Neighbors, By Raymond Carver

In ‘Neighbours’, Winton conveys the idea of how the lack of mutual understanding within a community may result to one's seclusion. This is displayed when we are introduced to the couple feeling ‘like sojourners in a foreign land’. The use of simile expresses their unfamiliarity and detachment to the surrounding environment as this is also shown by their ‘wary’ and ‘cautious’ behaviour. Their inability to understand their European neighbours is further established by their shocked reaction to the ‘sounds of spitting’, ‘washing’ and the

New experiences shock and captivate readers consequently prompting a reassessment of their perceptions of respect, truth and friendship. Tim Wintons short story “Neighbours” confronts individual stereotypes through exploring the multicultural context in which the story is set. Winton explores the transition of a “young couple” into a new phase of life by describing their move to a lower socioeconomic suburb full of “European migrants”. The composer does not name the characters, rather calls them the “Macedonian Family” and the “Polish man”, in order to show their cultural differences and highlight

The Short Story “My Father’s Life,” by Raymond Carver illustrates the difficult task of a son trying to find his own sense of identity and individualism while watching his father’s life unravel. Carver explores the relationships of his parents and his own struggle with sharing the same name with his father and the similarities and differences between them.

The reader will find it difficult to draw connections between these neighbors and themselves when they hardly even know many intimate details about the lives of these characters. However, this is because the reader is put into a position where they are viewing characters from an outside perspective in the same way that the neighbors view each other: with little information about their lives. This is backed up in Neal Alexander’s article, titled “Profoundly Ordinary: Jon McGregor and Everyday Life”, where Alexander comments on the anonymous nature of the neighborhood, stating “The calculated anonymity that results is clearly intended to make a point about the nature of contemporary urban life, where neighbors typically maintain a defensive reserve toward one another” (Alexander 729-730). The novel maintains a type of irony in that it must detach the reader from the story in order to connect them in the same way that the characters are connected.

In a time and place where people had no worry of locking their doors, or leaving their possessions unattended, the citizens of Grover’s Corners always possessed a sense of safety and protection. This small town life is set in the play Our Town, by Thornton Wilder. The modest New Hampshire town rarely procured any disturbances or quarrels, resulting in a quiet and tidy place to live. In many ways, the town of Grover’s Corner may be comparable to the petite city of Colby, Kansas. However, the twin towns contain only a few contrasting traits. Considering daily living, love and marriage, and the fragility of life itself, these communities share an abundance of similar characteristics, while only containing a few differences.

Women are taught from a young age that marriage is the end all be all in happiness, in the short story “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin and the drama “Poof!” by Lynn Nottage, we learn that it is not always the case. Mrs. Mallard from “The Story of an Hour” and Loureen from “Poof!” are different characteristically, story-wise, and time-wise, but share a similar plight. Two women tied down to men whom they no longer love and a life they no longer feel is theirs. Unlike widows in happy marriages Loureen and Mrs., Mallard discover newfound freedom in their respective husband’s deaths. Both stories explore stereotypical housewives who serve their husbands with un-stereotypical reactions to their husband’s deaths.

Throughout every life, humans experience a rite of passage where they encounter transformative events that allow them to develop and grow towards adulthood. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street both express this maturation and development from naivety. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem Finch lives in Maycomb, Alabama, a community gripped by racist attitudes during the Great Depression. In several childhood experiences, Jem grows after realizing the true character of his county’s members and gaining a greater sense of compassion towards other people. Esperanza of The House on Mango Street lives in an impoverished community where she is forced to realize the maturation of her sexuality at a hastened pace. Jem and Esperanza begin the journey to come of age through their loss of innocence from their respective encounters of racism and gender roles; however, Jem matures through his disillusionment and gaining of a greater sense sympathy in his experiences with illnesses and racism while Esperanza grows by gaining autonomy and independence because of her encounters with racism and sexual maturity.

