SSRJ #4 Carver
My initial reaction to this compelling short story was confusion. His literary style along with the plot of the story makes this story very moving. This piece made me think how two people can have so many differences that they completely forget the safety of there own child. Its mind bending to me that people can get so caught up in emotion that they let an event happen as portrayed in “popular mechanics” by carver. This short story was beautifully written, I believe it was designed to let the reader imagine their own details. His simplistic writing style leaves many questions unanswered. He says, “ Early that day the weather turned and the snow was melting into dirty water. Streaks of it ran down from the little shoulder-high window that faced the backyard. Cars slushed by on the street outside, where it was getting dark. But it was getting dark on the inside too. “. The last sentence creates a mood for what is to come throughout the rest of the story. One question I would like to ask, What happened to the baby, and what caused these two to get in such an argument that they would endanger their own child?
I agree that Carver designed the story to let the reader imagine their own details to it. I felt that it the story had so many unanswered questions. I noticed that the baby was always referred to as an object and not a human. But i also question what could make them fight to the point where they would endanger their own child.
ReplyDeleteYour questions are good. I think Carver leaves these questions open because the story has multiple meanings and each of us must interpret our own. I believe the struggle over the baby was a symbolic depiction of what can happen in relationships that end when children are involved. In this story the baby was clearly suffering the most just as what happens in real life. When couples separate it is always the children who suffer the most
ReplyDeleteI think that carver uses the beautiful snow melting into dirty water to relate to their relationship in that in the beginning it was perfect but as time goes by the relationship suffers and begins to melt. I believe that they really weren't fighting over the baby but trying to be selfish and take what the other person wanted to hurt them.
ReplyDeleteFrom the descriptive actions of the parents provided by the author and the notation of “in this manner” stated within the last line, I would assume that the baby was torn into two. I think that the author was trying to show exactly how selfish people can be. Why does anyone fight and split apart, usually because one, or neither, is willing to give a little to compromise in the first place. This story is very interesting; it shows how two parent’s selfish actions physically affected the child to which they both obviously loved. We see this action often in life with divorce and separations, parents never think of how their actions may affect those closest, they mostly consider themselves when making these kinds of decisions.
ReplyDeleteThat last sentence had me assuming the baby suffered. The parents were so caught up in their own emotions they didn't really realize the pain the child was in. Sometimes that is the way families are now. They don't see the pain or ask their children what they are going through. Parents just want to keep issues behind closed doors when it should be a family ordeal.
ReplyDeleteThe ending of the story led me to believe that the baby was either seriously injured or that it died. The couple obviously didn't take the baby's well being into consideration, but like Jennifer said it was only because of the emotions they were going through. They weren't thinking clearly.
ReplyDelete