Someone once said, “Pleasure may come from illusion but happiness can come only of reality”. Although pleasure through illusion may be effective temporarily, a relationship will not flourish without the assistance of reality. Similarly, in the short stories “A Temporary Matter” and “Interpreter of Maladies” from the book Interpreter of Maladies there are constant battles to escape the effects of illusion. Characteristics of a careless or indifferent feeling will cause a couple to stray from reality and separate themselves from mere happiness. In these stories, alliteration and symbolism are literary devices that emphasize the failing relationships of Shukumar and Shoba and the two marriages of Mrs. Das and Mr. Kapasi as the common theme of …show more content…
reality.
In the short story “A Temporary Matter,” Jhumpa Lahiri stresses illusion vs. reality through the distant couple Shukumar and Shoba, expressed through their separation in the light and connection in the darkness. For example, once Shoba gets home from the hospital with the grief of her baby’s death, she starts to act different and “treat[s] the house as if it were a hotel” (6). Shoba’s behavior toward her house automatically transforms when she returns from the hospital. The realism of Shukumar and Shoba's newborn's death symbolizes personal change, causing their marriage to self-destruct. Contrarily, Shoba and Shukumar bond with each other in the dark: “As he made love to [Shoba] he wondered what he would say, the thought of it exciting him” (19). As Shoba and Shukumar begin to share their secrets in the dark, they become comfortable with each other as
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reality to represent the unhappy arranged marriages of Mr. and Mrs. Das with Mr. and Mrs. Kapasi there miscommunications. For instance, Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das make eye contact in “the rearview mirror: pale, a bit small, their gaze fixed but drowsy” (50). The rearview mirror constantly symbolizes the two couples diminishing relationships and the past differences in each individual pair. Looking into the rearview mirror displays the illusion that Mr. Kapasi then reflects onto a dreamed relationship between him and Mrs. Das. Furthermore, Mr. and Mrs. Das and their family imply about how they have to act united for their Christmas picture: “But we could use one of these pictures for our Christmas card this year. We didn’t get one of all five of us at the Sun Temple” (61). This emphasizes the ‘perfect family’ fantasy that the Das’s are trying to parade. Hiding from the truth, the Das family continuously turns away from the fact that they are all miserable. Inversely, Mr. Kapasi’s dream of him and Mrs. Das maintaining to talk after their visit got destroyed when “the slip of paper with Mr. Kapasi’s address on it fluttered away in the wind” (69). By the end of this short story, the reality of Mr. Kapasi’s dream to end up with Mrs. Das is exposed when this paper flies up into the monkeys. While this illusion was fulfilled, the forged relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Das remains a
“Theory of Marriage” is one of the poems in which Mark Doty read while visiting the students here at Ramapo College. After reading the title of the poem one expects that the content of this written work will focus on, well the theory of marriage; however, after reading the poem it is to some confusion to find out that the face value of the poem is actually about Doty and his friend at a massage parlor. It was only through Doty’s emphasis on certain words such as “oh” that I later realized his poem is not about the pain that the masseuse was giving to him but rather the pain that marriage caused. The way he read the lines, from the pauses to his facial expression really opened up my eyes to see that nothing is as it seems, especially when it comes to
Searing the mind with stunning images while seducing with radiant prose, this brilliant first novel is a story of damaged lives and the indestructibility of the human spirit. It speaks about loss, about the urgency, pain and ultimate healing power of memory, andabout the redemptive power of love. Its characters come to understand the
most evil characters and he is a character who stands out among all of the
The ominous and tragic atmosphere infusing the consummation of their relationship gives a foresight into what is going to happen in the rest of this relationship which is ill-fated. Their love fails to give them the perfect happiness that they envisioned and therefore they begin blaming the social circumstances for their dissatisfaction. The social and familial disapproval that Vronsky encounters angers him. "They have no conception of what happiness is, and they do not know that without love there is no happiness or unhappiness for us, for there would be no life" (Tolstoy, 167). After the fulfilment of their initial desire for each other, they strive to satisfy another desire, a further one. They need to be set free from the need for dissembling and lies, "it was necessary to put an end to all this falsehood, and the sooner the better" (Tolstoy, 168). Vronsky puts it, "throw up everything and let us two conceal ourselves somewhere alone with our love" (Tolstoy, 168). The two lovers eventually achieve
The fact that the fictional mothers and daughters of the story have unhappy marriages creates a common ground on which they can relate. However, marriage has different meanings for each generation in this book. In the mothers’ perspective, marriage is permanent and not always based on love. Especially with their marriages in China, which was a social necessity that they must secretly endure in order to be happ...
Readers are often baffled by the openness of some stories where the ending can go either way they are put into situation where they must imagine or assume how the story does end. Open-ended stories can be found in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies, where few stories of open-endings have an immense impact on the reader by creating a hunger to know what happens next.
The emotions throughout the society are shared with the individuals throughout their confusing times, and by their shared experiences. The times spent together of the characters brought the individuals closer together through the dark negative times, and through the light positive situations of society. The confusing part of peoples lives are brought together and are shown throughout the status of society. The stories of the “Encounter,” “Eveline,” and “The Dead” come together with similar experiences of situations of light and dark. The society bring the individuals closer together by shared times.
