Open Access
American Research Journal of English and Literature
ISSN (Online): 2378-9026
DOI: 10.46568/arjel
Darkness Ushering Illumination: A Critical Reading of ‘A Temporary Matter’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
Professor Emeritus of English, Department of English & Linguistics, University of Ruhuna.
EA Gamini Fonseka, “Darkness Ushering Illumination: A Critical Reading of ‘A Temporary Matter’ by Jhumpa
Lahiri”, American Research Journal of English and Literature, Vol 9, no. 1, 2023, pp. 35-44.
Abstract
The paper presents a critical reading of Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story ‘A Temporary Matter’. The analysis is conducted
in line with the trajectory Lahiri has developed for the short story. Accordingly, it continues under fifteen sub-topics
respectively: 1) Introduction; 2) Images of a Frozen Personal Relationship; 3) Frustration Precipitated by a Stillbirth;
4) Avoidance as a Defence Mechanism; 5) Defensive Isolation in Individual Behaviours; 6) Nostalgia about Domestic
Harmony; 7) Alliance Forced by Darkness; 8) A Totally New Start; 9) Breaking the Ice; 10) The Luxury of Darkness; 11)
Catharsis Invited by Daily Confession; 12) Disappointment without Power Cut; 13) End to the Pleasure; 14) A Mystery
Revealed; and 15) Darkness Ushering Illumination. Each section foregrounds a significant development in the behaviours
of the two protagonists concerned who are frustrated by the stillbirth of their baby on whose conception there was no
consensus between the two and are not confident to face each other because of their initial differences about bearing
and rearing babies. There is an effort to assess the efficacy of Lahiri’s creative use of imagery and symbolism to portray
the developments and conditions within the narrative space in a critical light so that the reader will be able to perceive
how an Indian couple psychologically withstand a stillbirth in the family in an American alien cultural environment. The
paper reflects on the paradox in the power cut that helps repair the shattered personal relationship between the two as
a unique device in narrating the situation in question.
