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The setting mirrors the emotion of the character through the image of light and dark. The first night, when the relationship between Shoba and Shukamar was arguably the worst and most distant it would become, "with no lights they had to eat with each eachother" (2). The darkness gives them darker feelings but also brings them together. However, the next day, the light gets brighter, and they feel more open to others, thus continuing to eat with one another. As the light got brighter, the secrets and relationship they shared began getting repaired. However, when the lights were turned back on, on the 5th night, their relationship went back to normal, like how it was before they were distant. However, their ability to eat without electricity for one last night by choice and turning back the light on by herself can symbolize the closure obtained by the couple over the past couple od days.

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The setting mirrors the emotional state of the characters because as the light increase, they opened up more to each other. It reflected their comfort level with one another and also their emotional depth. This idea is suggested in the end of the story when they, "sat together until nine o'clock, when the lights came on...it had turned into...an exchange of confessions--the little ways they'd hurt each or disappointed eachother, and themselves" (8). The lights turning on symbolizes the switch from avoidance to reality.

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The setting played an influential role in the emotional state of both Shoba and Shukumar. I think Lahiri incorporated the common theme of darkness and blackouts to highlight the importance of vulnerability among these characters. This was seen when Shukumar thought to himself: "He wondered what Shoba would tell him in the dark" (7) With the setting and symbolism of darkness, we can see that Shukumar and Shoba have a more open relationship, being able to communicate with each other more effectively through their enhanced vulnerabilities.

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Limited perspective is important throughout the story as the choice to only portray Shukumars perspective aids in surprising the reader as Shoba reveals she wants to move. This is present as through Shukumar’s perspective, the reader believes that the experiences in the dark are positive and are helping bring them back together. Shukumar learns again why he loves his wife and each day they become more and more comfortable with each other. This aspect revelas that there were two different purposes for the talks. For Shukumar, it helped him regain his connection with his wife, but for Shoba, it helped her gain closure on the traumatic experience she had. This is all portrayed through Shukumars anger as he reveals to Shoba that he did know the gender of the baby, saying “Our baby was a boy… His skin was more red than brown. He had black hair on his head” (10). Shukumar was trying to prove himself to Shoba that he did care about her.

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In "A Temporary Matter" by Jhumpa Lahiri, the darkness mirrors the emotional state of the Shoba and Shukumar, by giving them a space of vulnerability. As the nights go on, the confessions become deeper which allow them to somewhat reconnect. When the lights started to come back on, they were seperated but since the darkness is a direct symbol of vulnerability when Lahiri writes, "Shoba 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 first time in their lives, for they things they now knew" (10), they were brought together and wept together which potentially saved their relationship.

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Ian Shum

The setting in Lahiri's "A Temporary Matter" helps mirror how the emotional state of the characters is quite covered and dimmed, just like the setting and description. After the death of their child, both Shoba and Shukumar are much more limited in their emotions, trying to be more mild and even "not to mind the silences." This form of expression is not the bright and colorful feelings the couple might've felt before their son's death, but instead resembles this covered state they are in, which is seen in the setting as well. Furthermore, this setting helps obscure Shoba's eventual destiny or outcome to leave Shukumar. This type of haze and foginess amplified by the setting reflects how the connection between the couple, although not full of intense sadness, is growing distant.

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In Jhumpa Lahiri's "A Temporary Matter," Shukumar's limited perspective represents the unknowns in relationships. This is most seen through Shukumar's relationship with Shoba when Shoba reveals her desire to move out. From Shukumar's perspective, the reader was unknown of this fact till it was mentioned, allowing the reader to have the same mindset as Shukumar at hearing the news; Shukumar realizes "[t]his was what she'd been trying to tell him for the past four evenings. This was the point of her game" (10). Because of the limited perspective, the reader is able to have the same breakthrough as Shukumar, representing the lack of information Shukumar truly had.

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A limited perspective reflects the lack of trust between the characters. It reflects that, like in real life, you don't know someone else's perspective.

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In Jhumpa Lahiris "A Temporary Matter" the darkness and light shifting is a symbol for the progressing dynamic between Shoba and Shukumar in their relationship. It is made aware to the audience that the electricity will be turned off for a total of 5 days which would affect the ways in which people lived around their neighborhood. This is when it is made clear to us, "with no lights they would have to eat together. For months now they'd served themselves from the stove, and he'd take his plate into his study, letting the meal grow cold on his desk"(Lahiri 2). In this moment Lahiri does not tell the audience that the couples relationship is damaged, but instead uses a method of authors craft show not tell to reveal that there relationship is much like that meal. Cold and distant.

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In "A Temporary Matter" by Jhumpa Lahiri, the limited perspective removes the inner thoughts of Shoba, revealing how each person copes individually, and their healing can help or hurt others around them. From Shukumar's perspective, their time sharing deep secrets is one that has reopened their relationship. Sharing his shameful moments has allowed him to find new joy in his relationship to the point he looks forward to the darkness, feeling "disappointed" when finding out the fifth night of darkness wouldn't truly happen (Lahiri, 9). For Shoba it has had the inverse effect. We see her becoming more stable, as by the last night, "she wore a suit" and "her makeup had been retouched" (Lahiri, 9). Due to the limited view, we do not understand that the nature of this healing involves getting closure about ending her relationship, not rekindling an old one. The nights of darkness were therapeutic for them both, as they both felt a sense of healing. The hurts that were healed were different for each of them, though. It ended up hurting Shukumar, as he realized his hope was lost, but he was still able to release all his grievances about their child in the end.

