Paper#2- Unrealistic Happiness

Happiness Which is Made Up, But Makes Us Happy

It is important to be happy and content in life. But sometimes situations can come rather harshly, and impacts a person’s life. They might experience unrealistic happiness or happiness that is fabricated within the mind of the individual. The short story, “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, depicts a man and a pregnant girl named Jig discussing her plans for an abortion as they wait for the train to Madrid. On the other hand, “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri is about revelations that are discovered as an Indian tour guide, Mr. Kapasi guides the family of an American woman, Mrs. Das, on their family vacation. Both short stories exemplify desires that lie within a relationship and the substitute for true happiness, which is unrealistic happiness. As an escape tactic from their desires and needs, the theme of unrealistic happiness shadows the lives of the characters, Jig, Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das. The theme is also portrayed in the painting “The Scream” by Edvard Munch.

There is a misinterpretation when the girl, Jig, and the man have an intense discussion regarding whether to go through the abortion procedure or not and that causes her to sway from her true happiness. Jig can be characterized as a young girl who is highly dependent on the man when it comes to his opinions and his needs. He says: “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig” (Hemingway 124). The man is a lot older than Jig and for that reason, it is a simple task for him to manipulate her and convince to do what he wants. The man makes it clear to Jig that he wants her to get the abortion. The man says, “I think it’s the best thing to do. But I don’t want you to do it if you don’t really want to” (Hemingway 124). Even though the man is being honest in stating his opinion, his selfishness got in the way because his choice proved to be an ultimatum. It seemed that he asked her opinion only because he deemed it the right thing to do and not because he valued her opinion and emotions. The man displays a lack of moral support because the decision that she has to make is a life-changing decision and he cannot seem to grasp her perspective. Contrary to what the man wants, Jig’s conflicted situation plays a major role in causing her unrealistic happiness. It is evident she fantasizes about keeping the baby and having the man in her life. The fantasy here is a version of her truth, which is a desire to have a family and that is why in her view this is a difficult decision to make. Once a decision is made, there is no going back and she has to learn to live with the consequences of her actions.

Jig understands the importance of her decision and the impact it will have on her future when she says, “And once they take it away, you never get it back” (Hemingway 125). If she goes through with the abortion, it is possible that she might feel resentful to herself because she is saying no to something of value, which is motherhood. She might also feel guilty if she went through with a procedure that she did not want to do in the first place, but was coerced into with the promise of happiness. Jig sarcastically states that she knew couples that went through this procedure and they all were happy, when in reality they were not. For example, Jig says, “And afterward they were all so happy” (Hemingway 124). Deep down, Jig understands that there is a chance that after the operation their situation will not be what they had expected. Her necessity to fulfill the man’s needs takes precedence over what her heart is telling her though, which is keep the baby. To her, it is all about making her partner happy and fulfilling his needs.

Mr. Kapasi is unfulfilled with his life because he has experienced many significant, uncontrollable, life-altering moments. This led to his slip from reality when Mrs. Das took a peculiar interest in him and more of a curiosity in his second job translating at a doctor’s office. Mr. Kapasi views himself as a failure in his career because he gave up his dream of becoming an interpreter for diplomats and dignitaries when his son contracted typhoid. Helping him get better was his priority and to do that he had to give up his dream. He says, “The job was a sign of his failings” (Lahiri 18). His second job was a reminder that he could not save his son and that his marriage, along with his dream career, was also spiraling down. Mr. Kapasi’s wife resented him and his job and emotionally pushed him away. Mr. Kapasi was saving other people’s lives, even though he was unable to save his own son’s life. Mrs. Kapasi was still grieving the death of her son, who died in her arms; due to that, she did not converse with Mr. Kapasi about his second job because it did not matter to her. This not only led to a more damaged marriage, but it also made Mr. Kapasi feel lonely and trapped until Mrs. Das’ involvement, where he found hope again. To him, she was the bright light at the end of the long, dark tunnel.

The attention that Mr. Kapasi got from Mrs. Das was a type of recognition that he had not received from his own wife, and so Mr. Kapasi felt an intense emotional connection to Mrs. Das. He felt like he mattered to someone and that the benevolence that Mrs. Das showed him turned into fantasy world in Mr. Kapasi’s mind. This feeling was new to him, because he was finally being appreciated by somebody. As he wrote down his address for Mrs. Das, he begins to think about the future they might have: sending letters to each other and talking about what is going on in their lives, basically confiding in each other. For example, Mr. Kapasi states, “A week to settle in, a week to develop the pictures, a few days to compose her letter, two weeks to get to India by air. According to his schedule, allowing room for delays, he would hear from Mrs. Das in approximately six weeks’ time” (Lahiri 23). Mr. Kapasi is so deeply focused on their future friendship that he calculates when he might hear from Mrs. Das after she goes back home. In his perspective, Mrs. Das becomes an important member of his life and brings him into a euphoric state, which is an unrealistic feeling that is developed through his imagination.

