A Temporary Matter

Love is Tricky Love is hard. Giving your heart and soul to someone isn’t easy. In the short story, “A Temporary Matter” by Jhumpa Lahiri, a man and a woman discover just how easily love can break. This story was especially dismal for me as a child of divorce, but also as someone in a loving committed relationship. As I read Lahiri’s short story, I found everything I fear in marriage. The first is the idea of physical separation. Throughout the story, Shoba and Shunkumar both find themselves drifting farther and farther from their significant other. The couldn’t stand to be in same room as each other. Shunkumar tells the audience how he purposefully hides in his study/the stillborn baby’s room because Shoba avoids it as much as possible. It reminded me of how my mother and father distanced themselves during their marital problems. They decided they couldn’t feel comfortable sleeping in the same …show more content…
It was something I really struggled with before my boyfriend came along. I saw love’s dead in my parents’ marriage and that made me hesitant in regards to my boyfriend. I wasn’t sure love was real, and if it was it didn’t last. If it was real, I didn’t want any involvement. It's something I don’t dwell on much anymore because I learned to love even though I know it might not last forever. Even if it falls apart, in the end, my love with Alex will have been enough for a lifetime. The story reminded me that if you aren’t careful love will disappear. We all need the reminder sometimes that if you don’t nurture it'll, love will die. The theme of love dying that I saw in my parents and in the couple in the story reminded me of the poem “What Happens to a Dream Deferred?” by Langston Hughes. Perhaps love could be that dream sometimes. The dream that dries up “like a raisin in the sun.” Or it could be the sagging, “heavy load.” Maybe it’ll simply