Essay on Raymond Carvers What We Talk About When We Talk...

Love is undoubtedly one of the most frequently explored subjects in the literary world. Whether the focus is a confession of love, criticism of love, tale of love, or simply a tale about what love is, such literary pieces force readers to question the true meaning and value of love. Raymond Carver accomplishes this in his short story â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.† As the unadorned setting and the personality of each character unfold, the reader realizes that Carver is making a grave comment on the existence of love. Carver utilizes strong contrast, imagery, and diction to ultimately suggest that love cannot be defined concretely and therefore cannot be defined in words, and because of this, it is better off unexplored.†¦show more content†¦On page 178, Mel states, â€Å"†¦And it ought to make us feel ashamed when we talk like we know what we’re talking about when we talk about love.† In short, Mel is suggesting that none of the characters understand love, and those who think they do (Nick and Laura) are temporarily disillusioned. Additionally, Carver invalidates Nick and Laura’s comments on love by categorizing them as new fools in love, meaning that Nick’s comment about love being absolute is far from true. The contrast of the two couples relationships suggests that there are many forms and stages of love, which further disproves its absoluteness. In conclusion, the contrast of all four characters’ views questions both the existence and the verbal definition of true love. As the story unfolds further, Mel continues to lead the group’s conversation. Carver incorporates significant imagery through this drunken character. First of all, Mel speaks of his wishes to be a knight so that he could have a suit of armor, which is a form of protection. However, on page 181 Nick states, â€Å"I read somewhere that they’d fall off their horses and not be able to get up becaus e they were too tired to stand with all that armor on them. They got trampled by their own horses sometimes.† This is an analogy in the sense that the armor represents â€Å"walls† that people put up to protect and separate themselves from others. The horse represents the creature in which the man confides the most trust, which could also representShow MoreRelatedThe Complexity of Love in Raymond Carver’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Love520 Words   |  2 Pagesget wrapped up talking about is love. And it always has been. In Raymond Carver’s â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,† the four characters spend an entire afternoon discussing the simple word that has countless interpretations. Carver uses this story to convey how not everyone shares the same definition of love. He uses Mel, Terri, and Nick and Laura to show just a few of the ways love can be seen, expressed, or develops through stages. Mel McGinnis views love in a handful of differentRead MoreDiscussion of Love in Raymond Carvers What We Talk About When We Talk About Love952 Words   |  4 PagesIn the article â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love†, which was written by Raymond Carver in 1981, the author is mainly talking about the story from Mel McGinnis, who is at home with his wife Terri and their friends, Nick and Laura, are drinking gin and tonics and talking about love. The first discussion is about Terris ex husband, Ed. Ed is the guy she was with before Mel McGinnis. It is a sad story. She says, that night Ed beat her, he told her, I love you, I love you, you bitch whileRead MoreRaymond Carver1583 Words   |  7 PagesRaymond Carver (1938-1988) was a poet and a simple realist writer of short stories. His prose addresses the average working-class citizen. Bill Mullen describes the book that contains the short story â€Å"What We Talk About We Talk About Love† to the â€Å"distinctly post-modern fate of contemporary working-class Americans† (Bloom). The writings are depressing and riddled with failures in life. The textbook calls his school of writing â€Å"Alcoholic Blue-Collar Minimalist Hyperrealism† (Bayam). This is evidentRead MoreWhat We Talk About When We Talk About Love807 Words   |  4 PagesWhat We Talk About When We Talk About Love After analyzing Raymond Carver’s â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,† it is easy to see that there are several different ideas concerning true love that the characters in the story are in dispute over. Terri’s idea of real love is the most valid out of the group at the table. All of the members of the group are rather confused as to what real love is. Terri is included as one of the confused. However, I believe that she is the closest to understandingRead MoreThe Lives and Works of Raymond Carver1692 Words   |  7 Pagesstyle of writing, Raymond Carver has left a lasting and outstanding impact on the history of short stories. Even though Raymond Carver left a long impact, his life was of the opposite. Like Raymond Carver’s famous award winning stories, his life was short. Raymond Carver was born on May 25th, 1938 in Clatskanie, Oregon, a mill town on the Columbia River. Carver grew up in Yakima, Washington. Carver had three members to his small family, his mother, his father, and brother. Carver’s only had one siblingRead MoreWhat We Talk About When We Talk About Love823 Words   |  4 PagesAfter analyzing Raymond Carvers What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, it is easy to see that there are several different ideas concerning true love that the characters in the story are in dispute over. Terris idea of real love is the most valid out of the group at the table. All of the members of the group are rather confused as to what real love is. Terri is included as one of the confused. However, I believe that she is the closest to understanding what love is. A key piece of evidenceRead MoreThe Most Important American Fiction Writer1661 Words   |  7 PagesRaymond Carver has been called â€Å"the most important American fiction writer in the second half of the twentieth century† and â€Å"the most influential American short story writer since Ernest Hemingway† (Kleepe vii). He was very succ essful despite his many difficult life experiences. Carver grew up during a very difficult time in America. However, early on, Carver and his wife believed their hard work would eventually pay off despite the challenges in the world around them. They thought it would fix almostRead MoreRaymond Carver and his Works1402 Words   |  6 Pagesmovie made that you have to creator’s life to see where the story actually comes from. No matter what we do in life we all as human beings find a way to show what we have been through in our lives. Raymond Carver was no different just he had a really tough road that he traveled and it showed in his stories. According to an interview with William, Stull in â€Å"Matters of Life Death: An Interview with Raymond Carver† Carver also understood that his life showed through in his work, â€Å"Wolff said in a reviewRead MoreWhat Is Love? Definition Essay1113 Words   |  5 PagesFor some people love is a complete devotion and endless ado ration, for others is a temporary feeling that will disappear in time. For some people it is a fairy-tale and for others it is a dream come true. Some people say love is once-in-a lifetime thing and others believe that after one love comes another. The more you try to find a universal definition of love – the more you get confused with all these words you get from different people around you. The more you think you get closer to the trueRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book What We Talk About When We Think About Love `` And Englander s `` Essay1244 Words   |  5 Pagesstories are very similar to one another. Carver’s â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love† and Englander’s â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank† are no exception to this. Both share a common element, which is morality. Both stories focus on the morality of their respective characters. However, Englander’s story expands on this more than Carver’s sto ry. By this we mean that Englander’s story has a much higher level of morality in it rather than Carver’s tale because he expands on everything