Unlike Mr. Kapasi, Mrs. Das has an undisclosed eight year-long secret, which is the core reason for her problems and her indifferent behavior. She is a self-centered woman who isolates herself from the people that love her: her husband and children. Her big revelation is that one of her sons, Bobby, is not her husband Raj’s child but was born when she cheated on Mr. Das with his friend. Keeping a life-changing secret like this can consume a person mentally because a person’s mind has immense powers. It has the authority to change a person's personality and how he/she acts toward others. In her situation, she started to become neglectful towards her children and her husband, and that is what her failures revolve around. For example, she says “One day I had the urge to throw everything I own out the window, the television, the children, and everything” (Lahiri 27). This disease, the horrible secret, is decaying her heart. She is not satisfied with her life because she is the very opposite of the nurturing type of mother and the ideal version of a wife.

Mrs. Das is also in an unhappy relationship, which drove her to cheat on her husband. The deep rooted malady that she is suffering from is the guilt of her infidelity that she has kept locked away for a long time, until she builds the courage to let out the hidden truth. She says to Mr. Kapasi,“Suggest some kind of remedy” (Lahari 27). The purpose behind telling Mr. Kapasi is that Mrs. Das wants his assistance to assuage the intense remorse that she is experiencing. In a way, Mrs. Das is using Mr. Kapasi for her own personal gain so that she can feel better and move on with her life. On the other hand, when Mrs. Das is fascinated by Mr. Kapasi’s second job as an interpreter, his imagination takes a major toll where he and Mrs. Das shared a romantic intimacy and friendship. During that time, Mr. Kapasi is ignorant of Mrs. Das’ ulterior motive. She wants a solution to her issue, and that is why the cat is out of the bag, but unfortunately her problems still remain unsolved. Because she does not get the answer she is searching for, she does not confront her true feelings and face the truth.

The well-known painting “The Scream” by Edvard Munch depicts a person screaming to express the intensified emotions that he is feeling, which is torment, fear, and isolation. Being vocal and expressing how a person is feeling and thinking is very important. This can be extremely difficult at times because people are afraid to open up due to the fear of not knowing how the other person might react. According to the article, “What is the meaning of The Scream,” it is stated that Edvard Munch arrived at the idea creating this painting written in his diary “I was walking along the road with two friends – the sun went down – I felt a gust of melancholy – suddenly the sky turned a bloody red. I stopped, leaned against the railing, tired to death – as the flaming skies hung like blood and sword over the blue-black fjord and the city – my friends went on – I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I felt a vast infinite scream through nature” (Sooke 1). It is evident that the person in the painting reacted in a strong and depressive tone when his friends left him, and he had to deal with his problems by himself. Similar to the person depicted in the painting, Jig is also expressing a variety of emotions. She feels excited about her baby, yet that is stripped away because of the pressure by the man to make a decision. Jig states her feelings about her baby using this comparison: “They look like white elephants” (Hemingway 123). The white elephant that Jig refers to represents Jig’s baby, which is seen by the man as a burden, while she views it entirely the opposite way. In her point of view, the baby is a new beginning, indicating her desire to keep it. Because she knows what the man wants, which is different from what she wants, she does not know what decision she wants to make, and that leads her to keep her emotions bottled up and not express them properly.

In Mrs. Das’s case, sharing her secret with Mr. Kapasi is her way to wash out her past sins. Mr. Kapasi’s way of helping her is to confront her feelings, so he asks her, “Is it really pain you feel, Mrs. Das, or is it guilt?” (Lahiri 28). Mrs. Das opens up to Mr. Kapasi in the hopes that he can find a solution to her illness, but when Mr. Kapasi tries to help, Mrs. Das just is not ready to accept what she is feeling. She does not want to confront her reality, that she cheated on her husband and she has to do something about it, like talking to her husband. She is not ready to do that and that leaves her in a similar position to the person depicted in the painting. Like the person in the picture, she expresses that confusion and the guilt of her secret, which is eating away at her. In a way, both Jig and Mrs. Das wants to shout loudly and get all their emotions fully expressed so that they can continue on with their lives. However, it was not successful.

Happiness is a vital component of life, which is not fully experienced by all three characters; Jig, Mr. Kapasi, and Mrs. Das. As a replacement for true happiness, each of the characters lives through unrealistic happiness, where fantasies are created. The two female characters have inner demons in them that they need to figure out. Jig and Mrs. Das respectively have tough decisions to make, get or not get an abortion and revealing and confronting a huge secret. Jig, Mr. Kapasi, and Mrs. Das are all similarly related because of the dissatisfaction with their life and because they do not know how to resolve their problems.

Works Cited

Hemingway, Ernest. “Hills like White Elephant.” The Norton Introduction To Literature, Kelly J.Mays, W.W. Norton & Company, 2017, 123-125.

Lahiri, Jhumpa. “Interpreter of Maladies.” The Norton Introduction To Literature, Kelly J. Mays, W.W. Norton & Company, 2017, 18-28.

Sooke, Alastair. "BBC - Culture - What is the meaning of The Scream?" BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2017. <http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160303-what-is-the-meaning-of-the-scream>.