One common theme throughout Lahiri's stories was repetition. Characters would go through certain actions in an almost religious manner. This can be seen in A Temporary Matter with the confessions that Shoba and Shukumar shared; every night the lights would go out and they would follow the same routine (which is interesting because this new routine was in a way an escape from the monotonous routine of their now empty life together). In When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine, the repetition consists of him coming over for dinner every night, watching the news, and also the young girl eating the candy every night in an almost ceremonious way. Repetition creates comfort for the characters in that story; it almost breeds a sense of security.
However, repetition tends to lead to disaster in many of the stories.
In Mrs. Sen's her daily chopping routine somehow seems very tragic and it almost seems like she is trying to work out the pain of her immigrant position and alienation in the United States by keeping herself busy with a knife that is symbolically attached to India. Her repetitive attempts at driving end the connection with the narrator because of her crash, and this creates a very sad moment in the story that only the reader can interpret (the child narrator is somewhat sad but does not seem to understand the weight of his connection with Mrs. Sen, and the mother is very indifferent to her).
One of the most interesting stories which deals with repetition is Sexy. Miranda and Dev start out their relationship in a very intimate way, and slowly week after week, there seems to be less wonder and romance associated with Dev's visits, and they undergo a deterioration which is very disheartening. Miranda's desperation for Dev's weekly visit at first seems slightly exciting, but quickly turns pathetic, and when she ends the repetition and stops asking him to come over, it is almost like a load is lifted. Repetition and monotony are so interesting in this novel because sometimes they lead to destruction, deterioration, and devastation, while sometimes they craft a real, meaningful relationship (Mr. Pirzada)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think it's very interesting that you chose to talk about repetition. Your line "Repetition creates comfort for the characters in that story; it almost breeds a sense of security" really struck me. It sounded exactly like what I wrote about in my term paper. My topic was how food (in Interpreter of Maladies) created a sense of comfort for the characters, and I think I basically wrote your line in my paper over and over. When you talk about repetition in your passage, a lot of it is related to food. This makes sense, since we, as humans, do spend a lot of time eating. The little girl in the story When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine eats a candy every day to make herself feel as if she can control the fate of Mr. Pirzada's family. The couple in A Temporary Matter repeatedly cooks dinner to make themselves forget their secrets and their depressing past. Mrs Sen chops and cooks dinner every night to remind herself of her culture, and to comfort herself in a new country. I definitely agree with you that repetition is really important in this novel.
ReplyDelete