Interpreter of Maladies: Chapters 1 and 2 Respones

9/8/2015

Last Name Ab -Le:Reflecting upon "A Temporary Matter," select and cite 3 passages from the chapter that you feel sets the tone for the short story (e.g. "Every few days...holding office hours: (Lahiri 124).. You do not need to transcribe the entire passages. Please then explain your reasoning with a brief and thoughtful analysis.

Last Name Ma - Vu:
Reflecting upon "Mr. When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine," select and cite 3 passages from the chapter that you feel sets the tone for the short story (e.g. "Every few days...holding office hours: (Lahiri 124).. You do not need to transcribe the entire passages. Please then explain your reasoning with a brief and thoughtful analysis.

Part One Expectations (respond to the prompt above): 200-250 words, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the assigned "number" given to you in class as your "pen name."

Part Two Expectations (read everyone's first responses, select two that interest you, and respond to their ideas): 100-150 words EACH, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the assigned "pen name" given to you in class.

9/8/2015 05:35:43 pm

Lahiri, in “A temporary Matter”, talked about a couple Shoba and Shukumar, who had experienced the lost of their baby and as a result, their marriage had decay even more. Throughout the short story, Lahiri talks in a melancholy, encouraging, and tired tone. Lahiri expresses the melancholy by encountering a flashback to moments before Shukumar’s child was born. “Each time he thought of the moment, the last moment he saw Shoba pregnant, it was the cab he remembered most, a station wagon, painted red with blue lettering” (Lahiri 3). The fact that he remembers the car he got into with detail, help us demonstrate how that’s all he can clearly recall, as well as the regret he feels for getting into the vehicle. Larihi also uses an encouraging tone. “Something happened when the house was dark. They were able to talk to each other again” (Lahiri 19). The passage is encouraging, since they were finally able to talk and tell each other how it was that they truly felt. Due to how things seem to be presented to us, we almost get the idea that their marriage is getting to a recovery point. Towards the end, we get a tired tone with Shoba, since she isn’t willing to keep going with their marriage. “‘I’ve been looking for an apartment and I’ve found one’” (Lahiri 21) These words help to clearly tell us that Shoba had enough, she no longer wants to be with Shukumar even though of their recent talks.

9515

9/8/2015 08:59:11 pm

I agree that Lahiri uses a melancholy tone. Shukumar regrets going to Baltimore towards the end of Shoba’s pregnancy. He isn't happy that the relationship between him and Shoba is ending. And since missing the the event both Shukumar and Shoba are melancholy people. They are not the same as they used to be. Shukumar through out the short story explains things Shoba used to do. Things they used to do together. “He remember their first meals there, when they were so thrilled to be married, to be living together…” (Lahiri 10). Reading this makes you wonder where things went wrong. I know reading the story it made me sad. I thought drastic events like this in a marriage would bring the couple together. Not push them apart. But maybe their relationship was always meant to be one of melancholy and regret. It never seems like their marriage was a good one before the pregnancy.

9/8/2015 09:49:02 pm

I agree that the tone was melancholy. Neither Shobar nor Shukumar seemed to be happy with their marriage. The atmosphere in their home was very depressing. They only spoke to each other out of obligation and no longer enjoyed being in one another's company. The loss of their first child definitely set the tone for the story and from that point on, their relationship deteriorated. There was a divide between them and a wall was put up that could not be broken down. This ultimately led to Shobar wanting to go off on her own and move out of the house into her own apartment.

9/8/2015 10:35:33 pm

I agree with you on the tone(s) of this chapter. I like how you used the word tired to describe their ending result of a marriage. I feel like all of the word you used for tone were directly tied to a section of the passage and I agree completely. I felt like I would use the word encouraging for the flashbacks to before the still-birth of their son. I would say this because though Shakumar narrated the marriage as a happy one before the baby I thought that maybe he was just too naïve to see that Shoba was only happy to be having a new companion so that he would have to be her only choice. For example, I felt that she sent him off to Baltimore so close to her due date because she would have the baby to replace his absence. When you used the word tired it occurred to me that Shoba was tired of Shakumar.

