AP Prompted Writing #3: The Christian Marraige

Ann Jacob

Ms. Nichole Wilson

AP Multicultural Literature

2003, Form B. Novels and plays often depict characters caught between colliding cultures -- national, regional, ethnic, religious, institutional. Such collisions can call a character’s sense of identity into question. Select a novel or play in which a character responds to such a cultural collision. Then write a well-organized essay in which you describe the character’s response and explain its relevance to the work as a whole.

The Christian Marriage

            Everyone has heard that in marriage, there are certain similarities a couple should have; same ideals in children, money, religion, etc. For Twinkle and Sanjeev, their mutual choice in religion wouldn't have even garnered a second look until their move into their new home. Jhumpa Lahiri, author of Interpreter of Maladies: This Blessed House, uses the Christian faith and the pressures of a newly married couple to demonstrate why marriage status is based largely on religious affiliation.

            Jhumpa Lahiri explores why religion should be a common ideal within marriage. Newly married Hindus, Twinkle and Sanjeev, are moving and cleaning their new home. Upon cleaning, Twinkle begins discovering Christian paraphernalia sprinkled all across the home, starting with a “white porcelain effigy of Christ” (Lahiri 136). In discovering these items, Twinkle, a woman who used to center her life on Hinduism, begins to see the beauty of Christianity.  As Twinkle allows Christianity to envelope her, she begins to “question her roots” (Lahiri 139). Once a religion she was expected to follow and thought she believed in completely, Twinkle begins to questions the basis of how her parents raised her and her past. She wonders how such a magnificent religion could have been hidden from her for so long. Even though she is in love with this newfound entity, in a flash of traditional religious pride, Twinkle accuses the old owners of the home of “attempt[ing] to convert people” (Lahiri 138). Just as quickly as she accuses the old homeowners though, she finds herself wondering “What else do you think we’ll find?” (Lahiri 138). As she finds more and more Christian art and sculptures in her home, she begins to distance herself from her Hindu religion. Twinkle feels like a part of her identity was essentially hidden from her and she, in some ways, feels betrayed by her family and her culture. This feeling of betrayal is held underneath while she prioritizes her “treasure hunt” for the hidden items, paralleling the treasure hunt she feels for her true identity with religion, even the growing tension of differing religions.

Through Twinkle and Sanjeev’s relationship, Lahiri searches for why religion should be a common trait between spouses. Despite Twinkle’s newfound joy and curiosity with Christianity, new husband Sanjeev is not pleased. A devout Hindu himself, Sanjeev feels betrayed as well-by Twinkle. In their new home, a clean slate, Twinkle begins to tarnish his strong faith and identity. Although Twinkle sees Sanjeev’s discomfort, she continues her pursue this unknown part of herself. When Twinkle pleads to keep some of the items, Sanjeev “compromise[s] to place the [Virgin Mary] statue…at the side of the house” instead of throwing it away or keeping it in the front (Lahiri 149-150). But as time passes, Twinkle grows restless with Sanjeev’s close-mindedness and places her Christian paraphernalia wherever she pleases.

The colliding religious cultures eventually take a toll on Twinkle and Sanjeev’s relationship. Soon after, Twinkle and Sanjeev begin to resent each other for the separation that has become present between them as a result of this new religion. Twinkle, feeling the strains of their relationship often “need[s] a cigarette” while Sanjeev “feel[s] irritated’ with Twinkle “continuously” (Lahiri 155). Through the emergence of a new religion, Lahiri proves how Twinkle and Sanjeev begin to see the importance of having a common religion within a marriage.

By allowing Twinkle to expand and transform her faith, Lahiri’s audience is able to see the effect that colliding religions has on self-identity and the adventure one must embark upon to find the truth in oneself. As well as Twinkle’s change, differing religions shed light onto the importance of sharing a religion in a marriage. Jhumpa Lahiri, author of Interpreter of Maladies: This Blessed House, proves that marital status is dependent on mutual faith by using the Christian faith and the pressures of a newly married couple to explain that without the basis being mutual, disaster is probable to ensue.