The family is recognized as the most important unit in society. The Nuclear Family is the traditional American model of the family unit. While it is mostly associated with archaic thinking or old TV shows, the nuclear family structure affects our culture even today. Having the perfect family is the cherry on top of having the American Dream. What happens then when this is applied to a family that is not necessarily nuclear, like Shoba and Shukumar in Jhumpa Lahiri’s short Story “A Temporary Matter.” Shukumar drives the couple towards this structure, yet adds the twist of Indian culture. He wants the perfect Indian-American family. This family is equally influenced by both cultures and thrives in both. It is an ideal, a romanticizing of traditional elements from both cultures
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Yet, Shukumar completely believes in it. Shoba, on the other hand, ends the story seeing the reality behind the impossible narrative Shukumar wants to create. Jhumpa Lahiri uses the breakdown of Shoba and Shukumars marriage to portray the damaging effects of cultural idealization through Shukumar delusional quest to create the perfect family.
The idea of the nuclear family permeates American society. In some ways, it is an extension of the American Dream; it is what comes after success. Margaret Andersen defines the traditional American family in her article “Feminism and the American Family Ideal.” She writes, “Traditionally, the family ideal has defined the family as a nuclear unit with a father-head, mother, and children, all held together through primary emotional bonds of love and caring” (235). Borne out of the generally oppressive 50’s, the nuclear family is an idea contemporary Americans probably recognize: laid back dad, attentive mom, good-looking kids, scruffy dog, middle class aesthetic, etc. (We can probably think of sitcoms like I Love Lucy or The Brady Bunch for pop culture examples of nuclear families.) This family structure carried over
Yet, Shukumar completely believes in it. Shoba, on the other hand, ends the story seeing the reality behind the impossible narrative Shukumar wants to create. Jhumpa Lahiri uses the breakdown of Shoba and Shukumars marriage to portray the damaging effects of cultural idealization through Shukumar delusional quest to create the perfect family.
The idea of the nuclear family permeates American society. In some ways, it is an extension of the American Dream; it is what comes after success. Margaret Andersen defines the traditional American family in her article “Feminism and the American Family Ideal.” She writes, “Traditionally, the family ideal has defined the family as a nuclear unit with a father-head, mother, and children, all held together through primary emotional bonds of love and caring” (235). Borne out of the generally oppressive 50’s, the nuclear family is an idea contemporary Americans probably recognize: laid back dad, attentive mom, good-looking kids, scruffy dog, middle class aesthetic, etc. (We can probably think of sitcoms like I Love Lucy or The Brady Bunch for pop culture examples of nuclear families.) This family structure carried over