9515

9/8/2015 08:47:15 pm

In “When Mr.Pirzada Came to Dine”, Jhumpa Lahiri discusses war and its effects on the families to show a heavy and emotional tone. Lahiri uses the narrators point of view as a way to establish tone. “My father rapped his knuckles…I nodded, unaware of the situation” (Lahiri 26). The narrator, Lilia, is ten years old. She doesn't really understand what is going on with Pakistan and India. She is geographically separated from the war and doesn't know what is actually happening. It makes the tone heavier because she is incapable of understanding what is happening and therefore doesn't have the same emotional connection as her parents or Mr. Pirzada. All Lilia knows is a man named Mr. Pirzada comes to dinner each night bearing candy. Mr. Pirzada shares that he has a wife and 7 daughters in Pakistan. His emotional connection to the war is much larger. At one point Lilia starts to realize his worry. “But the more…I prayed Mr.Pirzada’s family was safe and sound” (Lahiri 32). Lilia has never prayed before. She was never instructed to do so. Her praying helps establish the tone because it shows her beginning to realize the circumstances Mr. Pirzada’s family is facing.She begins to build that emotional connection. She realizes that they could all possibly be dead. That her families “people” could possibly be killing Mr.Pirzad’s “people”, even if essentially they were the same. And praying, even though never taught, is the only way to help save casualties. “It made no sense to me…successive cups of tea” (Lahiri 25). Lilia explains that many of Mr.Pirzada’s characteristics and mannerisms were the same as her parents. It made it even harder for her to therefore wrap her mind around the war. The tone is emotional and heavy because war seems to tear the friendship between Mr.Pirzada and Lilia’s parents, but not between Lilia and Mr. Pirzada. Lilia still prays that his family is safe and she doesn't stop until she knows they are all safe and sound.

9/8/2015 10:01:01 pm

I agree that this was a very emotional short story. There was a lot of confusion, especially for Lilia. Because of her young age, she could not completely understand why the countries were at war or why Mr. Pirzada was different from her and her family. Mr. Pirzada himself also experienced confusion while he was learning American traditions. There was fear and worry over the war because Mr. Pirzada's family was possibly at risk being so close to the war. There was a sense of calmness once Lilia's family got the news of the state of Mr. Pirzada and his family. There was also appreciation. Mr. Pirzada was very grateful for what Lilia's family had done for him.

9/8/2015 10:19:36 pm

I agree with you that the tone of this chapter was dealing heavily with emotion. I also agree with you and the fact that Lilia was under-developed in the knowledge on Pakistan and Indian because of her innocence. I feel like maybe your idea of emotion being a tone could be expanded more, to how the adult’s emotions were directly affected because this was their birth place and the history/present situations are striking closer to home with them. I felt like Lilia’s emotions in that moment were okay to be surpassed because the language and actions her elders displayed on this particular subject were more genuine or raw. As stated before, Lilia has not undergone the history on her family’s homeland that her parents and Mr. Pirzada had so her emotions on the war would also be nonessential, in my opinion. I mean this only regarding your first quote and reasoning.

9/9/2015 02:25:19 pm

I agree that it was very emotional, but very reflective toward the end of the story. In the beginning, Lilia was not only naive and confused about what had been happening during the war, but she was also secluded from her own culture. I agree that not only did praying help her understand the circumstances, but helped her with self-identification. She began praying which is something she had never done. I think she realizes that there is not a certain custom that everyone must follow. Her mother feels that American traditions should be an important aspect of Lilia’s life, while her father feels she is ignorant for not being knowledgeable of her culture. So all in all, by the end of the story, I feel like she knows what makes her who she is.

9/10/2015 02:53:17 pm

I can see what you’re getting at, the author seems to be using Lilia as this segway into deeper topics and how it affects not only people who are directly involved in things like war and separation, but how it affects the people around them, watching their reaction and learning second hand on what’s going on. Especially with the praying, she is the only one in her family shown to do this. This simple act speaks volumes that she does her ritual of praying for Mr. Pirzada and his family until she knows that they are together and safe. This is the dedication to a family friend who she cares about; many adults wouldn’t even do this simple act, whether putting it off as useless or to just another time that never happens.

9/8/2015 09:33:44 pm

In the chapter "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine", I think the tone was set early on. "In March, Dacca had been invaded, torched, and shelled by the Pakistani army. Teachers were dragged onto streets and shot, women dragged into barracks and raped...three hundred thousand people were said to have died." (Lahiri 23) The tone is solemn and also gruesome. The "opening scene" is discussing violence and loss. The actions described are disturbing and many people would find them heart-breaking. The tone was also belligerent. The short story often discussed countries being close to war and the hostility between them. "The war was to be waged on East Pakistani soil. The United States was siding with West Pakistan, the Soviet Union with India...War was declared officially on December 4..." (Lahiri 40) After all of the conflict was over, the tone lightened up and became more positive. "He was reunited, he wrote, with his wife and children. All were well, having survived the events of the past year ..." (Lahiri 42) The tone is somewhat comforting/relieveing at the end of the chapter. It is good to know that Mr. Pirzada and his family are safe and no longer have to worry about the war.