In “The Truth about Stories”, Thomas King, demonstrate connection between the Native storytelling and the authentic world. He examines various themes in the stories such as; oppression, racism, identity and discrimination. He uses the creational stories and implies in to the world today and points out the racism and identity issues the Native people went through and are going through. The surroundings shape individuals’ life and a story plays vital roles. How one tells a story has huge impact on the listeners and readers. King uses sarcastic tone as he tells the current stories of Native people and his experiences. He points out to the events and incidents such as the government apologizing for the colonialism, however, words remains as they are and are not exchanged for actions. King continuously alerts the reader about taking actions towards change as people tend to be ignorant of what is going around them. At the end people give a simple reason that they were not aware of it. Thus, the author constantly reminds the readers that now they are aware of the issue so they do not have any reason to be ignorant.
“ A Temporary Matter” paints the portrait of a young Indian couple, Shoba and Shukumar, who have become cold and distant after the birth of their stillborn child. Both Shoba and Shukumar are very well assimilated to American culture, so much so that their Indian culture has slowly melted away and they often struggle to reconnect with their Indian roots. Wife Shoba decides to play a game of truth every night when their lights go out. She says it reminds her of her grandmother in India. Shukumar jumps on the chance to spend this time with his increasingly distant wife. Shukumar thinks that the game is a way to help Shoba reconnect with her past in India but he later learns that there is much more to the game than he thought.
Immediately, the narrator stereotypes the couple by saying “they looked unmistakably married” (1). The couple symbolizes a relationship. Because marriage is the deepest human relationship, Brush chose a married couple to underscore her message and strengthen the story. The husband’s words weaken their relationship. When the man rejects his wife’s gift with “punishing…quick, curt, and unkind” (19) words, he is being selfish. Selfishness is a matter of taking, just as love is a matter of giving. He has taken her emotional energy, and she is left “crying quietly and heartbrokenly” (21). Using unkind words, the husband drains his wife of emotional strength and damages their relationship.
In the story, the narrator is forced to tell her story through a secret correspondence with the reader since her husband forbids her to write and would “meet [her] with heavy opposition” should he find her doing so (390). The woman’s secret correspondence with the reader is yet another example of the limited viewpoint, for no one else is ever around to comment or give their thoughts on what is occurring. The limited perspective the reader sees through her narration plays an essential role in helping the reader understand the theme by showing the woman’s place in the world. At ...
... were African. Although the Husband loves his wife, he realizes that he does not "know" his wife as," the sound of someone moving through the house, a stranger." Wolff creates a situation between the two where the husband is looking to settle the argument, whereas the wife just wants to hear yes to the proposal. Ann doesn't think that her husband will say yes and when he does she realized that they still don't know each other. It takes the Husband until the end of the story to figure this out, when his wife, the stranger, now comes to bed. . The story does end with him going to bed with this new strange wife, but also leads to a conclusion of rediscovery and renewal for the marriage.
Illusion’s purpose is questioned in this fact-based world we call reality. Blanche, Stella’s sister, is used to represent illusion. Her whole life, from her diamond tiara made of rhinestones, to her spurious façade, is literally and metaphorically an illusion. The concept of illusions is further developed through the light motif in the play, with Blanche displaying “moth” like characteristics, avoiding “strong light”(pg.3) and “naked light bulb[s]”(pg.54). The light motif also represents a time of innocence, before Blanche’s husband’s death, when there was “blinding light” in her life, but after her husbands suicide, there hasn’t been“ any light that's stronger than this--kitchen—candle” (pg.103). Stanley is an advocate for reality, as shown by his constant struggle to uncover Blanches illusions about her past. Williams suggests that illusion’s serve as an essential part of society. Whether it was Blanches husband’s suicide or Stella’s husband’s participation in rape, illusions are shown throughout the play to help people deal with harsh realities. They help ‘victims’ of reality see “what ought to be truth”(pg.127) through illusions, alleviating unwanted pain.
The women we have encountered in this unit are trapped in various ways. Mrs. Mallard in Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" is most trapped by love. The protagonist in Godwin's "A Sorrowful Woman" is a little freer and the protagonist of Minot's "Lust" is the freest of all. Mrs. Mallard wants to be free from her husband love. She is a target in their. She felt mistaking getting married and non-end able love of Breantly. However, she is feeling happy after hearing the new, of her husband's death. This news was confirmed by the man were working near the railway line and her husband friend Richards. She does not think it is a bad news, she "stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair". She started thinking, "in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life" want her to get ready and start spring with a new ways. As compared to the protagonist of Godwin's "A Sorrowful Woman", she free of doing or saying anything to anyone. Her husbands always say, "I want you to feel freer, he said, understanding these things (40)". Ev...
This story is a great representation of how relationships have changed over the years. Weather its the female dominance or the relationships are given up. Shoba and Shukumar are great examples of this phenomenon. This couple can be related to a typical American relationship. Jhumpa Lahiri does a good job of detailing this failure of a relationship and explains how this couple breaks apart.