Kyle Curry
Patty Petelin
English 105
October 8, 2007
A Grim Perspective
"Everyone sees the field not the flowers that make up the landscape.
Pay attention to the brush strokes that complete the masterpiece."
Sunny Meledrez Curry
I'm convinced that some mothers are just life geniuses. Take my mother for example. As she made breakfast for all of us kids in the morning, she gave us the advice for the day. That was the only unsolicited advice she ever gave which made everything she told us those mornings more meaningful. I remember a common theme of finding value in the smallest of actions or gestures. She often said that it was important to first view the parts then take in the whole. Viewing matters in this way gives us a larger perspective on things that would normally escape our attention. Grief has this same effect on a persons angle of view. Sometimes, grief makes us notice things that would normally escape our attention, or it makes us view normal, everyday things with a new perspective.
"A Temporary Matter" , by Jhumpa Lahiri, is a short story depicting the tribulations of a grief-stricken failing marriage. Husband and wife, Shakumar and Shoba, have recently suffered the loss of their first child who was a still birth. The grief they feel has taken a large toll on their marriage, making it harder for them to communicate and work through the issue. The silence has reached such a high point that they rarely see each other and Shoba treats their house "like a hotel instead of [their] home." "Although the main action of the story revolves around ...