9/8/2015 10:53:43 pm

I agree that the tone of this story was very solemn. Throughout the story, readers were given insight about the war which in turn could have made readers feel sorry for Mr. Prizada for not being with his family during a very scary time and not being sure whether they were safe. However, I'm not sure if the tone of the story was necessarily belligerent as the was no sign of hostility within the writing itself, just some of the content (about the war). I believe the tone throughout was very calm and somber because the content was more focused on Mr. Prizada and Lilia's observations of him and her family. I also agree that tone was comforting but also reflective at the end of the story because Lilia was able to finally understand why Mr. Prizada acted the way he did, which seemed strange to her (ex: constantly checking his pocket watch) because he missed his family. And just as he missed his family, she missed him.

9/8/2015 11:44:52 pm

I also agree with your statement about the tone being set early on. From the description about the setting of Pakistan and how people were being shot in the streets or raped in barracks, the tone was very straight forward. I saw the tone as pessimistic, solemn, and vitriolic. But as the suspense of the story came to an end the tone started to change into a positive outcome as Mr. Pirzada reunited with his family once again.

9/9/2015 09:37:50 pm

I agree with the tones you felt throughout the entire story. In the beginning there is the gruesomeness of the suffering that those people stuck amidst the war zone are facing. Many of them faced horrible and violent fates and produces quite the distasteful tone. Also the Tone for Mr. Pirzada is comforting and relieving. The entire family survived the experience unscathed except for the loss of their house. However, I am worried about Lilian. The end of the story isn't quite as alleviating for her. Sure she was happy about Mr. Pirzada returning home and of course glad his family was reunited. But now her eyes have been opened to the world and she finds herself missing someone she will now most likely never see again. How do you think this experience has affected her?

9/10/2015 12:04:08 pm

I agree with you when you say that the tone was set early on because of the first few opening lines being so emotional and solemn. You had said that the tone was also gruesome and I agree since this story deals with the topic of war, too. You had noted how the tone of the chapter changes as it reaches the end and now that I rethink about it, I can see why you would say that. The fact that the family is still safe and can be less worried does give readers some sort of small sense of relief as you had stated.

10/6/2015 07:51:19 pm

I agree that the tone was set early on as well because of how Lahiri describes the conflict of the war in Dacca. She describes a very hostile atmosphere where many events are sad and gruesome including the fact that Mr. Pirzada has not heard from his family. However, I do not agree that the whole tone is aggressive. I think it's pessimistic but at the same time somewhat caring because of how much Lilia talks about Mr. Pirzada in such a warmhearted manner, even praying for his family and saving his treats as if it were some type of valuable treasure shows how much she cares.

9/8/2015 09:47:15 pm

In the chapter, When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine, Jhumpa Lahiri purposed the overall tone of underlying cultural ambiguity. Lahiri conveys this tone throughout the chapter with the struggles Lilia faces with cultural controversy in an intercultural environment. In multiple sections of this chapter culture is one of the main factors shown. Growing up in an ‘Indian’ cultured home but being taught in a more American circulated institution, Lilia was unsure how to apply the values that she’d become accustom to. Lahiri wrote, “Mr. Pirzada is Bengali, but… unaware of the situation” extended to “We learned American history…I could do it with my eyes closed” (Lahiri, 26/27). In this passage, Lahiri provided a depiction of the controversy in historical awareness provide through each set of values and how one was drilled into her head while the other had been anew. With culture, at times tradition comes into play and when Lilia observes, “Before eating Mr. Pirzada…was one of those things” (Lahiri, 30), the act of his tradition becomes a cultural discrepancy in her eyes. Lilia was searching for anything that served as Mr. Pirzada’s outlier and as soon as she had realized his before meal tradition, she had marked it as a culture adoption. In the distinction of these said cultural differences we can then go back to the passage read, “Mr. Pirzada and my parents…successive cups of tea” (Lahiri, 25). In this particular quote Lilia was formally familiar to the American culture and not the small distinctions of the regions that people came from; While not unfamiliar to her family’s culture, at the time she was still uneducated on the details that she acquired to properly understand. This just goes to show the in-coherency that Lahiri was trying to convey in this chapter.

9/8/2015 10:37:17 pm

In "A Temporary Matter", Lahiri set the detached tone in the beginning of the short story, "He hadn't left the house at all that day... or to buy fruit or wine at the stores by the trolley stop" (2). This passage immediately shows the disconnection between the married couple. The conversations that they have throughout the story are very awkward and it can then make the readers uncomfortable because it is so obvious that they are not communicating very well. Another way Lahiri demonstrates the tone is through the syntax. Lahiri uses short, choppy sentences devoid of emotion or detail, "It was only a telephone number, but Shukumar knew it was the hospital... There was nothing to indicate that she would not be able to have children in the future" (3-4). Despite the traumatic, yet seemingly hopeful (due to Shoba still being fertile), the passage is written so that it is read very flatly. Readers don't see any connection between the married couple, especially during a pivotal moment in their relationship. Even when the couple started to reconnect and communicated a bit near the end of the story, the underlying tone was still detached due to a lack of detail and emotion, "He told Shoba about the sweater on the third night, the picture on the fourth... She added that she found the poem sentimental" (19). The tone really intensifies the awkward and dysfunctional relationship between the characters, leading up to their (suspected) separation.

