Mapparium, Mary Baker Eddy Library, Boston, MA. courtesy of misterbisson, on wikipedia, and licensed by the GNU free documentation license. Jhumpa Lahiri is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of Interpreter of Maladies (1999), in which the short story "Sexy" first appeared. Those of you in my ENG 278 class last semester are familiar with her novel The Namesake; those of you taking my ENG 278 class next semester will read her latest collection of short stories, The Unaccustomed Earth. Lahiri often writes about characters who are attempting to make a home wherever they are, dealing with issues of cultural strangeness, and the tension between cultural assimilation and holding on to cultural traditions.
"Sexy" ingeniously interweaves maps as an important metaphor of place, through the Mapparium, as well as through the quiz of countries and capitals.
Lahiri also plays with the idea of language and words, showing Miranda attempting to write her name in Bengali and unsure whether she's written Mira or Mara. Dev tells her that Mira is an Indian name; Mara is also a significant name, bringing with it a whole host of allusions to evil forces/demons who tempt the Buddha away from his religious mission via beautiful women.
She also integrates Kali, the destructive mother goddess, who is proudly hanging on the wall of the Dixit's home.
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