Through stories of American-Bengali collision, Jhumpa Lahiri explores the nuances and complexities of cross-cultural relationships and desires. In her three distinct works, “Interpreter of Maladies,” “Sexy,” and “Hell Heaven,” Lahiri examines how a person’s roots can lead to resentment, as well as how people can be vehicles for cultural exploration. In each story, Lahiri tells each character's unique stories of cultural frustration and transition through the lens of lust, both sexual and platonic. Through this narrative of desire, Lahiri explains how, although lust is often a manifestation of cultural transition and dissatisfaction, it is also only temporary. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"? Get an original essay In three separate stories dissecting American-Bengali cross-cultural relations, Lahiri uses lust to explore each character's intense yearnings to belong to a culture. different from his own, whether American or Bengali. In “Interpreter of Diseases,” Lahiri immediately establishes this theme when Mr. Kapasi first describes Mrs. Das, the mother of the American tourist family. In a description of intense fascination, Lahiri notes that Mr. Kapasi “watched her. She wore a red and white plaid skirt that stopped above the knees, slip-on shoes with wooden block heels, and a fitted blouse similar to a man's undershirt" ("Interpreter of Diseases" 2) . In this description, Lahiri captures Mr. Kapasi's desire through detailed observation and fixation on the cut of Mrs. Das's blouse. Barely describing the other characters in the same detail, Lahiri instead focuses on Mr. Kapasi's obsession with Mrs. Das to explore how his desire for Mrs. Das is also a desire for America. Mr. Das's attention to the fitted cut of Ms. Das's blouse as well as her "red and white plaid skirt" blurs the line between Mr. Kapasi's attraction to Ms. Das and his interest in "Americanness." that the skirt and her other American outfits represent. Lahiri once again expresses her desire for American culture as a desire for an individual person when Usha, a girl raised in a traditional Bengali household, idolizes Deborah, the white American fiancée of her Bengali family friend. Unlike Usha's traditional Bengali outfits that she wears. that her mother imposes on her, Deborah's clothing is the archetype of American culture. Usha aspires to this look and the American lifestyle it implies and notes, "I loved her serene gray eyes, the ponchos, the denim wrap skirts and sandals she wore, her straight hair that she allowed it to be manipulated into all kinds of silly styles. I craved his casual appearance” (Hell-Heaven 4). Usha's obsession not with Deborah's personality but rather with her appearance demonstrates Usha's specific infatuation with the American culture that Deborah represents. Unlike the strict and formal lifestyle that Usha's Bengali parents impose on her, Deborah's "casual" appearance represents the American freedom and ease that Usha longs for. Similarly, in “Sexy,” Miranda lusts after Dev in order to achieve the romantic exoticism she associates with her Bengali culture. Throughout the story, Miranda connects Dev's Indian ethnicity to his being "worldly" and "mature" ("Sexy" 4), whether these conclusions are correct or not. While sitting in her office, Miranda dreams of taking photos with Dev at places like the TajMajal, just like her more worldly Indian office colleague Laxmi, is already doing this with her boyfriend: “Miranda started wishing there was a photo of her and Dev. bug inside her cabin, like that of Laxmi and her husband in front of the Taj Mahal” (“Sexy” 4). The image of the Taj Mahal, a symbol of worldliness and Indian culture, highlights Miranda's desire to associate with this different culture. Miranda doesn't just want to be with Dev, but wants to be with Dev at the Taj Mahal, demonstrating how her desire for Dev is not only for his love and companionship, but also for the Indian culture he represents. In all three stories, Lahiri interweaves attractive characteristics with symbols and cues from other cultures to show how, regardless of the characters' consciousness, their desire captures both interpersonal and cross-cultural attraction. Once this desire is established, Lahiri demonstrates how this desire derives from Mr. Kapasi and Usha's dissatisfaction with Bengali culture and Miranda's guilt toward her own narrow American upbringing. In "Interpreter of Diseases", Mr. Kapasi's fantasies about Mrs. Das arise from his dissatisfaction with his own marriage. While his own wife represents traditional Bengali culture, Mrs. Das is the antithesis; while his wife serves tea to her husband and dresses conservatively, Mrs. Das is self-centered, demanding and her dress exposes more of her skin. Lahiri notes this distinction and explains: "He had never seen his own wife completely naked... He had never admired the backs of his wife's legs as he now admired those of Mrs. Das, walking as if for his only benefit” (“Interpreter of Diseases” 9). This juxtaposition contrasts Bengali and American cultures and highlights Mr. Kapasi's attraction to the latter. His dissatisfaction with his Bengali marriage not only feeds a dissatisfaction with his culture, but also serves as a point of comparison that awakens Mr. Kapasi to this perceived "value" of American clothing and culture. Usha also loves Deborah because she is both her mother's opposite and enemy. While her mother represents Bengali culture through her traditional family values ​​and reserved attitude, Debora instead represents the American culture that Usha aspires to be a part of. As Usha begins to associate with American culture, her respect for her mother and her Bengali way of life falters: “I began to pity my mother; the older I got, the more I saw what a desolate life she led” (“Hell-Paradise” 11). Usha's pity for her mother who symbolizes Bengali values ​​demonstrates not only Usha's contempt for Bengali culture but also her perceived superiority. Her choice of the word "sorry" further reinforces this notion of perceived hierarchy between the two cultures by explaining how Usha's love for America can only be so strong because she compares America with her perception of 'an empty Bengali culture. However, in contrast to Usha and Mr. Kapasi, Miranda's desire does not come from dissatisfaction, but rather from guilt. Miranda, born into American culture, is ashamed of how that upbringing gave her false and racist ideas about Bengalis. As a child, when Miranda passed the house of the Dixits, a Bengali family, she “held her breath until she reached the next lawn, just like she did when the school bus passed a cemetery. It shamed him now” (“Sexy” 10). In Lahiri's discussion of Then and Now, Lahiri explores how Miranda's past influences her present. Describing how Miranda only now feels shame about her conscience.