9/8/2015 11:25:59 pm

I agree that in the beginning of "A Temporary Matter" that the author does set the detached tone. The married couple did lack communication and connection between them. Even during the section of the text when the characters were talking to each other in the dark, the reader could tell that they struggle to even share their secrets with each other. After going though so much and being together for a while i would expect a stronger connection between them.

9/9/2015 09:00:01 pm

I agree that Lahiri uses a detached tone. I never thought of the tone in that way, but now I see it. They do not communicate at all. I remember reading, in the part where the lights are off and the couple shares dinner at the same table for the first time in a long time, Shukumar saying he was irritated he couldn’t go to the old nursery, in front of the computer, and eat alone (10). It shows just how detached the two had grown. They no longer wanted to be around each other. They no longer had the patience or passion for each other. But maybe they never had it.

9/10/2015 10:16:32 pm

Here I sort of disagree, yes its true that there marriage is no longer working but but there are many instances where even before the lights go out that the author goes way in detail to describe Shobas characteristics from shukumars perspective showing that prior they may have had a great connection and that they really loved each other because when you can notice so many details like that about a person and their quarks and appreciate them all the same there has to be some love there. Even after the death of the baby he still is remembering these things like when he goes to make dinner from her cook book and sees all the dates they first shared them that not only shares his love and application but her love she once had for him. Even at the end I don't think Shoba is getting an apartment away from his because she wants to but she feels like she has to to grieve the right way.

9/13/2015 07:11:56 pm

I agree that there was a sense of detachment in the beginning of the story. I saw it myself by the way they communicated with each other. When explaining the relationship between these two characters I could not find the word that explained the distance between their relationship but you described it very well. Their obvious disconnection is seen in their day to day activities just as you explained. Shoba made sure to wake up early and get into work so she would not have to communicate much with her husband. Lahiri makes sure to shows this detachment.

9/26/2015 01:05:06 am

I agree that at the beginning of “A Temporary Matter” the author Lahiri sets the tone of the short story. The passage does show the disconnection between the couple so early in the story. Since, they had a lack of communication and the fact their baby died, things became awkward between and it could be seen in their conversations and everyday activities. I also understand why you said that the conversations were detached, because I see it and also in the ending when the talk in the dark even though they are communicating it is still detached. Their relationship was dysfunctional and lacking communication.

10/6/2015 07:39:49 pm

I agree that Shoba and Shukumar's relationship is very broken because of the loss of their child, which is why Lahiri uses such a detached depressive tone to depict their relationship. I don't think the detached tone only applies to their relationship though I think it applies to the environment they live in as a whole. There is this melancholy that follows the story as we learn more and more about Shoba and Shukumar's life. Almost everything is followed with a sad memory or flashback.

9/8/2015 11:17:17 pm

As I was reading this short story there were many things that stand out the most to me. I believe that the tone in this story changes as it goes more in depth of the story line. In the first line of the story I think that it sets a strong tone to introduce what was going on. For example in the text it stated that, “In the autumn of 1971 a man used to come to our house, bearing confections in his pocket and hopes of ascertaining the life or death of his family” (23). In this quote you can tell from reading this first sentence that there is something very important about this man whom we later found out was Mr. Pirzada. The author set this tone so that the reader would to know what kind of hopes does this man holds in his pocket? Another question it would begin is that whether it was bad or good? Another example of tone was, “It made no sense to me. Mr. Pirzada and my parents spoke the same language, laughed at the same jokes, looked more or less the same”(25). In this quotes Lilia encountered a new understanding when her father explain to her that Mr. Pirzada was not Indian anymore. At first Lilia did not understand why they were different after sharing so many things that were similar among them. This section of the book changes the tone of the story by making it more shocking and confusing as well when they talk about how Mr. Pirzada was different and wasn’t Indian. Also another quote that the author uses to set the tone for this story was when the text stated that, “Now that I had learned Mr. Pirzada was not an Indian, I began to study him with extra care, to try to figure out what made him different”(30). The tone in this quote shows how Lilia went from being curious at the beginning when she first met Mr. Pirzada to then being confuse well surprised to found out that her was not an Indian like her parents were. Finally she accept that fact that Mr. Pirzada was different and that she gain interest in learning more about him and the country he came from.

