Interpreter of Maladies: Ch 8 "The Treatment of Bibi Haldar" - Primary Response only

9/22/2015

It is very difficult to sympathize with the character of Bibi Haldar and the entire short story is perhaps the most obscure of the collection. Considering what you already know about literary analysis and stylistic devices such as POV, address the "treatment" of Bibi Haldar. Discuss this and how Bibi comes to her satisfied conclusion at the end of the story.

Part One Expectations (respond to the prompt above): 200-250 words, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the assigned "number" given to you in class as your "pen name."

Due Tuesday night!

9/22/2015 07:26:26 pm

In ‘The Treatment of Bibi Haldar’ the point of view was taken from one of her community members, who also could have been a caretaker of hers and this point of view had a counteractive effect on how Bibi Haldar’s treatment was displayed. Bib Haldar had a literal illness but her marital status was also referred to as a sickness of sorts. The speaker of the chapter establishes that Bibi undergoes actual paroxysms and that there were many diagnoses/cures given to her issue but she mentions it in a way that her sickness seems to stem from being without a spouse. It is said in the chapter that her own marriage will cure her of her ailment and then people began to recognize her issue for what it was diagnosed to be instead of the fact that keeping her body active would take her mind off of her real sickness. The treatment of Bibi seemed to me just to be companionship of any sort because “[her illness] had not been so bad for Bibi before her father died” and her mother died while giving birth, thus taking those closest to her out of her life (Lahiri,166). The description of her predicament had been described to be medical but as time passed without close relationship as a husband, child or husband she seemed to worsen. I think that Bibi was satisfied with her conclusion because no matter the disgrace she granted the companionship of her child.

9/22/2015 08:14:50 pm

The short story, “Treatment of Bibi Haldar”, by Lahiri, is about to woman who has an ailment, and no one can seem to figure out the remedy or treatment to her illness. She has terrible seizers, which others who live around her try to help her with, but her cousin and his wife who she was to live with seem to not care and scorn her. The illness that she may have is loneliness with leads to emotional instability. She sees everyone with families and something to care for, while she has no one. At first they thought the treatment was marriage; “It was there, after performing…..concluded that a marriage would cure her.”(Lahiri, 161) So they encouraged her happiness toward it, but they could find a suitor. After the announcement of her cousin’s wife pregnancy, and the horrible treatment she was given thinking she was contagious, she went into a depression state and the people around her (except her cousin and his wife) were concerned, and tried to help her in any way they could. Haldar and his wife moved with their child after their business went downhill, because of the strike of home folks who disagreed with their treatment of Bibi. Bibi isolated herself from others, and the concern of the home folks grew that they had to inquire about her. They find that Bibi is pregnant and are curious of who helped her conceive. He then has a son whose existence seems to revive and treat Bibi for her ailment. This gave her someone to care about, filling her empty void and healing her emotionally. It all sets an upward movement in Bibi’s life.

9/22/2015 08:23:00 pm

In the story “The Treatment of Bibi Haldar”, Bibi is treated like a pariah because of her condition. She feels lonely most of the time and wants nothing more than to find a man to be her husband. Some doctors believe that this will help treat her illness instead of all the other remedies they have tried although no man seemed to be interested in her. After discovering that the couple she lives with is going to have a baby, she is treated like an even more like an outcast in fear that she may spread her condition to the child. Bibi felt so shunned by her relatives that she started to isolate herself even further by refusing to go out in public. After “being in hiding” for a long period of time, members of the community saw that she was pregnant but the identity of the father was not revealed. Although Bibi did not appear to be in a relationship with anyone, you could see the improvement in her after having the baby. “For years afterward, we wondered who in our town had disgraced her…But there was no point carrying on an investigation. She was, to the best of our knowledge, cured.” (Lahiri 172)Originally, everyone thought that the love of a man would heal Bibi; but it was the bond she had with her own child that had healed her.

9/22/2015 09:33:59 pm

In the short story “The Treatment of Bibi Haldar” by Jhumpa Lahiri, the narrator is the first-person plural; they use the collective pronoun “we” to tell the story of Bibi Haldar in the eyes of the community. Bibi Haldar suffers from a “malady” that causes her to have seizures sporadically and have breakdowns. Both of her parents died, and she is living in the storage room of her cousin’s cosmetic shop. She goes to every person imaginable to find a cure for her illness, but nothing seemed to work. She ended up believing that she needed a man to take care of her and would thus heal her illness. However, she could not find a man that was willing to be with her, despite her desperateness. After being abandoned by her cousin and his wife as they moved away, Bibi had to live alone. She became depressed and lonely and would scarcely interact with anyone. One day, someone in the town opened the door to her home and found out that she was pregnant. No one knew who impregnated her, “But there was no point carrying on an investigation. She was, to the best of our knowledge, cured” (Lahiri 172. After giving birth to her baby, Bibi was a totally different person and her feelings of loneliness subsided. She realized that her baby was her treatment, and that she doesn’t need a man to make her happy. Overall, it was very difficult to sympathize with Bibi because the story was not told from her point of view, which made it difficult to anticipate her feelings towards her disorder. Obviously she felt horrible, but it would be much easier to sympathize with her if we heard her own story from her own point of view rather than a member of the community.

