SSU THEME ANALYSIS
In Nathanial Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark,” the author delves into the depths of human greed and obsession. Alymer, a genius scientist, becomes consumed by the desire for what he deems is a flaw in his wife Georgiana’s appearance. Alymer’s greed for scientific knowledge, discovery and the success of his experiments causes him to start an obsessive quest to remove a birthmark on his wife’s cheek. This ‘flaw’ becomes more and more unbearable to Alymer until he becomes unhappy and unsatisfied until it is gone. Alymer’s perception gets distorted and his psyche gets changed by greed, his pursuit for a selfish and impossible ideal of perfection against the natural beauty of nature, leads to him disregarding consequences and ultimately leading to the tragic death of his wife. Nathanial Hawthorne ends “The Birthmark” with the closing statement, “ Blinded by a meaningless imperfection and an impossible goal, Aylmer had thrown away her life and with it his chance for happiness. In trying to improve his lovely wife, he had failed to realize she had been perfect all along,” (Hawthorne, 4). Ultimately, as Hawthorne states, Alymer’s greed leads to the death of his wife.
In Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Interpreter of Maladies” the author delves into the effects of greed through Mr. Kapisi and Mrs. Das. Lahiri explores how greed can become the undoing of people through a postmodernist lens. In this story, Mrs. Das is revealed to have had an affair and with it a child that is not her husbands. This can be related to greed, rather than be faithful to her partner, Mrs. Das lets the affair happen and does not attempt to stop it, to satisfy her sexual desires she let a heinous act take place that would haunt her marriage forever, the greed for a moment of sexual satisfaction hurting a marriage of years. Furthermore, Mrs. Das withholds the information of the affair and of the child from her husband and family. This can be seen as the greed for escape or avoidance of discomfort, rather than face reality she chooses to avoid a hard topic. The greed from these events causes Mrs. Das to be extremely unhappy and she says “I feel terrible looking at my children, and at Raj, always terrible. I have terrible urges, Mr. Kapasi, to throw things away. One day I had the urge to throw everything I own out the window, the television, the children, everything. Don’t you think it’s unhealthy?,” (Lahiri, 27). This shows how greed and its consequences both can lead to a self destructive nature. Mr. Kapisi while providing a tour to the Das family, finds the attention from Mrs. Das intoxicating and starts fantasizing about earning her affection. Mr. Kapisi goes on to think, “ In time she would reveal the disappointment of her marriage, and he his. In this way their friendship would grow, and flourish,” (Lahiri, 20). This shows Mr. Kapisi’s greed for a renewed love even if it means leaving his wife and family behind and wishing that Mrs. Das do the same. This destructive thought process revealed by Lahiri’s postmodernist writing style reveals the effects and catastrophic consequences that greed can have on a person.
The theme of silence in the short story unit was significant and important throughout. The theme of silence was present in all the short stories, but these two short stories had the most powerful representation of silence. In Hills Like White Elephants, the relationship between the American and Jig was a representation of silence. In Children of the Sea, the female narrator’s examples throughout the story powerfully portrayed the theme of silence.
The theme of greed in the short story unit was significant and noticeable in all stories. While all short stories had the theme of greed, “Interpreter of Maladies” and “The Birthmark” were two short stories that had the biggest consequences for its characters as an effect of greed. For Mrs. Das and Mr Kapisi, the effects of greed were noticeable in the self destructive nature of the two. For Alymer, the effects of greed were noticeable in his determination to perfect his wife’s appearance, leading to her death. In both cases, greed has devastating consequences on whoever experiences it. Thus the theme of greed, as showcased by Nathanial Hawthorne and Jhumpa Lahiri, serves as a poignant reminder of the destructive power of human desires when left unchecked.