9/10/2015 03:10:32 pm

I agree that the first passage you mentioned with his hopes to set the tone, it not only adds to tone but also the description of Mr. Pirzada‘s character. Why would someone hold their hopes in a pocket? Why not near their heart or something cliché? That hope is a key factor on why he visits her house, why he is in America in the first place, and what’s happening to him for the hope to be put in his pockets. Though I don’t personally see how what Mr. Pirzada is affects the tone, while yes it makes her focus on him a bit more and leading to her slight understanding of what’s happening. Him not being Indian suddenly changes her views on everything, it just leads to a slightly better understanding, which is her choice and him being Bengali is a factor that fades into the background really

9/10/2015 09:18:08 pm

I do agree with how you interpreted the story. There was a shift in Lilia's thought process when she learned that Mr. Pirzada was not Indian, and it added some more drama/confusion to the story. When Lilia herself became curious, it resonated to the readers. However, I feel like you could expand a bit more on the tone itself. While you said that the characters affected the tone or that the tone was present in a quote, you didn't really mention what the tone was in the first place.

9/10/2015 10:28:04 pm

I think that the tone of confusion was something prevalent most the time and was not the acquired mid story. One of the first reasons I have to believe this is that the story is told by a child's point of view and generally as children we do not know much and often don't fully understand things, much like when we are confused. Also that first quote you use also has a sense of confusion. As you first ask the kinds of homes the visitor has, that sense of unknowing. That first line can be confusing with the ideas of confections in pockets which you wouldn't normally do, it also gives you an imagery of a mess which mess can be correlated to confusion.

9/9/2015 09:02:05 am

In Lahiri’s short story, When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine, various moments stood out and set the reflective, introspective, and questioning tone. At one moment, Lilia was confused as to why her father felt discomfort with Mr. Pirzada dining at their home, although she found out it was because he wasn’t considered a true Indian. “It made no sense to me. Mr. Pirzada and my parents spoke the same language . . . looked more or less the same” (Lahiri 25). Lilia’s confusion of the distinct but strangely the same race set the questioning tone of the short story, especially because she had no depth knowledge of their history. “I had never prayed for anything before, had never been taught or told to, but I decided, given the circumstances, that is was something I should do” (Lahiri 32). Lilia’s concern with Mr. Pirzada’s family in Dacca set the reflective tone of the short story; she tried something she never tried before in an unselfish way. She did not even know Mr. Pirzada’s family, but her empathy and concerns led her to find her spiritual levels. “We learned American History, of course, and American geography. That year, and every year, it seemed, we began by studying the Revolutionary War. . . During tests we were given blank maps of the thirteen colonies, and asked to fill in names, dates, capitals. I could do it with my eyes closed” (Lahiri 27). Lilia reflected on her education in American schools after realizing that she doesn’t really understand or hear about the history of her parents’ country. She understood that American schools only offered an American-centered perspective to the world’s history, and any other history was limited. She felt so Americanized, which emphasizes the theme of cultural identity and ambiguity of Jhumpa Lahiri’s short stories.

9/9/2015 09:18:01 pm

I definitely agree with your description of tone. I feel like those descriptions don't only apply to sections of the chapter, but overall. I understand how she Lilia doesn't quite understand her father's reaction due to similitude. I, myself don't get what makes such a huge difference. I understand that he wants to be surrounded by people who are just like him, but Mr. Pirzada is a good man and understands his culture more than most. I feel as thought her father is fixated into the idea of finding other Indians, and doesn't realize that there are other good people around him that aren't necessarily Indian.I also feel as though he should know what his daughter is being taught in school, as well as almost expect her to not know about the issues in India. Lilia is going to school in America, so she will obviously be learning about American history. I also find the reflective tone very important because Lilia realizes how she is fortunate and how dangerous it must be for Mr. Pirzado's family to be in danger.

9/9/2015 10:30:35 am

In, “When Mr. Prizada Came to Dine” Lahiri starts off with a very solemn tone. “Teachers were dragged onto streets and shot, women dragged into barracks and raped...three hundred thousand people were said to have died” (Lahiri 23). As one of the first opening lines to this story, it initiates an emotional response to readers. Lilia, only ten years old, narrates the story from her perspective. She is naïve, and unaware of the true anguish that was happening during the Indian-Pakistan war. As a child, it was not something she could wrap her head around and realizes how different her life in America is from the lives Mr. Prizada’s daughters and wife live. Lilia does not understand why her father doesn’t consider Mr. Prizada to be Indian anymore, which provokes her to question her own self-identity. “It made no sense to me. Mr. Pirzada and my parents spoke the same language, laughed at the same jokes, looked more or less the same” (Lahiri 25). The solemn tone of this story is heightened through the theme of cultural identification. While doing a book report at school, she finds a book about Pakistan and her teacher scolds her because there is “no reason to consult it”. The underlying theme of Indian assimilation is brought to attention due to the American customs Lilia inherits.

