A Temporary Matter

1. A time that Shoba shows leader ship takes place on page 13 when she proposes the game. She says, "You're thinking of truth or dare. This is different. Okay, I'll start." Shoba is pretty much forcing Shukamar to play her game in the dark.
Another time that Shoba shows leadership is on page 21. After a few nights of playing her game with Shukamar, Shoba desides to tell Shukamar the secret she has been holding in. She says, "I've been looking for an apartment and I've found one." She proposes that she is moving out and Shukamar responds/reacts by telling her his secret about having known their baby's sex. On page 22 Shukamar says, "Our baby was a boy." This is his way of "getting even" with Shoba.

2. One secret that Shoba tells Shukamar in her game is found on page 13. It is her first secret that she shares. She tells Shukamar, "The first time I was alone in your apartment, I looked in your address book to see if you'd written me in. I think we'd known eachother two weeks." Another secret she shares with Shukamar is found on page 16. She says, "That time when your mother came to visit us. When I said one night that I had to stay late at work, I went out with Gillian and had a martini."
A secret that Shukamar shares with Shoba is on page 17. He says, "I cheated on my Oriental Civilization exam in college." And then he explains why.
Another secret that he shares with Shoba is on page 13. He tells Soba, "The first time we went out to dinner, to the Portuguese place, I forgot to tip the waiter. I went back the next morning, found out his name, left money with the manager."

3. The plant that Shukamar uses to put candles in is dead. It is very dry. Yet it is placed right beside the tap. So, it could be watered, but simply is not. I think that the plant represents Shukamar and Shoba's marriage. Their relationship is dry and dying. They are becoming farther and farther apart. They avoid eachother and only communicate in the dark. In order to keep a plant alive, it needs to be watered. A relationship also needs to be watered. The water in a relationship comes from honesty, communication, trust and flexibility. These things are easy to fix and it can be done in Shukamar and Shoba's relationship but they simply won't. Just like the plant is so close to the tap but neither Shoba or Shukamar will water it. So, therefore, it remains dead.

4. Some things in the story that are temporary are 1) Shoba's make up. In the story Shoba touches up her make up. She wears a mask that is only temporary for the time being. It wears off after awhile. Another example of something that is temporary are the time sessions that Shoba and Shukamar have together when the lights are off. They only last about an hour and then they are over. Also there baby was temporary. It was born dead.

5. An adjective that describes Shoba is tired. On page 1 it says, describing Shoba, "She wore a navy blue poplin raincoat over gray sweatpants and white sneakers, looking, at thirty-three, like the type of woman she'd once claimed she would never resemble." This line shows that Shoba has inherited a look from her job. She is a prooofreader of textbooks. This look that she has must be a tired look.