Women’s Role in Indian American Family in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies

ABSTRACT

Among hundred years ago, women have been marginalized, alienated and defeated by society. Women are assumed as the second sex, it happens because women are weaker than men physically. The society attitudes toward women lead into the imbalance and unequal right between men and women. One of them is related to the gender role. The society construction mentions that women’s role is just related to the private area. Women do not have the equal chance as men in almost aspect of life, such as economical, social, and educational aspect. But, as the developing period and the struggle of feminism, women’s condition has changed. Now, women also work outside the house, having broader chance in educational and economical aspect.

The women’s condition is also reflected in literary works, one of them is Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies. It tells about Indian-American women’s background and sensitive dilemma of Indian Immigrant who stay in America. The objective of this study is to analyze about women’s role in Indian-American family that is viewed from traditional and modern women’s role.

To achieve the above objectives of the study, the researcher applies a feminist literary criticism, which insists on linking the women’s role in literary work. Since, this study emphasizes on the analysis of literary work, it is then classified as literary criticism. The primary data of this study is two from nine short stories Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies, they are The Temporary Matter and Mrs. Sen’s.

The discussion of this analysis finds out the kinds of the traditional women’s roles in India American family. The first kind is that women just work in domestic affair including cooking, cleaning the house and taking care the children. Second, women are dependent, and the last is women are submissive to their husbands. On the contrary, the modern women’s roles in Indian-American family include women work outside home, women are autonomous, women who can exchange the husband’s role, women who have the right to make decision, and women who have a high education. The researcher, then, concludes that there some women’s roles that can be seen from traditional and modern women’s role as reflected in the stories of The Temporary Matter and Mrs. Sen’s.