10 (AV)

9/9/2015 09:09:43 pm

I totally agree with you that there is a solemn tone to Lahiri’s opening of the story “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine.” When I read this, I did have an emotional reaction to it because the imagery felt so realistic and vivid, as if the words came to life and became a part of my memory. Just like Lilia, I was unaware and had no knowledge of the Indian-Pakistan war; this comes to show how naïve and blind sighted Americans can be towards other countries’ history. I also agree that the theme of culture and identity was prominent throughout the story, especially because Lilia struggled with her understanding of her parent’s Indian history, as well as her own understanding of her Americanized behavior.

9/9/2015 09:29:10 pm

I totally agree with you about how Lilia's father's bother because of Mr. Pirzada not being Indian makes Lilia question her own self-identity. You made a great point, which almost makes it feel like Lilia isn't Indian either, she was born in America. Maybe this is the reason why she is so concerned about her dad picking at small things that barely make a difference. The behavior of Lilian's dad almost forces her to finding out about a lot of things that she hadn't thought of before, because she feels as though she has to in order to be considered Indian in the eyes of her father. The way he questions what she learns, make present the large difference of both of them and what they grew up encoding.

9/10/2015 11:59:43 am

I agree with what you said about the author initiating an emotional response with the first opening lines to the story. For me the first opening lines made me realize that the story was definitely going to touch upon sensitive topics and make me feel emotional. I also liked how you brought up the fact that Lilia began to question her own self-identity. I could not have worded that any better than you did, especially when she began to question why her father did not consider Mr. Prizada to be an Indian. You had talked about how there lies the theme of cultural identification and I totally agree with you.

9/26/2015 01:33:34 am

In the short story, “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine” I agree there was a solemn tone. That is right as one of the opening sentences it does trigger an emotional reaction to the readers, and that is was the author intended. The author use imagery that gives us a vivid picture. This piece is pretty informative even though it is a short story, it just you information about Indian-Pakistan war. I can highly see culture and identity in this piece especially concerning Mr. Pirzada. He has his own personality which his culture does impact it and Lilia is observing and finding her identity.

9/9/2015 12:21:35 pm

In “A Temporary Matter”, there existed a solemn and serious tone. We find out later that this was due to the loss of a couple’s newborn child. After the couple had lost the baby, the relationship between the partners drifted and they began to avoid each other in their own home. “...once, when he mentioned the baby’s death, she looked up from her knitting, and said,’But you weren’t even there’” (Lahiri 9). This quote from the story showed us how the absence of Shukumar affected the other characters and sets the serious tone. “He was suddenly irritated that he couldn’t go upstairs and sit in front of the computer” (Lahiri 11). Here, Shukumar shows the readers how his relationship with his wife is now very distant and it’s as if the two people have their own small worlds away from each other. This gives us the solemn tone because as we read this story, we want the couple to become acquainted with one another again, but we know that this would not be salvageable. “Something happened when the house was dark. They were able to talk to each other again” (Lahiri 19). This quote emphasizes the drift between the couple and how only thanks to the darkness, were they able to communicate with each other.

9/9/2015 09:16:35 pm

In A Temporary Matter, by Jhumpa Lahiri, the tone in the beginning is distant and loveless. Later on it is discussed why in the chapter but in the beginning it is displayed by the almost emotionless meeting between Shukumar and Shoba. It was as if because they were forced to encounter each other they feel the need to speak but Shukumar would much rather hide from his wife. He does when he and Shoba are face to face at the dinner table when he pushes "the blazing ivy pot to the other end of the table, closer to the pile of books and mail making it even more difficult for them to see each other" (Lahiri 11).

Later the tone changes and becomes more loving as they seem to start to rekindle the light in their marriage as they continue to play their secret-telling game. Shukumar tells us that "something happened when the house was dark. They were able to talk to each other again" (Lahiri 19). Communication is important in any relationship. The game proceeds until they are able to make love again which should have showed that the marriage was becoming re-established.

On the last night where the power was supposed to turn off for the last time it was made aware that that night the power would not be cut. Immediately there is a shift and the magic of the whole night dissipated. Instantly whatever love was thought to have been seen was gone again and lost forever as they each told their last secrets in the light of each others faces. These secrets could not be taken in as easily as the others were and were only released because they no longer loved each other. Shukumar states that "he had loved her then" meaning he did not now" (Lahiri 22)

9/13/2015 07:33:13 pm

I agree with you that their relationship is shown as loveless and distant. Lahiri makes it evident that the communication between these two characters is non existent. They both try to avoid each other as much as possible. This distance is shown even more when they lose their baby. As you said, this distance is really shown when they are eating dinner in the dark and barely communicate with each other. However, it is also seen when Shoba leaves early for work to avoid seeing her husband. It also seems as though that the only time they are able to communicate is when the lights are shut off and are unable to see each other. I found this a little odd. Their relationship however is still shown as loveless.

