williams analyses three short stories of the novel “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri concerning food and subjectivity. In the introduction Williams quotes different authors to evince the importance of food in literature, especially in Asian American literature, mirrors relationships and touches upon the main issues of the immigrant main characters like assimilation and identity. After the introduction the text is divided into different segments, each for every story and one for the conclusion. The first segment deals with the story “A Temporary Matter” in which the married couple, Shoba and Shukumar, both second generation immigrants, have to face the end of their broken marriage. In A Temporary Matter the food metaphor is frequently used, mainly because it reflects their marriage, particularly how Shoba prepared a variety of extraordinary foods and stocked everything neatly when their marriage was still working and how Shukumar took that for granted. Williams interprets that because Shukumar uses up their stocks, he is completely dependent on Shoba, cannot live without her and is always taking, but not giving on a physical but also an emotional level, too. William goes on with the short story “Mrs. Sen’s” which addresses the issues of the immigrant woman Mrs. Sen, who came to America because of the profession of her husband and thus cannot feel home in America and has a lack of identity. Food also plays an important role in this story since all the ingredients she uses for her dishes are enumerated multiple times, but almost never the dishes. By preparing dishes she creates herself an identity and can connect with other people like Elliot or the man who sells her fish, thus she does not feel as lonely as she would without the food preparation. In “The Blessed House” Williams addresses the story of a freshly married Indian immigrant couple, who is very diverse. Sanjeev is very well structured and holds onto the Indian traditions, while Twinkle is open for new things and creative in what she does. William states that the way both cook (Sanjeev’s dishes always taste the same, Twinkles dishes are aromatic and surprising) can be reflected on their characters, how they deal with their new life, and their marriage.