Hell-Heaven

In Hell-Heaven, Lahiri once again depicts a story of loneliness, and home-sickness.  This story deals with relationships and how they help/hurt the characters cope with their isolation in a new country.  Aparna, the mother of Usha, falls in love with Pranab.  Pranab is her crutch for her transition from Bengali.  When Pranab marries Deborah, it is a Hell-Heaven difference.  Pranab converts from an aid in the new world to an added pain in Aparna's life.  The backwards metaphor "Hell-heaven," immediately struck me as an awkward phrase because the word hell is used first.  In this sense, word order matters.  We subconsciously think of heaven and then hell because goodness triumphs over evil.  In the case of Aparna, she feels more pain than goodness, and sadness and dejectory takes precedence in Pranab's change.  It is "Hell-heaven."