"Sexy" is my favorite story so far in Interpreter of Maladies. Despite the classic "other woman" trope we've read in Lorrie Moore's Self-Help, "Sexy" still feels fresh and unique to me. The story starts off with Miranda spotting an Indian man in the makeup section of a department store and right away, she's drawn to him. She's never bought anything besides a lipstick from Filene's but she doesn't want to walk away from him so she buys some sort of anti-aging cream even thought she's only 22. His name is Dev and she notices that he's not wearing a wedding ring. Upon getting to know Dev, she's smitten by him––his looks, his wealth, and his ethnicity even. When Dev says that he's shopping for his wife, we don't get any insight as to how Miranda feels about that. She seems to jump into the relationship without any precautions or concerns that Dev is a married man.
Miranda lives in this little bubble in Boston where she's kind of unaware of the rest of the world that isn't America. The cultural differences between Miranda and Dev is apparent as she even thought Bengali was a religion at first. There are little changes in the dynamic between the couple as their relationship progresses. The first change is when Miranda asks Dev about his wife. The reality that there are other people involved in Miranda's relationships starts to set in but not exactly. The wife becomes more real now once Dev tells her about what she looks like. Miranda is so curious about her that she even goes to an Indian store to check out films of the actress who Dev says that his wife looks like. Miranda becomes very intrigued by Indian culture and takes on this very glamorized idea of it. Miranda imagines "deserts and elephants, and marble pavilions floating on lakes beneath a full moon" when she's having sex with Dev. It feels a bit weird and almost uncomfortable, especially when she transcribes "Mira" into Filofax and gets this epiphany that "It was a scribble to her, but somewhere in the world, she realized with a shock, it meant something."
The arrival of Rohin further bursts her bubble. I thought it was a nice touch that Rohin was this very intelligent 7-year-old who begged Miranda to text him on his knowledge of capitals and countries when she doesn't know much about the world. There is that pivotal scene where she tries on the silver dress she had planned to wear for Dev and Rohin says to her, "You're sexy." At first, she receives his words as a compliment because it reminded her of when Dev whispered "You're sexy," at the Mapparium. Rohin gets shy when she tries to get him to tell her what his words mean but he gives in and responds that "it means loving someone you don't know." That's when it hits her that Dev telling her that she was sexy was not as meaningful as she felt it was in the moment. It strikes her that she may be sexy to Dev, but his wife is beautiful. Rohin's words further push her realizations when he says, "[My father] sat next to someone he didn’t know, someone sexy, and now he loves her instead of my mother." Miranda sees the immense pain that Rohin's father has caused for Rohin and Laxmi's cousin by leaving them for this other woman. She's no longer in this bubble of bliss where it's just her and Dev. This causes Miranda to ultimately break off their relationship with Dev.
Miranda lives in this little bubble in Boston where she's kind of unaware of the rest of the world that isn't America. The cultural differences between Miranda and Dev is apparent as she even thought Bengali was a religion at first. There are little changes in the dynamic between the couple as their relationship progresses. The first change is when Miranda asks Dev about his wife. The reality that there are other people involved in Miranda's relationships starts to set in but not exactly. The wife becomes more real now once Dev tells her about what she looks like. Miranda is so curious about her that she even goes to an Indian store to check out films of the actress who Dev says that his wife looks like. Miranda becomes very intrigued by Indian culture and takes on this very glamorized idea of it. Miranda imagines "deserts and elephants, and marble pavilions floating on lakes beneath a full moon" when she's having sex with Dev. It feels a bit weird and almost uncomfortable, especially when she transcribes "Mira" into Filofax and gets this epiphany that "It was a scribble to her, but somewhere in the world, she realized with a shock, it meant something."
The arrival of Rohin further bursts her bubble. I thought it was a nice touch that Rohin was this very intelligent 7-year-old who begged Miranda to text him on his knowledge of capitals and countries when she doesn't know much about the world. There is that pivotal scene where she tries on the silver dress she had planned to wear for Dev and Rohin says to her, "You're sexy." At first, she receives his words as a compliment because it reminded her of when Dev whispered "You're sexy," at the Mapparium. Rohin gets shy when she tries to get him to tell her what his words mean but he gives in and responds that "it means loving someone you don't know." That's when it hits her that Dev telling her that she was sexy was not as meaningful as she felt it was in the moment. It strikes her that she may be sexy to Dev, but his wife is beautiful. Rohin's words further push her realizations when he says, "[My father] sat next to someone he didn’t know, someone sexy, and now he loves her instead of my mother." Miranda sees the immense pain that Rohin's father has caused for Rohin and Laxmi's cousin by leaving them for this other woman. She's no longer in this bubble of bliss where it's just her and Dev. This causes Miranda to ultimately break off their relationship with Dev.
Nice post. Initially I actually thought that Mira was part Indian or something, and so that's why she was so fascinated with Indian culture. But after our class decision, I realized that no one else thought that, and so I probably misinterpreted her interest. After that, I must admit that while her curiosity is well intentioned, it is still a bit weird. Especially, like you mentioned, how she imagines deserts and elephants and stuff. That's kinda stereotypical.
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