What we talk about when talking about love - Raymond Carver - Book Report/Review Example

Book Report/Review, English Literature ic and Modern) What we talk about when talkingabout love-Raymond Carver Introduction Raymond Carver has penned an interesting story titled “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”. The theme of the story is not something profound. The issues relate to the day to day life of men and women. The story conveys messages interconnecting strategic dialogues with small gestures and charming. Ordinary settings are used to communicate broad themes. The characters make sincere attempts to examine the true meaning of love and human kinship by making simple word choices and interesting dialogues on the topic of love. The literary strength of dialogues The dialogues strengthen the intrinsic value of the story and the theme of masculine possession pervades throughout the story. Mel articulates about his desire to be reincarnated as a knight for “their ladies” (124). All through the story Mel is contemptuously aggressive towards Terri in his disposition, but Terri challenges his masculinity by correcting his vocabulary and enquiring sarcastically if he is too drunk or depressed and she keeps the conversation going in style. She is witty in her retorts and quips “Modesty doesn’t become you”, but Mel obscures her stinging words with gin to fulfill the demands of his ego that craves to drink more (124). The concept of changing forms of love is examined more thoroughly in different forms from “carnal love” and “sentimental love” which compete with his earlier assertion about “spiritual love” (120).Love is depicted as an unsteady trait of the human beings. Mel and Terri have gone through the process of love and lost and attempt to love again. Terri initially describes her boisterous relationship with Ed, but eventually she arrives in the life of Mel. Ed’s approach to love is different according to Terri but she is convinced that he loved her and she says that with conviction. Undoubtedly she feels strongly about him and she also wants to make the issue clear to Mel. Their love for each other is purely secular, a love due to the compulsions of association. Recalling his past Mel recounts that he once “loved (his) first wife more than life itself,” but that now he “hates her guts” (120). Terri still holds undying love for dead Ed, but Mel stresses that “if something happened to one of us…then the surviving party would grieve for a while…and love again” (120). This shows that both of them do not see anything like nobility, let alone divinity, in their love-relationship. Love defies definition—each one sees a different horizon! Love is indeed a magical sapling and what type of fruit it will bear no one knows! For example Laura and Nick sincerely believe that they know what love is, but they are unable to provide a clear classification or explanation why they are sure about their convictions. They indulge in artificial details about love, like blushing and holding hands, but do not reveal something tangible about their love relationship and seem to have some hidden agenda, and they are unwilling to shun the mask. Terri has her unique style of defining love and defends her offensive ex-boyfriend, Ed, and certifies that he has truly loved her, despite his crazy style of expressing it. He beats her often, stalks and threatens and these disturbing trends, according to her, are pointers to prove his love. But like others she has problems to truly express her feelings. She is unable to find proper words for articulating her thoughts. Such cruel behavior is the proof of his true love, Raymond Carver argues. The progression of the theme of love is through prolonged discussions and aided by the visual advancement of time. For example the story begins with the sun slowly plummeting below the horizons and the couple continues to drink gin and discuss life and love. When the story concludes “the light was draining out of the room, going back where it had come from” (127) and again the backdrop is synchronized with the plot as the conversation waned and lulled. Time passes to act as a pattern of plot rather than shifting location or disturbing the homely atmosphere through which conversation can flow. It takes place around the kitchen table of Mel and Terri. The settings do not challenge the dialogue or sidetrack from the practical messages conveyed through the characters. The Limitations of language Raymond Carver’s characters are not intellectuals and scholars. They are simple folks. It is difficult to express the subtle subjects like love that belong to the emotional world. The characters get stuck up and are unable to describe the feelings in their hearts, and as such in the novel one will not find the Shakespearean-type dialogues on love. Mel talks much and his overstuffed stories and incoherent forays indicate that he has trouble conveying his thoughts and feelings, notwithstanding his lengthy talks. Terri also speaks in great length about the merits of her former lover Ed, and on being challenged by Mel she switches over to perceptions to defend her stand. She firmly believes that Ed has loved her no matter what are the opinions of others on the subject signifying that gut feelings about love are more powerful and precise than words. Laura and Nick on the other hand know little about the theory aspect of love and they rely on physical gestures, but not language. They hold hands, tough each other’s legs and blush. Carver elucidates that words alone are not enough in the world of love and love is profound than merely getting engaged in lengthy discussions. True love is silent and its sincerity need not be vocal. All such discussion on the subject of love is carried out through simple dialogues. Conclusion Raymond Carver’s stories provide the glimpses of day to day life of the common folk. In this story the so-called plot is only conversation and drinks. The profound subject of love is taken up for discussion with no action plan, suspense or change of setting and nothing happens except arguments and counter-arguments. But an element of excitement runs through the discussions, and they reach to a conclusion, though not convincing. The conclusions do not hurt anyone or create further problems. The same situation continues for all the characters and the setup is not disturbed and their identity is not harmed. The agenda for discussion is true love and all the characters join the parleys and have something to contribute on the topic that has no conclusion. It is the fuel for their conversation, and when that is finished their discussion concludes on an empty note, like the empty bottle of gin. With the importance that Carver gives to the common people, one can safely conclude that he is a common man’s author, and experiences the joys and sorrows of those people and their style of finding solutions to their numerous little problems. He has no morals to give, no high pedestals to deliver sermons to humankind on various issues, he makes simple statements about real-life issues of the common man, whether they are good or bad. He makes his presence felt amongst his characters, and is one with them in their small ambitions and shares the joy of their perspectives of life. Great literary works need not relate to Kings, noblemen and intellectuals. The common men too live the life of their choices, and sometimes they have no choice. Work Cited Carver, Raymond. What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. London SWIV 25A: Vintage, 2003.Print Read More