The Neighbors Raymond Carver

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.

When Billy first met Old Bill in the early chapters of the book, it happened to be his birthday which he decided to celebrate with a bottle of beer. Billy describes old Bill as a man is his late forties with long messy hair and a grey beard stained with smoke. Old Bill gives Billy a bitter welcome to the Brendarat Hilton,(the train yard) and says "I've been here since March 2nd 1994. May your stay be as long if you wish." Then Billy shivers as he watches the sunrise. Seeing old Bill for himself makes Billy realise the real effects of homelessness, how a man in his forties can look 20 years older, how he is alone

This book can be very painful to read because many times the kids are much more responsible than the adults. Even so, the kids have to fend for themselves from a very young age. Upon Rex losing his job once again, Lori and Jeannette try to discuss ways to help make money for the family. Finding themselves unable to think of any helpful ways, Jeanette says, “I guess we can eat less,” to which Lori replies “We have before” (67). The face they have gone hungry many times before is extremely disappointing, especially since Rex and Rose are both completely capable of getting jobs. When Rex are Rose are arguing about not having money, Jeannette says “Tell them we like eating margarine, then maybe they’ll stop fighting” (70). It’s fine to live like that on your own, but you shouldn’t raise a kid in that kind of scenario.

Having parents that tried so hard to set themselves apart from society, all while struggling to earn money, had an impact on their children's lives, and it wasn't for the better. These children lived to struggle. With a bad home life, and parents that didn't seem to care for them enough, Jeannette, Brian, Maureen, and Lori Walls all eventually moved away from their careless parents, to New York. Although it took time for Lori and Jeannette Walls to save up what little money they had, due to the fact that the father continually stole it, they were able to move to New York successfully. Later in the memoir, their parents also decide to move there, except they don't try to better their lives like their

Men were expected to be the breadwinners while women were expected to take their place at home as housewives. The Wheelers kept true to that so that they could be happy and successful. Frank has an office job in New York while April is a housewife; They have two children and a home in Connecticut. Frank and April are aware of the standards that one needs to follow to be happy but somehow after they have had to follow those norms they are not. They both begin to feel trapped and feel like this is what the rest of their lives would be like. They began to think of ways to escape their lives and thought of ways to bring back excitement or meaning into their lives.

Lennie and George end up employed on a ranch and begin to realize that every man is for himself and that nobody is truly happy. They come to know a character referenced throughout the entire book as “Curley’s wife”. Being the sole female on the ranch, she is often referred to in derogatory terms because of her flirtatious personality (Steinbeck 28). She approaches the other men and “stirs up trouble” (77) which in the end leads to Lennie’s death. Being the wife of an arrogant and egocentric man, Curley’s wife tries to cure her loneliness by finding solace in other men. Knowing her future is bleak, Curley’s wife risks the dangers of the other men’s lives by trying to find someone like her. She lures Lennie into her world, telling him about how lonely she is and the future she could’ve had as an actress (86). Her solitary life drives her to put Lennie in danger and ultimately end her and his life. Curley’s wife and another one of the ranch hands talk about how “maybe people are just afraid of each other” (35). The fear of missing out (FOMO) drives people to make irrational decisions when feeling lonely which happened to both Daisy and Curley’s wife..

The main character Jeanette walls and her older sister Lori walls represent the decision making process the best between the other characters in the memoir. Both of them recognized that living in poverty is not what they wanted. They would have sleepless nights and go days without eating food. As time went on they identified alternatives to try and end their poverty. Their type of poverty was situational because it happened through a situation involving their parents not keeping a steady job. After identifying alternatives they evaluated the alternatives and realized that their father would never stop drinking and change his ways on finding a good job. They later selected and implemented an alternative making a big decision to save up money behind their parents back and to leave their parents to move to new york, and start a new and successful life after leaving. In New York City, Jeannette was able to quickly s as a reporter, which has always been her life time goal. She and Lori began eating very well and enjoyed the fact that they finally had a roof over their head. They eventually ask their siblings Brian and Maureen to move in with them.When they come to live with their sisters they enjoy having each others company and were

