Interpretation

The piece of literature that we have read in this class that I wanted to interpret was the story This Blessed House by Jhumpa Lahiri. The story included two main characters, they were Sanjeev and Twinkle. They are both Hindus and they have just moved into their new home. Upon moving into their new home they find some things that are left in the home from the people who were previously living at this place. As they find the things they discover that they are items that represent the beliefs of Christianity. Sanjeev immediately acts like he wants the items that they find to be thrown out so people that visit do not question their faith in Hinduism when they come into their home and see these iconic things representing Christianity. However, after each thing they discover Twinkle somehow finds a way to reason with Sanjeev so that they do not end up throwing out any of the items found. Sanjeev starts to get more concerned, because they are about to have some people over to help bring in their new home and he does not want the Christian items sitting around the house to be looked at and thought about. He continues to try to convince Twinkle to get rid of the items, but Twinkle is very good at getting what she wants so Sanjeev does not get anywhere with those attempts. Then the time comes where the people come over to visit their new home and Twinkle shows them the whole house and the items that they have found so far in their stay. Through the visit Sanjeev and Twinkle realize they have not really given the attic a good look so the people go on up with Twinkle while Sanjeev stays around downstairs feeling a little embarrassed. Twinkle takes them up to the attic and to their surprise they end up finding a big head that resembles Jesus Christ. There is some laughter and jokes going on and Sanjeev realizes that they probably found some other thing relating to Christianity. They come on down from the attic and Twinkle hands off the Jesus head to Sanjeev. She says that she will move it out of site tomorrow and into her study room, but Sanjeev realizes this is just another battle he is going to lose to Twinkle. He knows that she will somehow make him leave the head on the mantle of their fireplace for everyone to see that comes to visit their home in the future. He continues to keep those thoughts in his head and agrees to follow her to find a place to put the Jesus head and that is where the story ends.

The first time I just read through the story and just thought it was a well put together story and they put good description into it by describing the items really well. In reading it again I think the story was more meant for thoughts and questions concerning the end of the story. I know after reading it again I was concerned at what was going to happen with the Jesus head and where exactly they were going to place the item, and if Sanjeev was going to start to express his anger with Twinkle or just keep to himself fearing that he might hurt her feelings. Also, what was the view like from the people that came to visit their home? Did they believe that they found the items and were leaving them around as a joke? Or did they think that Sanjeev and Twinkle were struggling with their Hindu faith and thinking of converting to Christianity? The main theme I get from this story is that Sanjeev is really concerned with his image; however he is married to Twinkle who could care less about what people say or think about her, she will do whatever pleases her. Twinkle thinks it is really fun finding all the Christian items and enjoys showing the people what she found in her new home. This story just makes me realize that I would rather want to be more like Twinkle, because she is not concerned about her self image. We as Christians should not care what the world thinks about us, but what God thinks about us and we should act like him to the fullest. However, we all struggle with that from time to time and we may get to the point where we do not want to tell people that we are a Christian, because we may be scared of what they will think of us. I know I can get in those situations where I act like Sanjeev and I wish I acted the opposite and was more proud of my belief in Christianity in those situations. This story just brought up a lot more thoughts and questions for me when I read through this story a second time. The end of the story just shows how good girls can be at manipulating guys, due to the fact that Twinkle changes the subject so quickly in the end of the story. She goes to give Sanjeev the Jesus head and says she will move it tomorrow, and then quickly states that her feet are hurting her and we should go down to the living room. I think that move by Twinkle kind of eased the tension and also made it easier for her to convince Sanjeev to move the Jesus head down into the living room. The story is mainly on the idea of self image and manipulation. I thought the story was a good thing to read, but I think reading it over again gave me a more sense of what was going on and what I wanted to find out.