9/10/2015 10:38:12 am

In the first story of Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies, it stars a married couple that seem very distant from each other; the wife, Shoba, working hard at her office and the husband, Shakumar, working at home to finish his schooling. But the further you get into the story, the more the tone shifts to a more solemn and desperate scene. The first notice of the tone is; "When he returned to a Boston...tour for expectant parents" (Lahiri 3), this is the passage when the sad dramatic music plays; the lights define the room and how far away the couple is for each other. From there as Shakumar describes their relationship and the child, it drags through the story, even as it might ease as their relationship is starting to stitch together, it still hangs about them. The second passage shows Shakumar feeling last ditch attempts to fix themselves, “As he made…They’d fallen asleep” (Lahiri 20). This is the first time the couple has copulated in months since the baby, it is in the dark when they need to look and grab at each other blindly. The words he says isn’t something ‘typical’ to say in that moment, it’s desperate, it’s a slight fear; as if having Shoba hold him will help move things along, for that closeness to stay with them. “Shoba looked at him now…she had wanted to be a surprise” (Lahiri 22). The secrets, the darkness, they were to hide the both of them from each other. Shoba had tried to ease him out of the darkness that she hid her searches behind by displaying them in the night. But the light hurts to unprotected eyes and he wanted her eyes to hurt too. This sets the tone for the pain that they’re both in, the darkness that still surrounds them while being with one another and the desperateness of trying to get out and fix something without letting the other know.

9/10/2015 10:04:44 pm

The very first line of the story which also uses the title of the story right off the bat sets a tone. "the notice informed them that it was a temporary matter (Lahira 1). It uses the Title, "A Temporary Matter", in it which suggests that the line is very important and has great significance, also the fact that it is the very first line also makes one look at it more closely. Off the bat one would assume that the lights going out, which is later explained on that page, is the temporary matter but you eventually realize that that is not the case. This is one of the very first instances of the author setting his secretive tone, leaving even the reader in the dark with the true title meaning.
Shoba and shukumar had become to very separate people with each others lives very separate from one another. another example of the author setting tone is "something happened when the house was dark" (19). In this story when ever the lights go out it brings the characters together actually shining light on each other rather than in the light when they are both in the dark with each other continuing to add to the tone providing a sense of secrecy in everyday life and needing that something extra to see what is really going on. But what is unique is that the darkness where you would normally find confusion you gain knowledge.
Another great example of this ongoing tone is at the very end, "As he watched the couple the room went dark...they wept for things they now knew"(22). Once again darkness is shown to equal knowledge and at the very end the secrets come out and in the dark they now both finally know, but the lights this time had to be turned off. And the knowledge they had received prior was done in some sort of light.

9/20/2015 11:33:16 pm

I completely agree with you. The author did have like a secretive tone. In the beginning it was like we did not know anything to knowing why the couple grew so far apart. Then when the lights would go off it almost seem like everything was going to be ok and nothing was going to happen, until the lights turn on and she leaves. It was almost heart breaking in a way because everything seemed so sweet. But it also made the reader feel like it needed to happen. So I would agree with secretive because you had to keep reading to find out what was going on in the short story.

9/13/2015 06:34:27 pm

In A Temporary Matter, by Jhumpa Lahiri, the tone in the beginning is tired and informative. Lahiri begins by setting a background for the readers so they may understand the relationship between these two characters. “Six months ago…the job market next year”(Lahiri 3). She informs us that they will be expecting a child but shukumar did not get to experience the birth because he had to go to a job conference. As readers we notice a slight distance in their relationship. Their dull and distant relationship is seen in the passage " These days Shoba was always gone by the time shukumar woke up” (Lahiri 4). I noticed that this distance between Shoba and Shukumar grew even more once they lost the baby. It seemed as though the baby was a piece of the thread holding their relationship together and once that was gone, there wasn't much left to it. The uninterested tone that Lahiri sets is shown when she says “ Tonight, with no lights they would…colored pencils at hand” (Lahiri 8). This specific passage shows the distance evident between these two characters. The tone is somewhat vague in the beginning of the chapter until this specific passage comes about and shows the uninterested tone between Shoba and Shukumar.

9/20/2015 11:27:15 pm

In the chapter "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine" Jhumpa Lahiri sets a tone for this short story as worried the reason I say this is because she began the story with a lot of violence and loss. An example of this is when it says, "Teachers were dragged into streets and shot, women dragged into barracks and raped," (Lahiri 23). By this being on the first page it makes the reader wonder what is going on and what is the rest of the chapter going to be about. This whole chapter was narrated by a little girl her name is Lilia, she is only ten years old and Mr. Pizarda is staying at her house because of this war that is going on. Lilia ends up being able to see how Mr. Pizarda is always in this panicky mood because his family is where this war is at. Although Lilia is young she begins to understand what is going on, the text showed this by this, "...I prayed Mr. Pizarda's family was safe and sound," (Lahiri 32). This helps set the tone because it allows the readers to see that Lilia (who never seemed to pray before) is now beginning to worry about a serious situation that is going on. Then the tone begins to be more on the happier side because Mr. Pizarda was able to write to his family, "He was reunited, he wrote, with his wife and children... having survived the events of the past year...," (Lahiri 42). The tone when from worried to almost a bitter sweet ending because although Mr. Pizarda didn't get to see his family he was able to almost reconnect with his family to see that they are all ok.

