Power Struggle

One of the issues that This Blesssed House addresses is power. Women tend to be portrayed as passive and the homemaker. Men are set in more forceful and powerful roles where they are dominate over the women in their lives. In the short story Jhumpa Lahiri twists around the expected roles of women breaking the more traditional roles they are commonly placed in.

One of the first ways that this is evident is in Twinkle's refusal to obey her husband. He gives her numerous orders to do things and she is constantly doing the exact opposite. When he tells her to throw away the items that she found she responds by placing " the statue on top of the fire mantel, which needed, Sanjeev observed, to be dusted" (Lahiri 137). This act shows an outright refusal to listen to the man in the house. Sanjeev's observation of the need for the mantel to be dusted reveals that he is responsible for the household cleaning which is normally reserved for women.

The impression that Sanjeev is more feminine is also portrayed through his physical description of himself. His actions towards his appearance also reflect the actions of a girl, "In the mirror of the medicine cabinet he inspected his long eyelashes- like a girl's...his cheeks had a plumpness to them..." (140). We also get the sense of reversed roles through the differences in height and Sanjeev's obvious discomfort with being shorter than his wife, he "had wished ever since he had stopped growing that he were just one inch taller. For this reason it irritated him when Twinkle insisted on wearing high heels..." (140). This pronouncement reveals that Sanjeev is uncomfortable with being shorter than his wife, it makes him feel less like a man.

These character traits are deliberately given to Sanjeev and Twinkle. They serve a purpose to reverse the roles that normally are associated with men and women. This could be done to reveal what the consequences can be when situations are reversed and how they can alienate a person because they are not in their comfort zone. It also makes a point to show how women's expected roles are constricting to them.

Lahiri creates these reverse roles to take a stance about something, these roles weren't just given to Sanjeev and Twinkle, they have a purpose.