9/22/2015 09:49:43 pm

In the short story "The Treatment of Bibi Haldar", Lahiri builds a story about Bibi, a woman who is so sick and a cure hasn't been founded. She is someone who constantly sees the women around her experiencing marriage, and all she can do is fantasize about it. After giving Bibi endless strange prescriptions, she is proscribed marriage. Bibi was so happy about the prescription, until she realized that no one was willing to marry her. As time passed by, the treatment that will cure her seem to not be possible to obtain. She did everything possible to find a man that will take her as his wife, but as time went on the little hope seemed to be fading.The people that lived with her were isolating her more everyday, and wanted her as far from them. Eventually they left, and she no longer wanted to be around people or leave the house. She had given up on finding anyone who will marry her, since at this point it seemed like a waste of time. After being isolated, the people in town went to look how she was doing, they were surprised to find her to be 4 months pregnant. "...no point carrying out an investigation. She was, to best of our knowledge, cured" (Lahiri 172). Bibi had premarital sex, and even though it was a bad thing, the fact that it cured her seemed to be something to be happy about.

9/22/2015 10:42:20 pm

In "The Treatment of Bibi Haldar", the story is told in the perspective of the people of the town as they observe the life of Bibi Haldar, a young women who suffers from a severe illness that causes seizures. After the death of her father, she is forced to live with her cousin and his wife that do not care for her at all and treat her wrongly- isolate her and blame her for things. While the people of the town humor her and are seemingly nice to her, no one truly cares for her as family and she spends most of her time alone. Her one true wish was to be married and find a man to care for her/for her to care for him. However, after her cousin and his wife have a baby, she is forced to live in the storage room of their house (further isolating her). When the townspeople discover Bibi's situation, they boycott the cousin's shop to force them to move away, leaving Bibi in the house. Despite this, she does not emerge for a while. The next time the townspeople see her, she is 4 months pregnant. It was clear that someone had attacked her (since she stopped looking for a husband) and caused this. This, however, was not detrimental to Bibi. Her son was the "cure" she had been waiting for all along. After suffering from this illness all her life without anyone (besides her father) truly caring for her, she finally had someone for her to love and someone to love her. The townspeople decide to let the fact that someone had attacked her go and began helping her with the care of her baby because her son was not a burden to her- he was start of the new life she had been preparing for.

9/22/2015 10:57:32 pm

In the story ,“The Treatment Of Bibi Haldar”, by Jhumpa Lahiri Bidi is a social outcast because of the sickness she has. No cure had been found for Bibi’s sickness. Bibi is constantly looking at the people around her, they are all engaged and expectant mothers and fathers. All Bibi can do is dream about one day being like those people. Doctors try and try to find a cure for Bibi’s sickness. They finally prescribe ‘marriage’ as the cure. Bibi was extremely happy, until no one wanted to marry her. It seemed as though the cure was slipping from Bibi’s grip, she couldn't force someone to marry her. Her cousin, that she lived with, and his wife began to isolate Bibi more and more. Eventually they leave Bibi all alone. She falls somewhat into depression, she doesn't want to be around anyone at all, and doesn't even want to leave the house. When someone in the village finally goes to check on Bibi they find her 4 months pregnant. And though the sex was premarital, Bibi seemed to be cured. Male dominance is very prominent in this story. Men control the village. Relations with men are what will cure Bibi, but Bibi’s son is what really cures her. They story is narrated by the women of the village. It seems to be the only thing they actually have control over.

9/22/2015 11:42:16 pm

In “The Treatment of Bibi Haldar” we are introduced to the main character Bibi, who has some type of condition that seemed to be incurable with regular medication and home remedies. Eventually doctors had told Bibi that they found the cure and it was for Bibi to find herself a man. The whole chapter was narrated through the eyes of one of the villager’s wife who wanted to help treat Bibi’s condition. Through this point of view, we get to see the way Bibi’s condition affects the people around her. In the chapter, Bibi had a point where she became a brand new person. This occurred after she learned of the possible treatment and had become excited to learn how to be a wife and find herself a husband. I think that the shift in the chapter occurred at this moment in the chapter. Bibi has trouble finding herself a husband and eventually gives up on her quest. However, us readers get surprised when we find out that she becomes pregnant mysteriously. The chapter ends without us even finding out who the baby daddy is. In the end, I think it’s safe to assume that the actual cure for Bibi was not to get married, but was rather to bare her own child and have someone who would rely on her.

