Influences of Feminism and Class on Raymond Carver’s Short Stories
The Raymond Carver Review 2
Influences of Feminism and Class on Raymond Carver’s Short Stories
Vanessa Hall, New York City College of Technology, CUNY
Class—economic circumstance; problems of being in the first generation of one’s family to come to writing—its relationship to works of literature: the great unexamined.
—Tillie Olsen, Silences 288
In the essay “Fires” (1982), Raymond Carver writes about the difficulty of
“pin[ning] down with any…certainty” the influences on his writing, even as he recalls the diverse nature of these influences: influences that include the more traditionally discussed literary influences such as writing mentors and favorite authors; important but transient encounters that became grist or “suggestions” for his writing, like a menacing phone call or a terse remark; and finally, the “ferocious years of parenting” that he believed were the greatest influence on his writing (28, 34). Carver struggles to describe why he believes parenting itself—it’s notable here that he doesn’t mention poverty, alcoholism, or even marriage—is the center of gravity around which many of his creative efforts will be flattened for years. That he figures his greatest influence as negative, and that he figures parenting largely as an absence, as a series of deprivations and distractions, provides a potentially productive inroad into an examination of the relationship between one’s creativity and life experiences, as embedded in a unique social and cultural context.
Years before Carver published “Fires,” Tillie Olsen published the essay
“Silences” in Harper’s Magazine (1965, originally delivered in 1962), an essay about
Vanessa Hall: Influences of Feminism and Class 54
The Raymond Carver Review 2 how the circumstance of most lives preclude artistic creativity. She later included this essay in a collection of creative essays; this became the feminist classic Silences. This collection explores the nature of literary silences,
Influences of Feminism and Class on Raymond Carver’s Short Stories
Vanessa Hall, New York City College of Technology, CUNY
Class—economic circumstance; problems of being in the first generation of one’s family to come to writing—its relationship to works of literature: the great unexamined.
—Tillie Olsen, Silences 288
In the essay “Fires” (1982), Raymond Carver writes about the difficulty of
“pin[ning] down with any…certainty” the influences on his writing, even as he recalls the diverse nature of these influences: influences that include the more traditionally discussed literary influences such as writing mentors and favorite authors; important but transient encounters that became grist or “suggestions” for his writing, like a menacing phone call or a terse remark; and finally, the “ferocious years of parenting” that he believed were the greatest influence on his writing (28, 34). Carver struggles to describe why he believes parenting itself—it’s notable here that he doesn’t mention poverty, alcoholism, or even marriage—is the center of gravity around which many of his creative efforts will be flattened for years. That he figures his greatest influence as negative, and that he figures parenting largely as an absence, as a series of deprivations and distractions, provides a potentially productive inroad into an examination of the relationship between one’s creativity and life experiences, as embedded in a unique social and cultural context.
Years before Carver published “Fires,” Tillie Olsen published the essay
“Silences” in Harper’s Magazine (1965, originally delivered in 1962), an essay about
Vanessa Hall: Influences of Feminism and Class 54
The Raymond Carver Review 2 how the circumstance of most lives preclude artistic creativity. She later included this essay in a collection of creative essays; this became the feminist classic Silences. This collection explores the nature of literary silences,
Cited: Bettie, Julie. “Roseanne and the Changing Face of Working-Class Iconography.” Social Text 45 (Winter 1995): 125-149. Boxer, David and Cassandra Phillips. “Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?: Voyeurism, Dissociation, and the Art of Raymond Carver.” Iowa Review 10 (1979): 75-90. Carver, Raymond. “The Bridle.” Cathedral. 1983. New York, Vintage, 1984---. “Fat.” Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? 1976 ---. “Fires.” Fires: Essays, Poems, Stories. 1983. New York: Vintage, 1989. 1981. New York: Vintage, 1982. ---. “So Much Water So Close to Home.” Furious Seasons and Other Stories. Santa Barbara, CA: Capra, 1977. ---. “The Student’s Wife.” Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? 1976. New York: Vintage, 1992. ---. “They’re Not Your Husband.” Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? 1976. New York: Vintage, 1992. Kansas, 2004. 75-106. Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. 1963. New York: Dell, 1964. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981. xv-xxxiii. Meyer, Adam. Raymond Carver. New York: Twayne, 1995. Nelson, Kay Hoyle. “Introduction.” The Critical Response to Tillie Olsen. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994 Olsen, Tillie. Silences. New York: Dell Publishing, 1983. New York: Simon & Shuster, 1976. Sennett, Richard, and Jonathan Cobb. The Hidden Injuries of Class. New York: Vintage, 1973.