Failed marriages are not a culture shock in the American culture but an unsuccessful Indian marriage is not only ironic but sometimes also considered a "sin." Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies is a collection of short stories based on failed relationships, fragile emotions, morality, and lust. One story in particular, A Temporary Matter, deals with trust and loyalty. Once a happily married couple, Shukumar and Shoba, lived in small cozy home and despite this coziness of their house they had moved apart from each other after the death of their newborn baby, and this distance increasing day by day, until they finally had to let go. The author's sympathy with Shukumar and his failing relationship is portrayed several times throughout the chapter.
             Lahiri is sympathetic toward Shukumar by describing how, "he thought of how he [Shukumar] and Shoba had become experts at avoiding each other in their three bedroom house, spending as much time on separate floors as possible. He thought of how he no longer looked forward to weekends, when she sat for hours on the sofa with her colored pencils and her files, so that he feared that putting on a record in his own house might be rude"(4). By describing in such detail as Shukumar's fear to do something as normal as playing a record in his own house, and specifically using his point of view, the author is conveying the message that how one incident can be the cause of a broken marriage. Lahiri's use of long, run on sentences in this passage demonstrates the use of periodic sentences, which is when the whole sentence needs to be read to
             be comprehended well. These sentences are strong and one must read the whole passage before getting the full impact of them.
             The author uses imagery to describe the relationship Shukumar and Shoba once shared before the recent hostility between the two. Shukumar remembers, "how long it had been since she [S
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