Hello and welcome to the Discourse. ‘A Temporary Matter’ is a short story by Jhumpa Lahiri published in her collection Interpreter of Maladies in 1999. In 2000, she won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for Interpreter of Maladies. The book contains nine short stories and ‘A Temporary Matter’ is the first. The story is about a couple whose marriage is being destroyed by the grief they incur after the recent loss of their child. The grief and guilt push them to stop conversation which leads to alienation. The importance of communication within a marriage is a prevalent theme in Interpreter of Maladies. The story explores the effect of keeping secrets from a loved one. Another important theme is the limitations of planning. The story suggests the unpredictability of life. Shoba, the wife relies heavily on her ability to plan for the future, she finds herself unable to adapt to life after the unexpected death of their baby.
Characters of A Temporary Matter:
Shukumar is the protagonist of the novel. He is a 35-year-old married graduate student working on his doctoral dissertation in Boston, Massachusetts. He has been avoiding both his dissertation and his wife since the loss of their child. He and Shoba share secrets in the dark during what will become the last week of their marriage. The memory of holding his stillborn son is the final confession. He is deeply guilt-stricken. He was away at an academic conference, and Shoba went into early labor and suffered a stillbirth. His guilt of not being present for the birth renders him unable to grieve and ultimately costs him his marriage. After the baby’s death, Shukumar’s guilt causes him to retreat inward. When he tries to express his grief, his mother-in-law points out that he was absent when he was needed the most. His wife’s mother remarks that Shukumar wasn’t there and that his grief is shameful further burdens him and he becomes disillusioned and stagnant. Shoba, Shukumar's wife, is 33 years old and works as a proofreader while Shukumar is still studying. Shoba encouraged Shukumar to go to an academic conference in Baltimore even though the baby was due in three weeks. She believed it would help Shukumar make contacts for his job search. Shoba relies so heavily on her ability to plan for the future that she finds it difficult to adapt to the unexpected death of their baby. After her accident, she is forced to reckon with the fact that not all of life can be planned for and predicted. The stillbirth complicates Shoba’s ability to plan, and she struggles to recover in the aftermath. Her inability to face the unpredictability of life forces her to stop communicating and expressing herself to her husband which further pushes them away. Other characters mentioned during the talks of Shobha and Shukumar are Shobha’s mother who visited them after the delivery of the stillborn child, and Shukumar’s mother.
Summary of A Temporary Matter:
"A Temporary Matter" by Jhumpa Lahiri is about the unpredictability of life. It tells the story of Shobha and Shukumar, who were once in love but are now estranged. The story begins as Shobha returns home from the gym and receives a notification that their electricity will be turned off for five evenings in a row to fix a power line. This news exasperates Shukumar, who has been working on his dissertation at home for the past month. He observes that Shobha's makeup has run from her workout, which reminds him of earlier days when she took great care with her appearance.
Shukumar remembers a time six months ago when Shoba was pregnant. He didn’t want to go and leave Shobha alone but the baby’s due date was still three weeks away, Shoba encouraged him to attend. She said that he would be in the job market the following year so it would be good for him to make contacts. Shobha suffered a premature delivery and was forced to undergo an emergency C-section while Shukumar was away. Shukumar was alerted of the labor complications, but by the time he arrived at the Boston hospital, their child had died. Shukumar's guilt over the baby's death causes him to withdraw from life. He loses interest in everything and stagnates, unable to move forward. He avoids Shobha and her presence makes him uncomfortable. He turns the nursery into his office, and Shobha doesn't dare enter it. She planned to keep the room as the nursery for their child. Shobha also maintains her distance from Shukumar, spending more time at work and avoiding him at home.
Shobha reminds him about his upcoming dentist appointment, and Shukumar realizes he did not brush his teeth that morning. He brushes his teeth with a toothbrush purchased long ago in case of overnight guests. Shoba was always prepared for what might happen. Groceries were purchased in bulk, Indian chutneys and marinades were prepared on the weekend, and dishes were frozen for future use. A lavish feast could be whipped up on a moment’s notice. Now, Shukumar was working his way through their provisions, cooking dinner each evening just for the two of them to eat separately. They don’t even eat together. However, the electricity blackout forced them to have dinner together in the dark.