10/3/2015 10:43:08 pm

I agree with you when you say that the ending was very bitter sweet. It was quite obvious as said from everyone else’s comment that the mood of the ending lightened up, but no one really brought up the fact that he still wasn’t connected with this family which made it somewhat bitter. Yes it sucks that Mr. Pizrada wasn’t with his family but atleast he was able to talk to them again just to know that they are alright and safe. Just so he wouldn’t be as worried with anxiety for awhile. Lilia was confused during most of the chapter but she begins to gain knowledge of why he’s so worried all the time and begins to understand it all more.

9/26/2015 12:40:21 am

In the short story “A Temporary Matter”, the author Lahiri, uses different passages to help set the tone of the piece. The short story is about a couple Shoba and Shukumar, who are going through a rough time with the loss of their baby and as a result of that their marriage became weak to the point of breaking up. The tone was tiring, emptiness and depressing, that lead to giving up. The author shows the tiring state, “At some point in the evening….and yet he’d come to dread it.”(Lahiri 8). This shows the tiring aspect of their life. It became a routine, that they did the same thing over and over again without having much meaning. The empty aspect is seen, “Only he didn’t want her….to be happy.”(Lahiri 21). The couple wasn’t truly happy, and Shukumar felt emptiness, and if he wasn’t feeling happiness now a baby wasn’t going to change it. Adding a child wouldn’t make them happy they would just have to act like they were foe the sake of the child and relationship. This story also had some depressing aspects like, “She never talked to him…”But you weren’t even there.” (Lahiri 9) This would strike anyone, making the, feel really bad when it wasn’t his fault.

10/3/2015 10:35:06 pm

The tone “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine” to me is very deep and confused in the beginning. The narrator of this short story is the young girl Lilia is who is clearly very confused. She was very young and didn’t quite understand why all the countries were at war which is why I think the tone is so deep and emotional. “That year Pakistan was engaged in civil war. The eastern frontier, where Dacca was located, was fighiting for autonomy from the ruling regime in the west” (Lahari 23). Lahari mainly discusses lots of culture when talking about the main character. Lilia is also very confused because of the cultural difference and doesn’t have a broad knowledge of the cultural differences. “It made no sense to me. Mr. Pirzada and my parents spoke the same language, laughed at the same jokes, looked more or less the same…Nevertheless my father insisted that I understand the difference, and led me to a map of the world taped to the wall over his desk” (Lahari 25). Once the war was over, the tone changed to a more relaxed and reliefed. “It was only then, raising my water glass in his name, that I knew what it meant to miss someone who was so many miles and hours away, just as he had missed his wife and daughters for so many months” (Lahari 42). I think it was good that the war was settled with but also sad that Mr. Pirzada wasn't united with his family yet.

10/6/2015 07:25:41 pm

In "A Temporary Matter," Jhumpa Lahiri uses a very somber sad tone to portray the life of Shoba and Shukumar. "He ran his tongue over the tops of his teeth; he’d forgotten to brush them that morning. It wasn’t the first time. He hadn’t left the house at all that day, or the day before," in this passage I can sense a very dull atmosphere (2). The fact that it wasn't the first time that Shukumar has forgotten to brush his teeth shows that he doesn't even care about his personal hygiene and doesn't even leave the house because he's very despondent about something. I can also tell what the tone is when Shukumar talks about Shoba coming in his office during the evening to see him he says, " it was the one time in the day she sought him out, and yet he’d come to dread it. He knew it was something she forced herself to do. She would look around the walls of the room, which they had decorated together last summer..." (8). This passage gives me more of an insight on their lives in a way because it tells me that their sad past still haunts them and that because of the loss of their child the tone Lahiri will continue with is a sad one, because of the memory of the child's room, which they decorated together. The last passage that showed me this somber definitive tone is on the first night that the lights go out and Shoba tells Shukumar about a rice ceremony she attended in the dark where the baby just kept crying. Shukumar then suddenly thinks about how, "their baby had never cried [...] their baby would never have a rice ceremony" (11). When Shukumar relates the baby in the rice ceremony to their child it clearly shows that he's still in pain from their loss. It shows that that will forever be something that haunts him and so it sets an even sadder tone knowing that they will never get to give their son a traditional rice ceremony or get to see him.

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Interpreter of Maladies: Chapters 1 and 2 Respones

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