A Temporary Matter

“He hadn’t left the house at all that day, or the day before. The more Shoba stayed out, the more she began putting in extra hours at work and taking on additional projects, the more he wanted to stay in, not even leaving to get the mail, or to buy the fruit or wine at the stores by the trolley stop.”

Shukumar and Shoba are learning to live with their grief by coping in entirely different manners. Lahiri uses juxtaposition to reflect how Shoba is doing everything she can to avoid returning to the house, whereas Shukumar is doing everything he can to avoid leaving it. Lahiri underscores how their methods of coping with grief are incompatible.

“Each time he thought of that moment, the last moment he saw Shoba pregnant, it was the cab he remembered most, a station wagon, painted red with blue lettering. It was cavernous compared to their own car.”

Shukumar’s recollection of the last time he saw his wife pregnant focuses on the cab that was taking him away rather than on any element of their relationship. Shukumar’s retrospective focus reveals his self-centered worldview. He struggles to externalize or feel any real empathy for his wife. Additionally, the red and blue lettering on the station wagon reflects the complexities of his emotions—a combination of sadness and anger.

“In the beginning he had believed that it would pass, that he and Shoba would get through it all somehow. She was only thirty-three. She was strong, on her feet again. But it wasn’t a consolation.”

The story progressively depicts Shukumar as clinging to an optimistic outcome for him and Shoba, yet this passage reveals his true feelings. Shukumar has already accepted that they are unable to save their marriage and unwittingly places the blame on Shoba. However, Shukumar’s lack of self-awareness reflects the theme of Deception.