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I thought this story was a really big rollercoaster of emotions with revelation after revelation. In particular jaw to the floor when the whole baby thing was revealed.

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The way my jaw was on the floor at the end when Shoba told her husband that she was leaving him. I think Lahiri wanted the reader to be in the same position as Shukumar thinking that they were kind of rebuilding their relationships, however Shoba had different plans in mind.

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this story made me so emotional. it made me sad that the two of them were once so in love and their relationship fell apart to the extent that they essentially became roommates instead of husband and wife.

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I liked that the two characters were able to play this "game" and reflect on themselves and their current marriage.

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I found the concept of the story to be interesting but I found it a little boring. I was extremely caught off guard by the baby gender reveal and how it ended.

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I really liked this story because I think a lot of people struggle with confrontational issues, mostly when they are trying to express their own feelings. The darkness was an easy way for them to communicate without having the responsibility of having to deal with the repercussions after. I didnt like Shukumars character becuase he seemed like a hypocrite and should have divorced her or at least talked to her about his feelings

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The way the story was written, I had originally had the same perception as Shukumar, that the secrets they were telling in the dark were going to be what saved their marriage. When it turned out that Shoba was going to be leaving him, it actually took me by surprise because I hadn't thought that the "game" they were playing was going to be used as a form of closure.

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It was interesting how the darkness created a false perception that they were getting closer to each other only for them to separate in the end.

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I really liked the story. It took a sad turn when it was revelved the baby died. I liked how at first the darkness was a bad thing, then they made the best out of it, until it was reviled Shoba had different plans in mind.

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There is a common theme of guilt in "Interpreter of Maladies" and "A Temporary Matter" because similar to Mrs.Das keeping the affair a secret, Shukumar kept a secret that he actually met his son before he died and knew his gender which his wife didn't know.

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It was really sad to see how the death of their child led to the downfall of their relationship. Overall seeing their relationship fade away was sad to read. It was also a huge surprise when Shoba decided to leave Shukumar because I thought admitting the secrets would bring them closer.

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Similar to how there was miscommunication between the couples in Interpreter of the Maladies, there is also a lot of tension and conflict between Shoba and Shukumar. In that sense, there are parallels between the two stories and that was one of the things I noticed while reading.

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Through the story you could tell that they are distancing, but when the lights go down they are passionate. “Something happened when the house was dark. They were able to talk to each other again. (19)." Gives a false perception because he thinks she is gonna tay and they will rebuild but she ends up leaving him.

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I thought they were slowly mending their relationship back together and I didn't expect Shoba to break things off especially after all that time trying to fix the relationship and playing the game. I feel like the lights kind of symbolize the relationship too because they both kind of lost motivation, especially when one of them said that they came home not wanting to cook when they got the notice about the powerlines being fixed. The baby was a bit of a surprise as well.

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The divide between the couple presents the theme of miscommunication. Shukumar belives that their candle light encounters are ensuring their relationship, healing the split caused by the death of their baby. However, Shoba uses these meetings to settle the unclosed ties of the past, to finalize her decision to leave. The candle symbolizes the stability of their relationship.

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I thought the story was incredibly deep and was so sad when they were driven apart; Then I was happy they rekindled their love and was shocked when I found out Shoba did not feel the same way.