The Consequences Of Communication In A Temporary Matter And Red Convertible

The term “communication is key” is very prevalent in the world today, but rarely do people see the extreme consequences of a lack of communication. The short stories “A Temporary Matter” by Jhumpa Lahiri and "Red Convertible" by Louise Erdrich differ in context, culture, and characters. Still, these stories’ messages complement each other and provide a deeper message. Both stories focus on a relationship growing more distant, it is a pair of brothers in “Red Convertible” and a married couple in “A Temporary Matter.” In “Red Convertible” Lyman loses his brother Henry to suicide after he serves in the military. The story is in Lyman’s retelling of the story of what happened, so he knows how it ends from the beginning, and the reader can see how

The story is told by an outside narrator who is more focused on Shukumar, so the reader can see his lack of desire to communicate. In both stories, the reader sees the relationships growing more distant until they eventually end due to disregarding a traumatic event. Together, these two texts echo and add to each other's message allowing the reader to find a deeper message about the communication that a stable relationship requires. The idea that intentions are the most important is broken to be replaced by the execution being what counts. Only through placing "Red Convertible" and "A Temporary Matter" in conversation with each other can it be seen that the absence of communication in a relationship, despite the reasoning, separates individuals and leads to a false scene of improvement or

Shukumar purposefully avoids Shoba, refusing to have a meaningful conversation but he longs to have the normal Shoba back. Shukumar always lacked initiative in the relationship, to make it worse both of them faced this traumatic stillbirth causing them not to want to communicate. Shukumar believes getting closer and trying again is the answer but Shoba believes more space is the answer, but they do not share their hopes with each other. Shukumar realized “He and Shoba had become experts at avoiding each other in their three-bedroom house” (Lahiri 2-3). This shows how they both do not even want to interact with each other, nonetheless talk or have a meaningful conversation. To make it worse Shukumar “believed that it would pass” at first, so he never addressed the stillbirth with Shoba (Lahiri 3). Shukumar even “set up his desk [in the nursery] deliberately…partly because it was a place Shoba avoided” (Lahiri 5). The silence between Shukumar and Shoba separates them, they are no longer on the same page or doing everything together. This disunity is shown by the ending, where Shoba reveals that she is planning on moving out and Shukumar finally wants to work to get their old relationship back. When the lights go out Shukumar gains initiative and