Two Roads Diverge
Losing a baby is always a tragedy for a couple and in most instances, the couple eventually loses their connection to one another. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story “A Temporary Matter” this is exactly what happens but with a twist. A secret game is presented by the wife, Shoba, to her husband, Shukumar, to tell each other their biggest secrets. To readers, Shoba appears to want to reconnect with her husband after months of disconnection after their baby died, but again things are not always as they seem with this game. Throughout the secret game, there are signals that the couple are reversing roles: Shukumar from being disconnected to interested in reconnecting and Shoba from being somewhat connective to wanting to completely disconnect. This ultimately foreshadows the very interpretive ending. In everyday life, the couple couldn’t tell each other everything, not …show more content…
Before Shoba had started the secret game, the couple barely talked and they just really were in a rut in their relationship. They also did everything to avoid each other even sitting in different rooms while eating dinner. When Shoba introduced the game Shukumar even seemed unwilling to participate, “She hadn’t appeared so determined in months. What was there left to say to her?” (13). Shukumar at first does not want to make a connection to Shoba anymore. He says, “what was there left”; this proves that he wasn’t really committed to their relationship anymore and he feels as if there is nothing “left” to save their relationship. By Shoba starting the game, it makes readers feel as if she wants to connect more which is very unlike her attitude and subtext throughout the rest of the story. This is the moment where the couple’s roles start to reverse as Shukumar starts to connect to Shoba with the game while she wants to
Losing a baby is always a tragedy for a couple and in most instances, the couple eventually loses their connection to one another. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story “A Temporary Matter” this is exactly what happens but with a twist. A secret game is presented by the wife, Shoba, to her husband, Shukumar, to tell each other their biggest secrets. To readers, Shoba appears to want to reconnect with her husband after months of disconnection after their baby died, but again things are not always as they seem with this game. Throughout the secret game, there are signals that the couple are reversing roles: Shukumar from being disconnected to interested in reconnecting and Shoba from being somewhat connective to wanting to completely disconnect. This ultimately foreshadows the very interpretive ending. In everyday life, the couple couldn’t tell each other everything, not …show more content…
Before Shoba had started the secret game, the couple barely talked and they just really were in a rut in their relationship. They also did everything to avoid each other even sitting in different rooms while eating dinner. When Shoba introduced the game Shukumar even seemed unwilling to participate, “She hadn’t appeared so determined in months. What was there left to say to her?” (13). Shukumar at first does not want to make a connection to Shoba anymore. He says, “what was there left”; this proves that he wasn’t really committed to their relationship anymore and he feels as if there is nothing “left” to save their relationship. By Shoba starting the game, it makes readers feel as if she wants to connect more which is very unlike her attitude and subtext throughout the rest of the story. This is the moment where the couple’s roles start to reverse as Shukumar starts to connect to Shoba with the game while she wants to