Paper – 402

Difference of personality and conflict of marriage in Jhumpa

Lahiri's "This Blessed House".

The story “This Blessed House” was published in 1999. The short story has two main characters, Sanjeev
and Tanima who have recently engage. The two newlywed couples find married life very challenging and
indeed it becomes difficult for them to cope with it.Before they got marriage the two characters were
dating each other happily and they had thought they are the perfect life match couples for each other.
Therefore when the finally got married they both thought they have achieved a milestone in their lives.
However in their first few days of their marriage they discovered things are not the way they had
thought before. It is then that they noticed that love relationship is different from marriage. What they
discovered after they got marriage is that they have totally different live personalities. The difference in
their personalities was the main problem in their marriage. This exhibits that people with different live
personalities can not cope easily with each other in marriage. The difference in their personalities is
pointed out when Sanjeev spreads relics all over the house. On her part Twinkle was unhappy with the
action of Sanjeev of spreading relics all over the house. Hence Twinkle wanted to throw those relics
away to annoy her husband. Since Sanjeev did not was to cause a conflict in their marriage he decided
to collect the relics that were spread in the house. The main cause of conflict in their marriage is the
difference in their personalities. Hence their different personalities make their marriage difficult and
make their stay in “this blessed house” very difficult. According to the author it is Sanjeev who makes
their marriage to be difficult, “Of Sanjeev and Twinkle, Sanjeev is the one with the personality that
craves order”. The short story “This Blessed House” is just a reflection of problems affecting marriages.
Many marriages in our society are affected by the difference in the personalities of the couple. Couples
whose behaviours and characters do not match often find their marriage lives very tough. For instance
Sanjeev was a drunkard and wanted to change the personality of her wife by influencing her to join him
in the bar for a few drinks however hew wife respect the Hindu culture which prohibits women from
drinking alcohol. The problem of Sanjeev is that he wants her wife to do exactly what he does. Trying to
change the personality of a person can fuel a conflict in marriage as it has been the case of the two
Indian couples, Sanjeev and Twinkle. In conclusion people with different personalities are a perfect
march for each other. However once they are in a marriage they should try their level best to maintain
the marriage by becoming tolerant to each other.