Analysis Of Popular Mechanics By Raymond Carver
Popular Mechanics by Raymond Carver starts out with symbolism. “Early that day the weather turned and the snow was melting into dirty water.. Cars slushed by on the street outsider, where it was getting dark. But it was getting dark on the inside too.” With these few opening sentences, you can immediately tell that something “dark” is going to take place in the story. The picture went from snow, which in my personal opinion represents happiness, beauty, light, and purity (white is pure), to dirty water (black or dark), which represents residue and an ending result. Popular Mechanics was narrated in a third person (limiter omniscient) point of view on a couple and their relationship. I’m not sure if the couple was married or just significant
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Now that the snow melted to dirty water, the relationship is declared unfixable and the baby will be torn between two different homes. In the story the quote “The baby had begun to cry and she uncovered the blanket from around his head” leads me to believe that the situation is toxic and suffocating to the baby as well. “The baby was red-faced and screaming,” tells me that the conflict between the parents is not safe for the child to see, hear, or experience. The baby is the one suffering the consequences from its parents. This is another area in the story where symbolism is used. “In this manner, the issue was decided” is how the story ends. This leaves not only suspense, but an endless amount of ideas of what actually happens. Before this statement the parents were “physically” fighting over the baby. So does the baby’s life end over the nonsense? Is it torn between the separation processes to come in the future? Or does social services come and rehome the baby? It’s a very open ended story. I personally believe that the child is being “torn” or pulled in two different dictions. I do not think that the ending means the baby’s life was over, but maybe its life with this toxic relationship between its parents was over. Interrupting the beginning of the story came pretty easy to me, however once I got to the end, I had to reread and think deeper into the text to come up with my conclusion and I’m still not sure that I interpreted it
Now that the snow melted to dirty water, the relationship is declared unfixable and the baby will be torn between two different homes. In the story the quote “The baby had begun to cry and she uncovered the blanket from around his head” leads me to believe that the situation is toxic and suffocating to the baby as well. “The baby was red-faced and screaming,” tells me that the conflict between the parents is not safe for the child to see, hear, or experience. The baby is the one suffering the consequences from its parents. This is another area in the story where symbolism is used. “In this manner, the issue was decided” is how the story ends. This leaves not only suspense, but an endless amount of ideas of what actually happens. Before this statement the parents were “physically” fighting over the baby. So does the baby’s life end over the nonsense? Is it torn between the separation processes to come in the future? Or does social services come and rehome the baby? It’s a very open ended story. I personally believe that the child is being “torn” or pulled in two different dictions. I do not think that the ending means the baby’s life was over, but maybe its life with this toxic relationship between its parents was over. Interrupting the beginning of the story came pretty easy to me, however once I got to the end, I had to reread and think deeper into the text to come up with my conclusion and I’m still not sure that I interpreted it