Illusion Vs Reality In Short Stories: Explusion Vs. Reality

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

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

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