Happy Marriage. Happy Ending.

After reading Lahiri’s “The Third and Final Continent”, I found myself very pleased because we finally got a real, happy ending. I mean, it’s not that I don’t appreciate the sad ones, but it’s nice to have a happy one every now and then. Now, all in all, one of the most satisfying aspects of this story is the marriage between the narrator and Mala. Initially, the marriage seems like it’s going to fall apart. “My wife’s name was Mala. The marriage had been arranged by my older brother and his wife. I regarded the proposition with neither objection nor enthusiasm” (181). I suppose it’s good that he did object to the marriage, but he wasn’t exactly happy about it either. He’s kind of like Sanjeev in “This Blessed House” in a sense, because he is just following the tradition. He knows he doesn’t love this woman, but it’s just what he must do. (Although Sanjeev thinks he loves Twinkle, not truly understanding what love actually is). In any case, the narrator continues to describe Mala in only a semi-flattering light. “I was told that she could cook, knit, embroider, sketch landscapes, and recipe poems by Tagore, but these talents could not make up for the fact that she did not possess a fair complexion, and so a string of men had rejected her to her face. She was twenty-seven, an age when her parents had begun to fear that she would never marry, and so they were willing to ship their only child halfway across the world in order to save her from spinsterhood” (181). When I first read this description, I thought that the narrator was trying to paint himself in a good light by saying that, by marrying this woman, he was doing her and her family a favor. If this story was truly written to be passed down to their son so her could learn of his father’s journey to the new world, I would have left this kind of part out. I mean, he comes across as kind of arrogant if anything. But, I suppose it is the truth. That no one wanted to marry Mala so he stepped up. Good for him, I guess.

So, initially, we are led to think that this marriage won’t work once Mala travels to America, and we aren’t necessarily wrong. In the beginning, their relationship is horrible. Even when still in India, the narrator explains how he and Mala shared a bed while in India, but he only let her because “custom dictated that she was now a part of [his] household” (181). And when Mala travels to America, the narrator picks her up at the airport, stating that he “did not embrace her, or kiss her, or take her hand” (191). He doesn’t show any sign of affection, he just picks her up and takes her to the home, a place that he’s worked very hard to be able to pay for. While at home, both the narrator at Mala seem very uncomfortably with each other. They aren’t used to each other’s company, and therefore tend to go through their days together, doing things without any emotion. Like when the narrator makes a copy of the key to their home for Mala. Usually, this would be a very pivotal moment in a relationship, but with this couple, it just seems mundane and boring. It’s obvious that they aren’t comfortable with each other, and therefore don’t show much emotion towards each other, when Mala’s sari slipped to her shoulders. She adjusts this immediately, but the narrator states that she doesn’t need to cover herself when she’s around him, to which she just keeps the sari on, not waiting to expose herself to her own husband, a man she barely even knows.

Now, this isn’t the first uncomfortable marriage we’ve seen in Lahiri’s book. As mentioned above, “This Blessed House” also involves an example of a marriage that is failing because the two people don’t know each other. In “This Blessed House”, Sanjeev and Twinkle got married after only four months of talking, so they never truly got to know each other. They rushed things, feeling outside pressure from family, and are now stuck in a situation where they find their true personalities incompatible. Although the ending is left open to interpretation, I initially assumed that Sanjeev and Twinkle wouldn’t make it. They just seem to have too many differences that are tearing them apart. But, after reading about Mala and her husband, I find myself having new hope for Sanjeev and Twinkle. I mean, if Mala and her husband can make it through their differences and unfamiliarity, I don’t see why Sanjeev and Twinkle can’t do the same. It just takes someone like Mrs. Croft to get them past their differences and find a spark in their relationship.

It’s quite interesting because the couple in “The Third and Final Continent” seem to stray from the norm. “This Blessed House” isn’t the only story where we can see marriages failing. The theme begins in the first story, “Temporary Matter”, continues to “Interpreter of Maladies”, to “Sexy”, to kind of “Mrs. Sen”, to “This Blessed House”, and finally, to “The Third and Final Continent”. Six out of nine of these stories involve failing marriages, but, the final story is able to show how a couple can pull through. It shows what could happen if each of the stories were to be continued. See, we are only given snapshots into the life of these characters of each respective story. We don't’ know what happens in the end, so we just infer from the text given. But, “The Third and Final Continent” gives us new information and inspiration for all of these stories. Who knows, maybe Shoba and Shukumar will pull through (in the light instead of the dark), or Mr. and Mrs. Das will rekindle their love, or Miranda will find love while Dev learns to be faithful towards his wife, or Sanjeev and Twinkle will learn to look past their differences and see why they connected in the first place. This rarity of a happy ending has left me wanting to assume the best in almost every story we have been given. It inspires the other characters to find their similarities, instead of focusing on their differences. In Mala’s and her husband’s case, they were able to connect through their senses of humor. This connection both combats the stereotype that arranged marriages can’t be happy, while also tackling that we only read sad stories in this class. (Don’t get me wrong, they are interesting stories. Just sad). This leaves a happy tale for their son to see and become inspired by. (Also, this may be one of the most uplifting and optimistic blogpost I’ve written for this class. Thanks Lahiri!)