The inability of Rex and Rose Walls to keep a stable job led to the family living in inescapable cycle of poverty for most of Jeannette Walls’ childhood. Walls’ grew up in “traditional” or “nuclear family,” where there was a husband and a wife (Moore & Asay, 2018, p. 23). They also maintained the structure of a “modern family” where Rex was usually the “breadwinner,” and Rose was the housewife (Moore & Asay, 2018, p. 23). This structure of their family was ineffective because Rex Walls couldn’t keep a job so as result, the family was constantly lacked capital to buy the resources that they needed. This led to a

In the short story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver the unnamed narrator and his wife are constantly arguing. Cathedral takes place in New York at the narrator’s and his wife’s home during the early 1980’s. The narrator is not a good husband, drinks a lot, and smokes marijuana. The narrator is jealous of Robert because he can connect better with the narrator’s wife. He is not a good husband and is judgemental. The wife is lonely and wants to be understood by her husband. She writes poems to Robert because her husband does not appreciate her art like he does. Robert is the narrator’s wife’s friend who comes to visit, he is blind but can see the world through his heart. The narrator’s wife used to work for Robert. They were both really close and

In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself, Douglass describes his overseer as “a man of the most inflexible firmness and stone-like coolness” (Andrews 181). He adds that his mistress’s “tender heart became stone” (Andrews 188). When he first tries to free himself from such people, Douglass ends up “all alone, within the walls of a stone prison” (Andrews 208). Throughout these references, the image of stone is repeatedly linked with the stonehearted and dramatic Caucasian oppression of African-Americans. James Baldwin also includes images of stone and wood in his novel, If Beale Street Could Talk. Stone and wood are often mentioned together and are used for a joint purpose as Fonny, the

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.

The family was impoverished, moved to multiple cities and houses, and never had any of the luxuries we take for granted like electricity, running water, or indoor plumbing. Rex and Rose Mary chose to live that way, but it made them happy. Instead of being upset and distraught that they were poor, Jeanette, Brian, Lori, and later Maureen made the decision to be happy with what they did have. The family could have very easily been miserable about the life they had, but they chose to put a positive spin on their situation. Rose Mary Walls offered her children some good advice when she said “Life is full of drama and comedy. You should learn to enjoy the comic episodes a little more” (Glass Castle, 129). Life has ups and downs, so when life is going good, it is best to enjoy that period of time as much as you

The visionary ideas that were illustrated in both Edward Hopper and Raymond Carver works sketched the image of the characters experiencing the sense of isolation and despair as well as finding identity. Examining Carver “Chef's House” and Hopper Rooms by the Sea we observe the internal conflict created by isolation with the feeling of losing hope with the uncomfortable feel of crisis but also identity. The idea of identity was explored by Carver when edna puts her wedding ring back on when she went and stayed with wes (her ex husband) during the summer at the chef’s house after leaving her boyfriend. In paragraph 3 of “Chef’s House” Edna states “I put my wedding ring back on.

Bill's fantasy of being like the Stone's may be shown by his actions of taking a bottle of Harriet's pills (14), and drinking and eating their food, with no qualms of invade his neighbors privacy (16). On page 15, Bill ""had the feeling that he left something" as he was closing the door to the Stone's apartment. It is likely that he felt he was leaving behind the false persona of who and how he wanted to live like.

Historical fiction is set in the past and tells a story using details from the time and place to which it is referring. This can and often includes historical figures giving the reader a sense of the time and place. Children who read historical fiction gain understanding of their own heritage, people, beliefs values hardships and physical surroundings. They can make the connections between the influences of the past and what influences them now. As they discover universal truths identify feelings and behaviors, it will encourage them to make a better choice for themselves. Understanding different viewpoints will develop sensitivities and empathy helping them to realize that history shows us that we must work together.