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In Jhumpa Lahiri's "A Temporary Matter," limited perspective is used to provide more mystery to Shoba's character, therefore leading to a bigger plot twist at the end when she leaves Shukumar. In the story, Lahiri purposely focuses on Shukumar's inner thoughts instead of Shoba's, "He told Shoba about the sweater on the third night, the picture on the fourth. She said nothing as he spoke. She simply listened, and then she took his hand, pressing it as she had before" (8). As represented in the story, she is mostly the listener to Shukumar's confessions, which also causes her to feel a sense of closure to her relationship, while Shukumar feels the opposite (Closer and more intimate with Shoba.) Overall making the decisions to focus on Shukumar throughout the story primarily serves as a way to limit the perspective of the story, therefore leading to a bigger plot twist at the end.

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In Temporary Matter, Jhumpa Lahiri illustrates how darkness serves as a reflection of the characters' emotional states. As the nights got darker during the text, the secrets and emotions of the characters heightened. During the final scene, Shoba turns off the lights, bringing back a sense of vulnerability. This darkness brought back the sense of being able to share the truths of how they felt about their relationship. The story closes with the two weeping "together, for the first time in their lives, for the things they now know," highlighting the power of the truths they hold and how much stronger the characters and emotions have become as a result (10). The darkness made them feel comfortable and willing to share this information, making a direct resemblance between the darkness of the house and the character's vulnerability and willingness to share their true thoughts and emotions.

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The setting of "A Temporary Matter", by Jhumpa Lahiri, clearly showcases the main characters by relating the honesty in their situation to something only caused by darkness. The idea of honesty being triggered by the darkness could relate to feeling ashamed or embarrassed by the facts that they share, "'Shouldn't we keep the lights off?' Shukumar asked. She set her plate aside and clasped her hands on the table. 'I want you to see my face when I tell you this, she said gently" (Lahiri, 9) After discussing their secrets in the dark, Shoba felt as though it was time to face reality head on and not hide behind the lights anymore, this could be significant to their relationship because what started as a game had slowly turned into a conversation serious enough that Shoba has stopped the game.

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The setting of the story acts as a catalyst for the emotional state of the characters, yet the mood of the setting directly contradicts with their emotions. As the blackout begins, the husband describes the event as "perfect timing" (4). This dialogue is a representation of how the sudden darkness does not in fact create a dark emotional state, but rather a positive and lighthearted mood with the characters. The darkness then takes the characters out of their relationship-slump, where the husband had even "come to dread" (2) a daily interaction with his wife. With the darkness, the characters have dinner together, talk, and share secrets. While darkness represents uncertainty and typically something scary, the husband and his wife become closer, and more loving.

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In the story "A Temporary Matter" by Jhumpa Lahiri, the limited perspective influenced the piece by having the reader infer thoughts and ideas from Shoba, as we mostly only see Shukumar's thoughts. It creates a situation at the end of the story where the reader has to go back and read the story through a new lens, to really analyze the story. With the two splitting up, it shows how the two are not as compatible and there are issues in the relationship, which mostly comes from Shoba's thoughts and Shukamara's actions.

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When the light turns on and off in the room shows that darkness to their relationship. Once the light is turned on, they conclude where their relationship is. When there is no light, it shows the uncertainty in their relationship and how their relationship would continue. In one part of the story, Shukumar asks if they should keep the lights on. Shoba says "yes" because he wanted him to see her face when she told him something regarding their game.

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In the short story "A Temporary Matter" by Jhumpa Lahiri, limited perspective suppresses the communication factor in a relationship. Shoba wanted to leave at the end of the story, "I've been looking for an apartment and I've found one" (9), because she didn't feel like the relationship worked out for her. During Shoba's and Shukumar's relationship, if there was a greater sense of communication, Shukumar would've found out about Shoba's doubts far before the power outages. The power outages allow both of them to be more transparent with each other. On one hand, Shukumar believed that he had gained a deeper connection with Shoba. On the other hand, Shoba's transparency led to new knowledge of her discomfort in the relationship.

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In Jhumpa Lahiri's "A Temporary Matter", the darkness allows Shukumar and Shoba to control their physical and emotional proximity with each other. The darkness blocks out their physical selves, and in Shukumar's case this allows him to fill in the dark with his memories of when their marriage was still working. Because Shukumar can "barely see [Shoba's] face" (4) in the darkness, he creates his own "picture [of] her face" (6). The beauty of the face that he creates isn’t faded, and is instead like Shoba's face when they first met: "wide tilting eyes [...] full grape-toned lips" (6). In creating his own images and "remember[ing] her as she was then" (6), Shukumar feels himself growing closer to Shoba– even if that is not the case. As for Shoba, she had intended to leave Shukumar ever since the beginning of their routine. The darkness allows her to hide her emotions whilst staying physically close to Shukumar in order to say goodbye. Shoba holds Shukumar’s hand and “mov[es] closer to him” (8) on the porch, and "trace[s] [Shukumar's] eyebrows” (9) whilst they make love. Shoba also asks Shukumar to “hold [her] in [his] arms” (9) as if it is her lover's final embrace before departing.