After reading chapter 10 and discussing in class, initially, I felt bad for Moushumi. I feel as if she feels trapped and she feels very confused about her relationship with Gogol. I do not think she truly knows what she wants from life. She has very differing emotions throughout the chapter. For instance, the narrator talks about Moushumi and that "she'd genuinely liked Nikil. She'd liked that he was neither a doctor nor an engineer" (248). Through the repetition of the past tense verbs, the narrator displays Moushumi's past and previous love for Gogol, but that she does not feel that same love anymore. However, on the other hand, the narrator also explains that Moushumi "is reminded, forcefully, of why she still loves him" (249). Through this, the author indirectly characterizes Moushumi as still in love with Gogol. Then, the narrator describes Moushumi's times with Dimitri and explains, "Moushumi refers to Nikhil in conversation as 'my husband'" (264). At first, I thought this sentence simply showed Moushumi's affair with Dimitri, which displays that she does not love Gogol. However, after reading it again, I believe this sentence reveals a lot more about Moshumi. I think that because she uses "my husband" instead of his actual name to refer to Gogol indirectly characterizes her as guilty. Because she uses a common and general term like "my husband," instead of Gogol, I feel as if she feels guilty for cheating on Gogol, representing that she still has feelings for Gogol. I think Moushumi feels very confused about her life and her feelings for Gogol. I believe her problems are rooted in the problems she had in her childhood, and she can never truly escape these problems, so she will continue to have conflicting feelings towards Gogol.
I agree, Jillian. Throughout Chapter 10 I felt confusion over the discrepancy between Moushumi’s thoughts and actions. Although the narrator reveals that Moushumi still loves and appreciates Gogol’s presence in her life, obviously her adultery tells a different story. I also believe that many of Moushumi’s problems with the relationship spring from her sheltered childhood, or possibly from her failed relationship with Graham.
ReplyDeleteJillian and Mariel, I also agree with you two. I partly feel bad for Moushumi and her conflicting feelings about her marriage and Gogol, but at the same time, I cannot forgive her for her selfish acts of adultery. It definitely seems as though Moushumi married Gogol out of convenience and her loneliness. For example, the narrator states about Moushumi after her break-up with Graham," She recalled a panic she'd felt, all her friends married"(249). This moment definitely indirectly characterizes her as desperate, and demonstrates that Gogol came into her life at this time of confusion and desperation, so she consequently married him to try to make herself happy again.
ReplyDeleteJillian, you said that her use of "my husband" when referring to Gogol shows that she feels guilty, but I feel that it shows she is just avoiding feeling anything altogether. It seems that, by calling him this, she tries to distance herself from him so she cannot feel guilt, or anything else. By Dimitri's description, I doubt she is attracted to him, so I think that she has an affair with him, not because of how she feels, but because of what he represents for her: her past. Meghan, I agree with you, that Gogol came into her life just before she felt that she would lose her friends due to the fact she hadn't married. This panic that set in just shows how shallow she truly is, and her desperate attempt to become happy again obviously has not worked; it will not be fixed by an affair.
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