Shukumar finds a half-empty box of birthday candles leftover from a surprise party Shoba had thrown for her husband last spring. At the party, she held his hand all night as they chatted easily with friends they now avoid. The only visitor they’d had since their baby died was Shoba’s mother, who somewhat blames Shukumar for his child’s death. Shoba’s mother was devout and set up a cultural shrine for the baby lost. She regularly prayed for the good health of her future grandchildren. Shukumar remembers that when he tried to talk about the baby, Shoba’s mother icily remarked, “But you weren’t even there.”
Shukumar sets the table with a potted ivy to hold the candles and glasses of wine. Just as the meat is ready, the house goes dark. Shobha mentions that Shukumar has prepared rogan-gosh for the dinner. To lighten the mood, Shoba suggests a game she used to play as a child when the power would go out in Calcutta. In the dark, both Shoba and Shukumar must reveal something they have never told each other. Shukumar fails to understand the point of the game, as he feels they already know everything about each other. Shoba begins by saying she checked his address book the first time she was alone in his apartment to see if he had added her to it. He had not. Shukumar responds by saying that he forgot to tip the waiter on their first date. He was distracted by the thought of marrying Shoba, so he took a cab the next day to leave the tip.
The next night, Shoba comes home earlier so they can eat together before the lights go out. When they lose power, they decide to sit outside on the unseasonably warm winter night. Shukumar wonders what Shoba will tell him since he feels they know everything about each other. Shoba shares first. When Shukumar’s mother came for a visit, she lied about working late and went out for a martini with her friend “Gillian” instead. Shukumar remembers the visit, his mother still in mourning for her husband twelve years after his death. Without Shoba there to say the right things, Shukumar felt awkward with his grief-stricken mother. At the time, Shoba claimed that his mother’s despair was “touching,” yet Shukumar now considers she felt otherwise. Shukumar then confesses that he cheated on his “Oriental” Civilization exam in college. The question was about a ghazal or an Indian love poem. Unlike Shoba, Shukumar rarely spent any time in his home country. He only became interested in his Indian roots after his father’s death. Although his exam transgression occurred 15 years prior, Shukumar feels relief in telling Shoba. On the third night, Shukumar reveals that he returned the sweater vest Shoba had given him as a third wedding anniversary gift. He used the money to get drunk, alone at a bar during the day. Shoba counters that at a lecture they attended, she knowingly allowed Shukumar to speak with his department chair while he had food on his chin. Shukumar was attempting to secure his fellowship, but Shoba let a petty annoyance supersede Shukumar’s important impression. These confessions begin to express that the seemingly loving marriage had its twists since the start. On the fourth night, he admits he kept a picture of a woman torn out of a magazine in his wallet while Shoba was pregnant. The desire for the unknown woman was the closest he ever came to infidelity. Shoba tells him she never liked the only poem he had ever published.
The next day, they receive a notice that the power line has been repaired ahead of schedule. It is the end of their game. Shoba suggests they still light candles and eat by their glow. After dinner, Shoba turns the lights on because she has a big secret to tell Shukumar that she wishes to say in the light. She has been looking at apartments and she found one she likes. She tells him she is moving out. Shukumar is stunned. He can’t think of what to say. He feels relieved because he too is burdened by her presence. But the idea that Shobha’s game was just to let her prepare to break the news of their separation sickens him. He decides to spill out his own biggest secret and confess something he swore he’d never tell. When she was pregnant, Shoba wanted the gender of their child to remain a surprise until birth. When the child died, she did not know if they had lost a son or daughter. Shoba took refuge in that mystery, spared of that knowledge. Shoba intentionally asked to never learn the sex of the baby as a way of avoiding some of the pain of the loss, and Shukumar promised to never reveal this information “because he still loved her then.” But now he feels there is no love. When Shukumar arrived at the hospital, Shoba was asleep. The doctor suggested he hold the child before it was cremated to begin the grieving process. He tells Shoba that he held their son. He describes what the child looked like, how his fingers were curled just as her fingers curled in the night.
After revealing his biggest secret, Shukumar takes their plates to the sink, leaving Shoba alone in the living room. He watches their neighbors walk arm in arm and the lights suddenly go out. He turns to find Shoba at the light switch. They sit together and weep together.
The story ends without revealing whether the couple was able to mend their relationship or chose to separate. However, the ending suggests that both of them have come to terms with their vulnerabilities and can now move past their grief. This could allow them to repair their relationship, should they choose to do so.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English Literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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