You Go Ahead

When discussions begin in AP English 12, the mood of the room immediately changes from its lively pre-class routine of dissing Thomas and poking fun at Carolyn to a every-man for himself attitude. In all honesty, who wants to get a nine out of fifteen for their lack of effort to speak? The class remains so intense that a sharp knife could slice right through the tension in the class. Everyone knows the awkward feeling when two people begin to speak at the exact same time and no-one knows what to do even though this situation occurs daily. The person who continues to talk almost always leaves a noticeable trace of guilt that stems from their robbery of points from a fellow classmate (the only exception I have found to this “guilt rule” remains Henry). The tension and guilt, that routinely comes hand in hand with these discussions, parallels the marriage of Gogol and Moushumi perfectly. Following their first anniversary dinner, Moushumi begins to have “tears filming her eyes” and Gogol considerately questions her but after no substantial answer to her sadness he begins “to lose his patience with her” (252, 253). The lack of communication in their marriage leads to incredibly awkward situations and foreshadows a potential break-up in the Ganguli’s future. Furthermore, after Moushumi starts her affair with Dimitri she endures multiple sleepless nights and the supposedly indifferent narrator states that, “She stays awake for hours after they’ve turned out the lights” (265). The inability to calmly drift off to sleep indirectly characterizes Moushumi as extremely guilty and uncomfortable with her marital situation. The author, Jhumpa Lahiri, utilizes pathos to evoke hatred toward Moushumi because even with her immense guilt she continues to cheat on Gogol. The parallel between the tension and guilt in our class discussions and in the Ganguli’s marriage thoroughly intrigues me even though the situations contrast each other tremendously.