Although I was very satisfied with our class discussion on Wednesday, I believe that we should have spent some more time discussing the presence of light in the short story. Generally, the atmosphere between Shukumar and Shoba undergoes two changes. The story begins with feelings of tension and discomfort, then the passion between the couple seems to be rekindled. At the very end, we enter back into discomfort and tension between the two as Shoba announces her plans to move out. What is most notable about these transitions is the presence of light. We find that marital tensions are released by the removal of the visual sense.
Both Shukumar and Shoba use the darkness as reinforcement to their security. Even though it is apparent that Shoba started the game of telling secrets with the intention of releasing her secret about moving out, the darkness is comforting to both characters. This is evident as Shoba wants Shukumar to “see [her] face” as she tells him about her move. When the lights come back on, harsh reality hits the two romantics. Perhaps the presence of light implies the visual memory of the deceased son of the couple. This event seems to the heaviest burden that the couple endures, and sight seems to be the most prevalent sense in memory.
I interpreted the whole light thing as basking in the comfort of obscurity. Without any light, they could allow any expression to cross their face without worrying about the other's interpretation. They could just relax and let the darkness comfortably hide them. The light forced them to face and examine each other. It could also be said that the darkness allowed them to hide from the truth, or delay it, while the light made them confront it.
ReplyDeleteBut they did use candles, so it wasn't as if the house was completely pitch-black and their faces completely obscured. And when they sat outside, there is enough light for Shukumar to "[look] at her profile, the slender nose, the slightly masculine set of her jaw" (16). They could still see each other's faces, though perhaps not to the degree that Shoba wanted in order to tell Shukumar that she was leaving for a while. And if you know someone well - and Shukumar seems to know Shoba very well, to the extent that "he knew how she sat, a bit forward in her chair, ankles crossed against the lowest rung, left elbow on the table" (11) - then you can tell what his or her face would look like even if you can't see it. Lahiri even writes, "He could barely see her face, but from her tone he knew her eyes were narrowed....It was a habit of hers" (12).
DeleteGoing off of the idea that Shukumar is imagining parts Shoba's face, is it possible that it is easier for them to imagine the way they were before the child's death in the dark? Also, the whole time they are talking they are referring back to their past. In the light they are forced to see what they have become since the loss of their child.
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