Summary Of A Temporary Matter

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Rishi R. Yasa Mr. Ryan Skardal English 1 H September 24, 2014 Analysis of Communication in A Temporary Matter Imagine you grew apart from someone you knew. Do you ever wonder why? Chances are you stopped talking to that person. “A Temporary Matter” by Jhumpa Lahiri is about grief, secrecy, and the difficulties of communicating. Shoba and Shukumar, a married couple has grown apart because of the lack of communication. Without it, the connection between two people will fade away until it is gone completely. In the short story “A Temporary Matter”, Jhumpa Lahiri shows through Shoba and Shukumar’s connection with one another, that secrecy has a serious effect on the lack of communication in a married relationship. The reason things didn’t…show more content…
They stopped communicating and the connection between them started to fade away. Everything had changed after the stillbirth of their child. Shoba stopped cooking, they both actively tried to avoid each other, and they barely talked. “He thought of how he and Shoba had become experts at avoiding each other in their three-bedroom house, spending as much time on separate floors as possible” (Lahiri 4). When the blackouts started happening it forced an intimacy between the couple. The darkness is a metaphor for the couple’s relationship and a safe haven for the couple to bond. “Something happened when the house was dark. They were able to talk to each other again” (Lahiri 19). They realized that it has been a long time being disconnected from each other. The blackouts are the times when the most emotions come into the couple’s world. The couple hasn’t felt the intimacy in such a long time so by the second day, they begin to anticipate the blackouts. The blackouts give freedom to the couple so they can be honest and share secrets that they have never shared with each other…show more content…
Also, Shoba tells Shukumar that she is going to move out and that she already has a new place picked out. She would not look at him, but he stared at her. It was obvious that she had rehearsed the lines. All this time she had been looking for an apartment, testing the water pressure, asking a Realtor if heat and hot water were included in the rent. It sickened Shukumar, knowing that she had spent these past evenings preparing for a life without him. He was relieved and yet he was sickened. This was the point of her game. (Lahiri 21) In the end, the revelations of secrets lead to broken trust. Ultimately, the baby who will never live a life breaks the two apart. In “A Temporary Matter”, communication and secrecy has been a prevalent throughout the short story. Shoba and Shukumar never spent time together, stopped talking, and kept secrets from each other. The couple even spent most of their time actively trying to avoid each other. The stillbirth of the couple’s baby was the reason they break apart. They were stuck in a pit filled with grief and sorrow. Their broken relationship cannot be pieced back together. Near the end of the book, Shoba and Shukumar reveal their secrets, which lead to broken trust. The death of the baby symbolizes an indestructible wall that will forever stand between them. Everything had changed for the

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