, Research Paper
??????????????? Before
I analysis my own story I must first sum up what I feel Raymond Carver is
trying to achieve in his stories. The simplicity of Raymond Carver’s characters makes them
complex. Though this is an ironic statement as irony is part of Raymond
Carver?s writing. The identities of his characters are simple and ordinary, but
the irony of the stories makes them strange. Most of Carver’s characters are
similar: lonely personalities without the ability to express themselves,
struggling with the difficulties of the daily life and moving from job to job.
There is a limit to what they can bear, and even an insignificant event can
crush their lives. Their ordinary lives suddenly seam not so ordinary; they
become strange. The settings are semi-industrial American towns that make the
reader depressed and anxious. The plots of his stories are also comparable: the
action begins with ordinary lives, which somehow collapse into darkness,
depression and panic. The world portrayed by the author is without religion,
politics, culture or society. The reader is left with mixed feelings: despair
and thankfulness. Our lives may be bad, but compared to those described in his
stories they seem heavenly. ??????????? However in my story I used similar
writing styles to Carver, but instead of having an event which crushes the
characters lives I did the opposite. In my story Sarah?s life is seemingly
tedious and monotonous and there is much sympathy for the predicament that she
is in, living alone, hardly any money, and forced to prostitution to keep her
going. I tired to convey this in the description of her flat by using words
such as ?musty? and ?malodorous?. However her life is turned upside down by one
man, she doesn?t know how (neither does the reader, as I try to keep them
guessing, leaving it open, very much Carver?s style). However it doesn?t matter
how, all that is important is that Sarah has been able to draw some kind of
inspiration and happiness out of another human being. Happiness is something
that people very much take for granted, however Sarah has not had much of it,
and when it comes along she treasures it, for it is precious as she does not
know how long it is going to last. Overall I have used similar writing styles
to Carver, detached and colloquial and I have used a theme, which runs through
many of Carvers stories, sex. ??????????? Sex is
paramount in many of Carver?s stories. It plays a large part in ?Neighbours,?
and also, ?They?re not your Husband.? So I suppose that my story could be
compared to those. However the story which I think mine is most similar to is
?A Small, Good, thing.? Both my story and this one have people who are
struggling in life, one couple hit by the death of their son and the other by
the life they are forced to live. However at the end the couple in,?A small,
good, thing,? and Sarah in ?Looking for Business,? are able to draw comfort,
relief and most of all contentment out of another person. I think that this can
act to reinforce mankind?s belief in human nature and that one person can help
another in fulfilling any gaps that may be missing in their lives ???????????