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This story is told in the third person limited point of view with Shukumar as the story’s protagonist. The reader knows Shukumar’s thoughts and feelings but not Shoba’s. Everything known about Shoba and their relationship is filtered through Shukumar’s perspective. Shukumar describes Shoba’s changed behavior after the death of the baby, but he mentions little about his own listlessness and depression. Despite Shukumar’s focus on Shoba’s grief, he inadvertently reveals his own when he describes details about his life, such as the fact that he sleeps in daily, rarely leaves his home, and fails to focus on his dissertation. Shukumar is pessimistic about his relationship with Shoba at first, but over the course of the story he grows more hopeful. At first, he thinks about what happened to the baby and what happened in the weeks following the baby’s death, but as the story progresses, he thinks more about the memories he wants to share with Shoba during the power outage and puts more work into their conversations. Despite all his focus on the breakdown of his marriage, Shukumar’s actions demonstrate a hopefulness for the future, but also a nearsighted ignorance, as the revelation of Shoba’s new apartment and impending departure shocks him. After so many nights of re-building intimacy, he doesn’t expect the finality of her decision, but he also finally allows Shoba insight into his own pain.

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