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Popular Mechanics Raymond Carver Essay

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In Raymond Carver's short story “Popular Mechanics”, the reader can infer by clues that there is a big argument that’s about to get bad. The center of the argument is who shall have the baby, but during the dispute they ignore the baby at the same time. Disregarding what the baby may be feeling as they push and pull up against him possibly causing him serious injury. Carver illustrates this argument of a young couple through tone, diction, and style.

Carver begins the short story with a vivid description of the environment to set the tone of the story, which is serious. It is implied through the state of the outside, the inside of the home is in the same condition. Carver ties the setting into the conflict seamlessly by mentioning how dismal the weather is and then stating “but it was getting dark on the inside too”(322). Before the reader is aware of the situation, the author uses a foreboding tone to let the reader know that there is a conflict in the house. This conflict is not a casual argument being that Carver felt the need to emphasize the darkness of the house. “The weather turned and the snow was melting into dirty water”, much like that of the young couple’s interaction in the story (322). The couple’s argument starts off with the husband being calm with no physical contact. However, …show more content…

Carver really focuses on the dialog of the couple. Rather than being descriptive about how the couple is speaking to each other, he simply writes what they say to each other back and forth. By doing so, the reader can feel the pace of the argument and how quickly it is unfolding. The couple is quick to respond to one another “let go of him, he said. Don’t, she said. You’re hurting the baby, she said. I’m not hurting the baby, he said”(323). It shows that the couple is simply reacting in the heat of the argument and act rashly towards the baby who is stuck in between

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