So, after reading Lahiri’s “Sexy”, I’m pretty sure we all had a little dejavu moment. Miranda’s situation with Dev seems very similar to Lorrie’s Moore’s characters in “How to Be an Other Woman”. But, in Moore’s story, I could easily state that the man is being very manipulative and womanizer, making him an unfavorable character. But, in “Sexy”, I honestly don’t know what to think about Dev. I mean, I feel like he’s being a little bit manipulative of Miranda, but I’m not totally sold. In Moore’s story, it was obvious that the male character was an awful person, as he was dating more than one person at the same time. But, somehow, Dev seems different. There are two ways one could read this character, and I’m not sure which one is more prominent.
First, Dev is manipulative. He has a formulaic method in which he woos Miranda, seeming like he’s done this kind of thing before. Initially, Dev and Miranda’s meeting sounded a little like Moore’s story. Miranda didn’t mean to meet and fall in love with a married man, but it’s just how it happened, and it could have happened to anyone. You don’t plan on it, but this is how things pan out. Miranda met Dev in a makeup store, which, unless he is a drag queen of some sorts, should have been some kind of red flag. One could assume that he was buying makeup for his girlfriend or wife as a gift of some sort, but this didn’t seem to bother Miranda. Although Miranda shouldn’t be totally at fault, because once she and Dev make eye contact, it seems like he is coming on to her, so one wouldn’t assume that he was already in a relationship. It isn’t until Miranda inquires who he is buying the makeup for, that she finds out that he is a married man. “‘They’re for my wife.’ He uttered the words slowly, holding Miranda’s gaze. ‘She’s going to India for a few weeks.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘She’s addicted to this stuff’” (88). It’s almost like Dev is watching to see how Miranda will act after hearing this startling news. If she were to act negatively, assumably he would back off, but since she seems to be okay with this information, he accompanied her on her way out, and continued to maintain a relationship with her, while he wife was away on a different continent.
But this isn’t the only weird thing that Dev does. Later on in their relationship, Miranda admits that Dev seems to call her on a very precise schedule. “Once he learned Miranda’s schedule he left her a message each evening at five-thirty, when she was on the T coming back to her apartment, just so, he said, she could hear his voice as soon as she walked through the door” (88). Okay, now this is just plain creepy. I mean, I can see how this could seem kind of endearing, but I would be creeped out if someone did this to me. It’s almost like he’s trying to make sure that he is all she thinks about. And he’s successful, because as time goes on, all Miranda can think about is the time she will be spending with Dev later on in the day. Even when Dev’s wife returns, she begins to only look forward to her special time with Dev on Sundays. He tells her things that he admires about her, including her long legs, making her fall deeper and deeper in love with him. Even when the wife comes back, and Dev only shows up on Sundays in his workout clothes, Miranda still finds herself wanting and waiting for him to come over. But, even though Miranda’s love for Dev was growing as she fantasized him divorcing his wife and being with her, Dev seemed to become distant, trying to juggle two women whom he cared about. He still loved his wife, which would make Miranda the forever “other” woman.
But, if you think about it in another way, Dev isn’t all so bad. He tells Miranda that he knows what it’s like being lonely when she explains to him how she moved to Boston, even though she didn’t know anyone there at the time. This statement could be taken as Dev still trying to play into Miranda’s emotions, but I saw it as sweet because he’s opening up to Miranda. He tells her how he relates to not knowing anyone and no one truly knowing him. This resonates with Miranda as she says that “at that moment Miranda felt that she understood her” (89). In a sense, one could argue that Dev realized that Miranda was lonely and struggling to find her way in Boston, a place she feels like a stranger in constantly. (Although she does have friends, like Laxmi, she still feels at least a little bit lonely). Because of this, he tried to connect with her, and help her solve her problems on her own. Once she realizes that she doesn’t need to be with him everyday, or even every Sunday, Dev begins to back off. Miranda is able to live her life without constantly thinking about Dev, she can be a successful, independent woman. This is why Dev doesn’t fight it when Miranda cancels on their Sunday plans for three weeks in a row. Although he did like her (maybe even love her), he knows it’s best that they be separated, for her sake.
So, all in all, I don’t know if I’m reading into this story a little too much, but I think Dev is a pretty complicated character whom, in my opinion, we don’t get enough information about. Lahiri purposefully gives us limited information on Dev, prompting us to form our own opinions on him. I can’t decide whether I like his character or not, because I’m not sure if he’s manipulative or trying to be helpful. Either way, I don’t see Dev in a negative or positive light, unlike the character in Moore’s story.
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