9/23/2015 12:19:21 am

In “The Treatment of Bibi Haldar” the POV is in the view of one of the townspeople who watch over Bibi and try to help her whenever she has an attack. The entire chapter is almost hinting to other things within the novel; they mention how Bibi wanted to be married and partake in the classic festivities that a bride-to-be would have to go through, then a page or two later she is told that what will cure her now is getting married. Haldar’s wife becomes pregnant and when they leave, it’s found out that Bibi herself is pregnant with a child that no one knows who fathered; while this does seem to be the ultimate cure since she has no more incidents, it’s very curious on how she actually became pregnant or when she did. When her marriage treatment was given that was all she could talk about on what sari she would wear and the tiaras and the food. People helped her with her hair and the basics on how to impress potential husbands and families, since she herself wasn’t raised to do this because of her episodes. Now, she keeps pleading and pestering Halar to send out her photo to the agencies and people so she might become an option for the lookers to browse. But even after months of no reply she stays hopeful, until Haldar’s wife becomes pregnant and accuses her of potentially infecting and contaminating the child with her illness. I believe this is around when Bibi got pregnant, as a sort of irony that she was kept away from the baby and the public by Haldar and his wife; Haldar himself, since he is the only man accessible to her, got her pregnant and this is what caused the sudden flip in the child’s health. The ‘illness’ that Bibi had disappeared once se became pregnant and the baby became sick. This is why Haldar locked her away and why she was fine with staying there, she was pregnant with his child and they needed a place to stay and a place for her to be kept away. Though the loss of the illness itself could be the start of her actually having seizures, but then the responsibility of her having to take care of someone almost made it fade further into the background since she had the family she wanted and had to take care of it.

9/23/2015 10:50:17 pm

In “The Treatment of Bibi Haldar”, the character, Bibi is found to have an illness that the doctors cannot seem to cure. They try many different cures to try and fix it but they just cannot get to a conclusion on why they aren't working. Bibi is living with her cousin and his wife who seem to not care about Bibi at all. When Bibi decides that she wants to have a man in her life and thinks it will cure her illness, Haldar, her cousin, and his wife doesn't think that it's such a good idea. They think that she would not be ready for being a good wife and doesn't have any skills to be a good woman. Her own cousin would not even help her get out into the world of dating by taking photographs to put out. She is treated like an animal, living in the cousins storage room. When their baby is born they didn't even allow her near it because she had a disease. But when the baby did get ill, they blamed it all on Bibi. Bibi’s class had a lot to do with situations like this. When Bibi became pregnant she claimed that she hadn't felt the way she did before. She felt like her disease had gone away. This makes it seem like all this time Bibi only needed someone else in her life to be cured. Before she was pregnant, she basically had nobody to care about which gave her the illness of looniness.

9/27/2015 01:19:09 pm

In the short story, “Treatment of Bibi Haldar”, there are many scenes that depict the sickness of Bibi. Lahiri includes a statement by a few women who say “Besides, who would marry her? The girl knows nothing, about anything, speaks backward, is practically thirty, can’t light a coal stove, can’t boil rice, can’t tell the difference between fennel and a cumin seed. Imagine her attempting to feed a man!” (Lahiri 163). The women narrating take care of the afflicted girl but are also relieved that she is not their responsibility. Although she is treated cruelly by her own family, the women realize that she is ignorant of “practical matters”. The major literary analysis at play in this short story is literal and figurative language. Literally, there is no “disease”. Bibi simply has a lack of common sense. Bibi’s mysterious epilepsy is undiagnosed officially and treated by a variety of folk remedies. Ultimately, the only cure is marriage. Marriage would be the figurative cure for Bibi, actual medical assistance however, would be literal. The women say that no one has ever taught Bibi how to be a woman, as if one needs lessons. Bibi does not really need a “cure” she just hasn’t been able to learn things like everyone else.

