Interpreter of Maladies

A Temporary Matter

what insights are being convey in the story w/c do you consider very important?

Asked by
Last updated by judy t #197809
Answers 2
Add Yours

A Temporary Matter conveys the idea that even the closest of couples can have secrets and unshared grief, that even in the case of mutual loss..... the loss of a child, people grieve differently. Unfortunately, this is the case for many who experience the loss of a child. These couples grow apart, grieve alone, and are so consumed about what they themselves are experiencing that they cannot see beyond their own grief. Alienation, the loss of something shared can sever a relationship. The relationship that had evolved over time no longer exists.

The insights include that people can grow apart after a personal tragedy that affects both people in one way or another; people can share intimate information in the dark when they do not have to see the person's reaction; people cannot necessarily gain a feeling they had had earlier in their life (the problem they faced once the baby died can be such a big problem that they cannot overcome it.

I think the most important is that people have trouble dealing with a personal tragedy and growing closer to someone that they love; they seem to grow apart and cannot recover from that tragedy and move forward.