Das’ friend: “She opened the car door and began walking up the path, wobbling a little on her square wooden heels, reaching into her straw bag to eat handfuls of puffed rice. Her love for her children and husband is mere ritual and lacks the spiritual substance of “true” love.

Dalal, a resident with a soft spot for Boori Ma, promises the woman new bedding, but that promise is forgotten when her husband brings home new basins. Kapasi because of his profession; she hopes he can interpret her feelings and make her feel better as he does for his patients, translating without passing judgment.Lahiri's stories show the diasporic struggle to keep hold of culture as characters create new lives in foreign cultures. Kapasi can help her in the same way he helps his patients, by interpreting these emotions and making her feel better. As improvements are made to the building the tenants decide they want a real concierge and toss her onto the street. Das is so self centered that she cares more about how her nails look, rather than paying attention to her daughter. The stories revolve around the difficulties of relationships, communication and a loss of identity for those in diaspora.

Laura Anh Williams observes the stories as highlighting the frequently omitted female diasporic subject.

The dissatisfaction he experiences in the job of an interpreter leads to a sense of futility within him. The family is often depicted as surprised by or wary of the environment surrounding them, further underscoring their sense of foreignness in their ancestral land.