9/27/2015 07:42:29 pm

In chapter 8 of the "Treatment of Bibi Haldar," author talks about how a young woman was living by herself that was very sick but also was very lonely and did not have anyone to take care of her. Doctors have tried to find a cure for her disease and tried to figure out what is causing her illness but wasn't able to solve that situation. So Bibi Haldar had to live with her cousin that did not wanted to care for her or find her a suitable husband to take care of her. The cousin and his wife didn't want to be responsible for her and they did not want to waste their time trying to find her a husband which they believe won't accept her as a wife. They treated her like an animal and moved her up to the storage room on top of the roof to keep her away from their newborn. After the cousin and his family left, neighbors have noticed that Bibi refuse to leave the storage room, which they later found out that she was about 4 months pregnant with a boy. For years everyone try to investigate who got Bibi pregnant but she refuse to tell. The author created a huge suspense for its reader right at the end of the story. But throughout the entire story it was filled with conflicts and sorrows for the main character Bibi. As many readers can conclude that at the end of the story that Bibi wasn't really ill instead lovesick or she was cured by having someone to cared for which ended up being her son.

9/28/2015 12:07:45 pm

In the short story, “Treatment of Bibi Haldar”, readers are introduced to a woman with a seemingly incurable ailment that causes her to have seizures. Bibi is quite lonely, and is set on the idea that she wants a husband and it was concluded that relations will cure her. However, Haldar’s wife says, “Besides, who would marry her? The girl knows nothing, about anything, speaks backward, is practically thirty, can't light a coal stove, can't boil rice, can't tell the difference between fennel and a cumin seed. Imagine her attempting to feed a man!"(Lahiri 163). This quote shows that no one really has any faith in Bibi and no one gives her a chance to prove herself. They think she could infect Haldar and his wife’s baby so they kept her isolated in the storage room which was frowned upon by the home folks. In the end, she gets pregnant, and she doesn’t know who the father is, nor does she care. Being able to be a mother cured her. It gave her the ability to be responsible for someone other than herself and proved many people wrong. She was given the opportunity to care about another person, which ultimately did not have to be a husband at all.

10/5/2015 10:57:29 pm

In the short story “Treatment of Bibi Halder” is told in the perspective of the community describing the life of Bibi Halder. Bibi Halder is suffering from some type of disease that causes her to have random seizures. Bibi feels as if she is very lonely and thinks that the only thing she needs is a husband but no man seems very interested in her. Her doctors believe that the only thing that will work to cure her is finding a man to marry. Biba Halder feels much like an outcast or alienated because she is different. No one wants her disease so most people do keep their fair distance from her. The couple that she lives with is expecting a child and they distance themselves from her more and more in fear that she will give the child her disease. They eventually move out making Bibi Halder feel even worse about her self. This causes her to become very depressed and not want to associate with anyone outside. After the village finally shuts her out and doesn’t speak to her at all, someone finds out that she is pregnant from an unplanned sex but is also makes her cured. Turns out that in the end, Bibi didn’t necessarily need a man to marry but another person that she can call her own and deeply rely on to cure her.

10/13/2015 11:32:42 am

In this short story, Bibi Haldar is a 29 year old woman who suffers from seizures but no one seems to know why. Bibi feels very lonely and is desperate for a cure. Her cousin and his wife treat her unfairly and they're not very understanding, though they try to find her a man and take her to see a doctor they're very mean to her. No one seems to want to be infected with what she has so she really has nobody. This is where the community comes in, which is whose telling the story, its coming from the communities point of view. Everyone except her cousin seem to think that finding a man will some how cure her of her disease and Bibi is more than eager to try anything. But after her cousin abandons her after the boycott and doesn't leave her with much, Bibi pretends she's fine but she's actually feelings worse. Towards the end somehow she becomes pregnant and her disease is magically cured. I think this shows that the real "treatment" she needed was to call something her own and know that it loves her back. I think she's so desperate to find someone who will stick with her like her father did someone who she can always have and love, that when she has her healthy baby boy it makes everything better and she no longer has seizures.

10/18/2015 09:58:32 pm

In the short story The Treatment of Bibi Halder the narrator takes the first-person plural "we" to show that it is multiple people who are aiding Bibi through her situation. "We" are people of the apartment and perhaps anyone else who had encountered her and witnessed her plight. Bibi has a terrible ailment in which she falls at any given time to vicious seizures. In this short story what I mainly focused on was the title and how its double meaning could be applied to the text. The word treatment has two meanings. One is the application of a certain medicine or action to treat a certain malady. The other is the act or manner in which a person treats another. In this short story both are applied to Bibi Halder. Bibi is treated well by her father, who remained at home as much as possible to look after her, and the people of the community who help her prepare for a wedding, liberated her from the storage room, and taught her how to care for her child. She was also treated badly by her cousin and his wife who were the ones that gave her only enough to sustain herself and were the ones who locked her up in the storage room. The other form of treatment is seen when she had her child and "She, to the best of our knowledge, cured" (Lahiri 172). Earlier it is mentioned how she could not go out unless it was under constant supervision. Now she takes a cab to the wholesale market on her own to supply for her shop implying that for the most part she has been cured of her mysterious malady.

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