Third Person Narrator Limited: Interpreter of Maladies

"Mr. Kapasi found it strange that Mr. Das should refer to his wife by her first name when speaking to the little girl. Tina pointed to where Mrs. Das was purchasing something from one of the shirtless men who worked at the tea stall. Mr. Kapasi heard one of the shirtless men sing a phrase from a popular Hindi love song as Mrs. Das walked back to the car, but she did not appear to understand the words of the song, for she did not express irritation, or embarrassment, or react in any other way to the man's declarations."

The use of third person limited narration in this story provides a unique effect. The speaker can only read the emotions of Mr. Kapasi; however, much of the story centers on Mr. Kapasi trying to read the emotions of the other characters, mainly Mrs. Das. As the story progresses, Mr. Kapasi's thoughts become more and more centralized on Mrs. Das. Were the story being told in first person from Mr. Kapasi's point of view, it may seem normal for this to be true. But, the fact that this is the action that was chosen to be detailed in the story  shows that it is the most important or serious. That helps to stress Mr. Kapasi's developing infatuations with Mrs. Das.The narrator helps you to be able to infer the connections that Mr. Kapasi's mind makes as he talks to Mrs. Das. From the things she says, he comes to the conclusion that she is interested in him as well, but in reality, she is just having an average conversation. Much of Mr. Kapasi's desire for Mrs. Das to want him stems from his own troubled marriage. He can see himself with someone else. But in the end, when Mrs. Das asks him what her problem is, he realizes that she couldn't like him because her problem is that she feels guilty about the affair she had.