Lack
of Communication in Marriages
Marriages are failing these days due to several
reasons. The stories “Interpreter of Maladies,” “The Yellow Wallpaper” and the
movie “Revolutionary Road” share a
common theme which is lack of communication in marriages. Mr. and Mrs. Das in
Interpreter of Maladies lack the communication which is supposed to be there in
a married couple. Similarly in the story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the author and
her husband John do not understand each other which leads to the end of
relationship. A very famous Hollywood movie, “Revolutionary Road” shows this theme in a better way by letting the
audience know how disastrous this gap can prove to be.
The
story “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri starts with an indication showing
poor relationship between husband and wife. Mr. and Mrs. Das are seen arguing
for taking their daughter to the washroom. This scene takes place at the tea
stall. He convinces his wife to take Tina to toilet by saying that he gave Tina
a bath last night: “Eventually Mrs. Das relented when Mr. Das pointed out that
he had given the girl her bath that night before” (Lahiri 12). This kind of
conversation indicates that the marriage is not successful as the parents are
not ready to take the responsibilities of their children. They have to take
turns to follow their duties towards their children indicating a bad relationship.
Mrs. Das didn’t care about her child who was playing with the side lock, and
she continued to eat her rice without offering to anyone, “She sat a bit
slouched at one end of the back seat, not offering her puffed rice to anyone”
(Lahiri 15). This shows lack of motherhood in her. While the family was going
to their destination, Mrs. Das felt a little hot. Mr. Das turns down her
request by saying that it isn’t so hot. She replies by saying, “What are you saving
us, fifty cents?” (Lahiri 16). As a wife, she is not supposed to talk in this
manner to her husband which shows us that this marriage is a failure. Jhumpa
Lahiri, also writes in the story about the reaction of Mrs. Das towards Mr.
Kapasi, “Her sudden interest in him, an interest she did not express in either
her husband or her children, was mildly intoxicating” (Lahiri 19). Mrs. Das had
gone beyond the limit of her interest. She is involved in conversation with a
stranger, Mr. Kapasi to a great extent which was not expected from a married
woman. Also on the other hand she is not seen talking to her husband at all
stating a lack of communication. The same is the case with Mr. Kapasi. His
marriage also lacks a strong connection with his wife. This can be proved from
their visit to the Konarak temple when Lahiri mentions, “That he had never seen
his own wife fully naked” (Lahiri 22). Mr. Kapasi had never seen his wife fully
naked which indicates that this character was also leading an unhappy married
life.
The Yellow Wallpaper, by Perkins Gilman is another
story which shows lack of communication between the couple. The couple has
recently got a baby and the narrator has got a mental breakdown after this.
This marriage is not satisfying her emotionally. The two have shifted to a
cheap rental house. Internally she knows that John does not respect her
feelings as she feels this new place to be scary, “John laughs at me, but one
expects that in marriage” (Gilman 315). John is concerned with being a good
husband and a respectable physician rather than a sensitive husband. He should
try to satisfy the unique needs of his wife rather than giving preference to
his profession. Reading the story one may find that there is no trust in the
two as she says, “Personally I disagree with their ideas” (Gilman 316). She doesn’t
believe in the ideas of John and her brother. Until and unless there is trust
between each other, their marriage cannot succeed. Her husband is oppressive
and doesn’t give her a chance to say in her mental treatment, “But John would
not hear of it” (Gilman 316). The narrator has a lot to say about the way she
feels about the treatment. She even wants to share with John the way she feels
about the room where she is locked, but he does not behave as an empathetic,
nor emotional husband, instead treats her strictly as a patient. The story was
written in a period where men had a commanding voice over women. Women were not
allowed to put their opinions in society but this is the case of a marriage. A
married couple doesn’t have these kind of rules. Both have the equal right of
putting their thoughts, and this is the way a good married life works. When
John is not able to understand his wife because he is not involved in
discussions with her, he ends up fainting seeing her. If he would have known
her in a better way then his reaction would have been different. The conclusion
of this unhappy married life is perhaps, lack of communication. It is pretty
strange that expression and communication used to lack since 19th
century. As seen from the two stories, both have this problem in marriages. The
story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” was written in 19th century which is
“Realism” period and “Interpreter of Maladies” is a piece of post modernism.
The marriages in both the periods share the same problem where people are not
expressive in nature which leads to the failures of marriages.
A very similar thing is shown in the movie
“Revolutionary Road” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The married
couple went through a rough phase of their lives when their careers did not do
well. Meanwhile, April, the character played by Kate Winslet, gets pregnant.
This leads to a lot of tension and Frank (Leonardo) forces her to do the
abortion. A lot of arguments and fights take place. Eventually, April gets
lonely and ends up having sex with an outside person. Frank gets the promotion
in his office and hopes that life will get back on track but he is wrong in
this. April doesn’t love him anymore. The two are not able to express to each
other during their bad times. This makes them lose their feelings for each
other. A similar situation is shown in the story, Interpreter of Maladies, when
Mrs. Das keeps the secret about her Punjabi friend hidden from her husband, and
this makes her express less to him. In revolutionary war, finally April decides
to leave him and get the abortion done. Complications post abortion prove to be
fatal for April and this gives a very sad ending of the movie.
Yellow wallpaper showed us how the married woman in the
story was given no chance to speak up in important decisions. She had a lot to
say about the way she felt about her treatment but couldn’t. This gap of communication
led to the end of married life and finally the narrator is set free when her
husband faints. Similarly, in the story Interpreter of Maladies, Mrs. Das has
many secrets inside her which she never discussed with her husband. This had
led them to have a weak relationship of husband and wife. Frank and April also
share same kind of relationship which has no communication. Because of this,
the couple had to pay a great price. April had to lose her life and this
relationship was ended permanently. Thus, the theme “lack of communication”
connects the two stories, “Interpreter of Maladies” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”
which is further connected to a theme of the Hollywood movie “Revolutionary
Road”.
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