In the detailed story of an impoverished family during the late 1900’s, Jeannette Walls describes her experience from the young age of 3, up until adulthood. The family of 6, with Rex Walls as the father, Rose Mary as the mother, and her three siblings, Lori, Brian and Maureen, were constantly moving throughout the country with little to no food or cash. The memoir shows how dysfunctional the family was, but never seemed to force the reader to condemn the parents. In a life of poverty, the have to move for own to town, and often lived in various mining towns. Although they each found something they learned to love (like Jeannette’s rock collection) in the desert, they had to leave them behind once Rex’s alcoholism only worsened, and they ran

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is a story of a contest who can tell the best tale. The rules of the contest were as follows: Each pilgrim would tell four tales for the trip to Canterbury, two on the journey there and two on the way back.. The tales will be judged by the Host for it’s entertainment and moral lessons. The winner of the contest will enjoy a meal paid for by the remaining pilgrims at the Host's Inn. “The Miller’s Tale” had fulfilled the criteria to win the contest. It was a shorter story, but it was entertaining and had a few lessons that can be learned from hearing or reading it. This story is significant because it does a great job of pointing out of some of the problems in the church during that time as well as how the morals of some people were not strong as well.

In the reeve’s tale, the main character, the miller is very envy and greedy for wealth. The miller was proud man who obtains the daughter of the clergyman who should be faithful and honest to husband due to moral by religion and wealthy which is partly from stealing. He appears as he got everything. However, he was also guilty of sloth due to aversion to make money by his own hands. When the two university students were being lechery with his family, he was angry and fight with one

Through Raymond Carver’s minimalist styled writing, comes “Neighbors,” a story about a seemingly ordinary couple who live dreary and plain lives. In the first few paragraphs we have a detailed description of the type of people, the relationship, and occupations Bill and Arlene Miller have. Later on, the story begins to spark a more dark and mysterious conflict by unraveling the Miller’s strange obsessions. Carver uses third person objective point of view to add onto his technique of simplistic writing & to create a more intense mystery.

Raymond Carver's "A Small Good Thing," a short story that has to do with the lack of interaction and empathy between the baker, Ann and Howard, the finale where the baker is startled to find out about the child's death, asks for mercy and presents them warm cinnamon rolls telling them that "Eating is a small, good thing in a time like this" and they are comforted, reveals particular significance of the title in terms of the story's theme. Also, Raymond Carver's "Cathedral," a story that starts with an ignorant and rude narrator whose wife has called a blind friend to spend the night at their home and according to Carver, "A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to,"(38) has some

James baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic. His essays were mostly of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, mostly in mid-20th-century America. Some of Baldwin's essays are book-length, for instance The Fire Next Time (1963), No Name in the Street (1972), and The Devil Finds Work (1976). An unfinished manuscript, Remember This House, was expanded upon and adapted for cinema as the Academy Award-nominated documentary film I Am Not Your Negro. Writer and playwright James Baldwin was born August 2, 1924, in Harlem, New York. One of the 20th century's greatest writers, Baldwin broke new literary ground with the exploration of racial and social issues in his many works. He was especially well known for his essays on the black experience in America.

In every home, there is a different definition of family and how family should treat each other. Two short stories were read by an author named Flannery O’Connor. “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. It was about a dysfunctional family who encounters a criminal named “The Misfit”. The grandmother which is the main character is very judgmental towards others and sometimes her own family at times. This story starts off with a disagreement on where to go for a family trip, but they decide on going to Florida for the family trip after a while of arguing. On this trip, it showed what type of family they are. They talk about everything with one another as well as bicker and fight but at the end of the day, they are still family and love each other. They come together the most in panicking situations such as the accident and waiting for a car to help them. The point of this paper is the theme of family. Specifically, family is a theme in this short story because it depicts a dysfunctional family; the family you see on a crazy television show and can’t get enough of because they’re funny but also they have serious moments. There 's the two troublesome and annoying kids, the hot-headed dad who tries to maintain control of a situation and fails, the wife busy attending to the baby, and the grandmother, who 's a case all to herself (and also the main character). Though the story starts out seeming like a comedy, it takes a serious turn when the family encounters a criminal, who kills them

The Civil Rights Movement that began in the late 1950's was a struggle to bring full civil rights and equality under the law to primarily African American citizens of the United States. In the end, African-Americans won basic rights long denied to them, as well as inspired other discriminated groups to fight for their own rights, which had a deep effect on American society. Many blacks took part in this movement, whether it was through protesting or holding demonstrations. However, some blacks used writing as a means of contributing. James Baldwin published Stranger in the Village as a means of expressing his views of African-American racism. As a result, their efforts helped set the foundation for equal rights among blacks for generations