Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Sexy” review

Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Sexy” review

Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Sexy” is a short story describing the relationship between Miranda, a white woman, and Dev, a married Indian man. Dev works in Boston while Miranda lives alone in her apartment and often feels lonely. Dev and Miranda met at an apartment store, and after that, they started spending time together. They hid their love affair from Dev’s wife. One of the story’s important passages is when Miranda is taken to the Mapparium by Dev, and during the moment of close intimacy, Dev whispers to her: “You’re sexy.” This analysis seeks to provide a profound understanding of the institution of marriage and the notion of romantic relationships as depicted by the two texts.

Lahiri portrays marriage as a complex union prone to many hiccups, which requires a massive effort by the participants to live by it. Marriage, being a union between two people, is never guaranteed that it will survive or withstand the forces pulling either of the partners to cheat. “They often spoke about love and relationships as being hard work, and they acknowledged that relationship permanence is never given” (Hull, Ann, and Timothy, 34). These authors point out that even in strong marriages, the transformation of intimacy and the deinstitutionalization of marriage faces powerful counteracting forces. It revolves around two contradictory intimacy visions. These descriptions show how the world of marriage and love has evolved into a more complex and technical practice.

Giddens observes that love relationships are undergoing a radical change. ‘’The romantic love model, which emphasizes relationship permanence (epitomized in the marriage vow of “till death do us part”) and complementary gender roles, is being displaced by a new model of intimacy, which Giddens calls “confluent love.” (Hull, Ann, and Timothy, 35). As Lahiri’s story shows,  Giddens describes the confluent love model as one where the partners enter the relationship and maintain it as long as both partners get satisfaction. Giddens highlights that such relationships are fragile, and a break up always looms. This description is evident in Dev and Miranda’s love affair.

Dev calling Miranda sexy made her feel special and self-defined herself as a mistress, implying sheer stockings, black high-heels, a knee-length silk robe, and a silver cocktail dress. Conversely, none of these glittering garments make any impression on Dev; the cocktail dress is never worn but kept on the closet floor. Rohin calling Miranda sexy and interpreting to her that it means loving someone you don’t know makes her feel shocked and numb. Her numb reactions anticipated Dev’s upcoming obliviousness to remember what she told her at the Mapparium. Indeed she didn’t recall, only now that she came to realize that she never really knew Dev.

The central interest of “Sexy” is used to portray Miranda’s growth as a dynamic girl who slowly matures emotionally from impressional naivety to an adult with an insightful mindset. Lahiri wants the readers to compare and contrast links existing in the two extramarital affairs in the story. Miranda’s deep love for Dev until the moment when he tells her, “You’re sexy,” outlines the emotional stages of maturity of one’s love life. Miranda had never been told such a word, and it made her feel special. Rohin’s final “Sexy” comment to Miranda at the latter stages of the story is a depiction of the final stage of someone’s love journey. It is when Miranda realizes that she loved someone she didn’t know and, at that point, took control of her love life.

“Sexy” represents a world where love and sex don’t correlate. “He propped her feet on top of his shoulders and pressed her knees to her chest and said he couldn’t get enough of her” (Lahiri 85). The story revolves around the notion of sex as a tool for satisfying one’s need and not want. The intimate setting depicts sex as may be the root cause of all evil. Dev gives the reader of the story a sense of discomfort because he needs Miranda but doesn’t love her; he loves his wife. Miranda wants Dev to love her. Her thoughts always revolve around Dev and her next sexcapade. Thus, it shows a false illusion and misinterpretation of love and sex that people have.

“Sexy is the most noticeable titles among those tales since it evokes people in the sense of appearance, beauty, and understanding how the object is called sexy” (Xenia 133). Dev’s psychological understanding of Miranda made him call her “Sexy.” However, as the story unfolds, Dev wanted Miranda to satisfy her sexual feelings. Thus depict her as a sex object because he has a wife whom he loves. It also shows the guilty of loving one’s husband, as portrayed by Rohin telling Miranda that it means loving someone you don’t know.

Dev sees his relationship with Miranda as temporary because he needs Miranda but doesn’t love her; he loves his wife. Miranda, on the other hand, wants Dev to love her. Her thoughts always revolve around Dev and her next sexcapade. It is a complex affair of two persons with different agendas and intentions on the relationship. Because Dev’s wife is way in India, Dev wants Miranda to satisfy her sexual needs and not to love her. Miranda wants to be loved so bad that slight attention from the opposite sex can alter the balance of the other person’s actions and emotions.

Men see marriage and relationships different from how women do. A man’s aim is always for sexual satisfaction while a woman sees love and marriage as a jewel to cherish, care, and appreciate. Lahiri’s story reflects that idea well because Dev’s wife, who was in India, had no idea that her husband is cheating on her with a 22-year old girl. On the contrary, Miranda sees her love affair with Dev as very important because she was deeply in love with him. Therefore, two different objectives existed between Dev and Miranda. Dev was more interested in the sexual part of the affair, while Miranda was more interested in the romantic part.

Yes. Miranda and Dev’s different backgrounds contributed to how the relationship unfolded. Gidden’s article highlights that modernization and globalization have altered the dynamics of romantic love affairs and marriages. Giddens argues that as religious and traditional practices lose influence, people craft their profiles through individual choices, including intimate partners with a view of experiencing another person’s culture. Also, Giddens points out that the tight nature of commitment in a relationship is what is bringing psychological insecurity and higher addiction and anxiety levels. Dev and Miranda each wanted to experience the other’s cultural background. This made Miranda become more interested in Dev’s Bengali tradition and solidified their initial phase of the relationship.

In conclusion, the institution of marriage is complex. It is a rocky path filled with thorns that demand utmost caution from the parties involved. Lahiri’s story shows how marriage is a tricky union. Romantic relationships and extramarital affairs have been depicted by Lahiri as complex and require one to make tough choices. Dev’s affair with Miranda, for instance, was borne out of love and sexual desire. Love on the side of Miranda and sexual desire on the part of Dev. The texts also display the changing nature and landscape of love. Various married couples have diverse interpretations of what love and marriage is. For a perfect marriage and romantic love to flourish, it is prudent that the parties involved share their desires and aims for getting into such an affair.