Darkness in A Temporary Matter Essay Example

Darkness is an embodiment of the unknown. Seen by many as something to fear, it is used by Shoba and Shukumar in the story A Temporary Matter as a shield to hide behind during a nightly game. This game, having been created to attempt to reconcile their broken relationship, brought to light the untold grief the couple was unable to express after the stillborn birth of their child, resulting in the end of their relationship. The darkness in the kitchen is being used as a form of willful ignorance, allowing for the couple to disclose their secrets in a less confrontational way. 

Before the nightly blackouts began, the couple were distant from one another after the stillbirth of their child. In fact, they went out of their way to avoid one another even in their own home. “Instead, he thought of how he and Shoba had become experts at avoiding each other in their three-bedroom house, spending as much time on separate floors as possible,” (Lahiri). Shukumar did not want to have to interact with Shoba since the death of their child, nor did he have a clue on how to anymore. “Now he had to struggle to say something that interested her, something that made her look up from her plate, or from her proofreading files. Eventually he gave up trying to amuse her. He learned not to mind the silences,” (Lahiri). There was no discussion between the two about their lack of communication or their issues while the lights were functional. During the first night with the blackout, Shukumar immediately gave up on speaking with Shoba, continuing the pattern they had before the blackouts began. Without any technology available to them during the hour, there was no valid reason for them to eat dinner apart from each other. Illuminated only by dim candlelight, this lack of initiative on his behalf allowed for Shoba to start their conversation and the potential rekindling of their relationship. 

A protective cloak of darkness was given to Shoba and Shukumar when the nightly blackouts began, and Shoba used it to her advantage. Creating the game where they each state one unknown fact about themselves, this allowed for them to have a time to disclose what they have never disclosed about themselves before with each other. The discomfort created by seeing each other dissipated, due to them not having to see one another. “Something happened when the house was dark. They were able to talk to each other again,” (Lahiri). At first, these confessions were somewhat trivial, but they progressed in seriousness each night. The comfort of not being seen gave them the strength to continue to admit darker secrets, but in Shukumar’s eyes, their relationship had hope. Shoba did not share this hope, however.

While the story in A Temporary Matter is a work of fiction, the end of Shoba and Shukumar’s relationship is not an uncommon end for couples whose pregnancies end in a stillbirth. “Maintaining a long-term relationship can be challenging. In the United States, only 57% of all first marriages and 31% of all first cohabitations survive,” (Gold). The grief due to the loss of a stillborn child is what ultimately separated Shoba and Shukumar. The two changed as people since the loss of their child, Shoba caring less about her appearance and no longer taking care of her house. Treating it as a hotel, she leaves her shoes lying around the house and no longer cares about the furniture colors clashing with one another (Lahiri). Lahiri elaborates that Shukumar questions the validity of his grief, as Shoba’s mother had dismissed his sadness due to him not being present during the death of their child. He’s taken to isolating himself at home, no longer taking care of himself, i.e. forgetting to brush his teeth, and by actively working in the former nursery knowing that it would keep Shoba away. The divide created by their willing separation created the cracks that eventually deepened after their confessions, despite the initial illusion of healing. 

Their final confrontation sealed the fate of their relationship. Their ultimate betrayal to one another was their admissions of their final secrets. The power outage was no longer an issue, so the darkness that surrounded Shoba and Shukumar’s admissions was now voluntary. Shoba, however, was ready to have the lights on during her confession, which she knew would be her last, as this confession was why she created the game. “’I’ve been looking for an apartment and I’ve found one,’ she said, narrowing her eyes on something, it seemed, behind his left shoulder,” (Lahiri). Shoba, having chosen to turn on the lights for this confession, was still unable to face Shukumar. Adverting her eyes away from her husband was her way of showing this. Shukumar, sickened by the news of his wife’s plan to leave him, confessed the final secret. “‘Our baby was a boy,’ he said. ‘His skin was more red than brown. He had black hair on his head. He weighed almost five pounds. His fingers were curled shut, just like yours in the night,’” (Lahiri). Shukumar secured the final nail in the coffin, ensuring the inevitable end to his marriage with Shoba.

It was ultimately the light shed upon them during Shoba and Shukumar’s final confessions in A Temporary Matter that was a show of the reality of their situation. They were no longer alone once the lights were on, and they each knew it. They had each destroyed their marriage with a final blow, Shukumar and Shoba’s each having finalized the end in their own ways, one being a physical barrier the other a final emotional barrier. Shoba and Shukumar’s final confession ended with the lights being turned off a final time. “Shoba had turned the lights off. She came back to the table and sat down, and after a moment Shukumar joined her. They wept together, for the things they now knew,” (Lahiri). They each wept for their own reasons, but Shoba’s decision to turn off the lights once again was a final display of the comfort they each had in the dark now. Shoba and Shukumar hid in the dark one last time together, as they each associated the darkness of the power outage with safety.