The Consequence of Pride

The Consequence of Pride In the short story “Popular Mechanics” written by Raymond Carver, there is a theme of a down falling battle of pride shown a between two characters. First the mood of the story is set within the setting. The snow from winter has begun to melt and turn to dirty water signifying the changing tone of the story and it has fallen dark. There has also been a turning point internally with the characters. In the beginning there is a man packing and a women crying and hysterically screaming at him that she is delighted he is leaving. Already there is some tension between the characters; one who is emotionally hysterical and the other one exasperated ready to vacate.
The man is packing his clothes completely ignoring the woman who is profusely screaming at the man expressing how exhilarated she is that he is leaving. What is not shown is the cause of this situation; what is shown however is the effect. Based off the information that is given, one can only assume that the man has done something wrong. Possibly he has cheated on her, lied to her, or maybe they had reached the last straw with each other. We can see here that the presence of pride in the man is shown when he does not back down from what he may or may not have done that is causing him to go. He is not one to break down and apologize asking her to let him back into her life; he knows he is not wanted and leaves. The pride of the women seems to always be strong and knows exactly what she wants. She may internally not want him to leave, but on the outside, anger is pour out of her and she is not afraid to let him know how she feels. Something changes, however, when the woman looks at the broken baby picture.
The picture of the baby reaches into the woman’s mind and changes the mood from enraged to a sudden approach of vigilance. Something dear enough to make her run from the room, away from the deliriousness of the screaming to go and grab the baby. This action of going