Page 311 - DENG201_ENGLISH_II

Unit 23: Jhumpa Lahiri’s “This Blessed House”: Detailed Study

their coats, and finally rushing to the cherry-wood table when the last guest had left, to begin opening Notes
their housewarming presents. It was the same pang he used to feel before they were married, when
he would hang up the phone after one of their conversations, or when he would drive back from the
airport, wondering which ascending plane in the sky was hers.
“Sanj, you won’t believe this.”
She emerged with her back to him, her hands over her head, the tops of her bare shoulder blades
perspiring, supporting something still hidden from view.
“You got it, Twinkle?” someone asked.
“Yes, you can let go.”
Now he saw that her hands were wrapped around it: a solid silver bust of Christ, the head easily
three times the size of his own. It had a patrician bump on its nose, magnificent curly hair that rested
atop a pronounced collarbone, and a broad forehead that reflected in miniature the walls and doors
and lampshades around them. Its expression was confident, as if assured of its devotees, the unyielding
lips sensuous and full. It was also sporting Nora’s feather hat. As Twinkle descended, Sanjeev put his
hands around her waist to balance her, and he relieved her of the bust when she had reached the
ground. It weighed a good thirty pounds. The others began lowering themselves slowly, exhausted
from the hunt. Some trickled downstairs in search of a fresh drink.
She took a breath, raised her eyebrows, crossed her fingers, “Would you mind terribly if we displayed
it on the mantel? Just for tonight? I know you hate it.”
He did hate it. He hated its immensity, and its flawless, polished surface, and its undeniable value.
He hated that it was in his house, and that he owned it. Unlike the other things they’d found, this
contained dignity, solemnity, beauty even. But to his surprise these qualities made him hate it all the
more. Most of all he hated it because he knew that Twinkle loved it.
“I’ll keep it in my study from tomorrow,” Twinkle added. “I promise.”
She would never put it in her study, he knew. For the rest of their days together she would keep it on
the center of the mantel, flanked on either side by the rest of the menagerie. Each time they had
guests Twinkle would explain how she had found it, and they would admire her as they listened. He
gazed at the crushed rose petals in her hair, at the pearl and sapphire choker at her throat, at the
sparkly crimson polish on her toes. He decided these were among the things that made Prabal think
she was wow. His head ached from gin and his arms ached from the weight of the statue. He said. “I
put your shoes in the bedroom.”
“Thanks. But my feet are killing me.” Twinkle gave his elbow a little squeeze and headed for the
living room.
Sanjeev pressed the massive silver face to his ribs, careful not to let the feather hat slip, and followed
her.

23.3 Main Characters

Characters
Douglas
Douglas is one of the guests at the housewarming party. Tall and blond, he is a consultant at the firm
at which Sanjeev works.
Nora
Nora is the girlfriend of Douglas. Like him, she is tall and blond.
Prabal
Prabal is a guest at the housewarming party. He is an unmarried professor of physics at Yale University.
He admires Twinkle and tells Sanjeev: “Your wife’s wow.”

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 305