Lahiri's Style

Courtney A. Cannon

Lahiri's Style

Upon reading Jhumpa Lhahiri's Interpretation of Maladies and after discussions in our class, I have come to wonder about the concept of "style." In particular, I am now contemplating what I would classify my writing as, and I wonder if I can actually pinpoint what style I am using most of the time.

As it relates to the four stories we discussed in detail in class, I have noticed that Lahiri ends her tales in unexpected places. Her choice to end in seemingly abrupt places or in the middle of heightened emotion does not bother me, as I have mentioned in my previous post and peer responses for "A Real Durwan" and "This Blessed House." I believe these endings are strategically being used by Lahiri to manipulate the readers' emotional response to the characters and the plot turns. This form of "style" is used, I gather, to elicit thought and personal introspection of how we feel about the occurrences and the character's changes, or lack there of. Lahiri's choice to end the story where she does also focuses the narrative even further upon the protagonist's experience, for she includes so many rich characters. Lahiri's tapestry of characters is managed by her choice in sparse dialogue and precise narrative descriptions. Only the most important details are included in each piece. I do not think such precision and strategic editing-down of her stories limits the message; on the contrary, Lahiri's style of minimalism actually magnifies each word, sensation, action, and thought of the characters. Her minimalist style is an oxymoron, for her short stories accomplish complexity and depth, that full-length novels aspire to encompass.

I appreciated the questions from the group last week. How one should think not only of the emotional response one wants a reader to experience, nor think only upon the overall message or idea of the work, but that a major component of craft or style is to think about what craft choices one might use to accomplish the former two components of piece. I see how Lahiri accomplishes her goal of showcasing snippets of rich and complex lives of Indian and Indian Americans; I see how she elicits emotional responses in her craft choices as she ends, edits, and flows within the parameters of the short story; and I see how this can be seen as her "style." However, I am now at a place where I must practice craft choices, not for the sake of technique alone, or with the overall message I want to convey or the emotional response I am trying to elicit in mind, but with a precise focus on developing my own style as well. Lahiri, like so many other great writers, showcases her style in this collection of stories.

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