I am deeply ambivalent about Raymond Carver. My beef with this particular dead guy has less to do with his fine stories than with his 1980s-era apotheosis into an academic demigod‚ his canonization as St. Ray of the MFA programs‚ the way his works and style became paradigms to be slavishly imitated by a generation (maybe two generations now) of American writing students‚ a process of sowing that came to barren fruition in the bland‚ flat‚ snowy fields of zero-degree Minimalist prose. All this has
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Pleasantly Obese Raymond Carver’s short story “Fat” brings the reader through a life changing moment for a waitress. The unnamed woman‚ who describes her encounter with an obese man to her friend Rita‚ is completely engaged in everything about the fat man while she waits him; his size‚ his appetite‚ and especially his hospitality towards her. Through the waitress’ thoughts‚ Carver repeatedly brings up the concept of obesity in his story. He allows her mind to tell the reader which parts are important
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to reflect on the world in which they live. What do the writers Chekhov and Carver say about the struggles of real life in the society around them? Discuss‚ using quotes and references to characters and scenes within the chosen short stories. The short stories‚ ‘The Bet’ and ‘Cathedral’ by Anton Chekhov and Raymond Carver respectively‚ both investigate the struggles of real life in society around them. Chekhov and Carver present the struggles created by greed and jealousy‚ how easily one takes
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but also through the personal qualities he reveals. He’s crude and he’s mean‚ but he’s also glib. There’s a wicked humor in the way he talks. While he certainly is detached from himself at the beginning‚ he is unusually talkative and clever for a Carver narrator. It’s a voice worth reading aloud‚ especially when one notices that the glibness is noticeably absent from the final pages. This absence delivers as powerfully as anything else how shaken and affected the narrator is by this experience.
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“Cathedral” is a very complex short story. Although the actual story only takes up about 5 pages‚ that’s all Raymond Carver needed to compel an invigorating enlightenment. The narrator of this story is unnamed yet we get to see him grow rapidly in this short story. After meeting Robert‚ who at one time was his wife’s boss‚ he begins to see the world differently‚ and is able to change his views and realize the world isn’t as black and white as he would like it to be. When we meet the narrator he is awaiting
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In the story the “Cathedral”‚ by Raymond Carver‚ the narrator‚ Bub is a man of unknowing stuff‚ and usually assumes things without knowing the knowledge of certain things. For example‚ Robert a blind man‚ who visited bub‚ and his wife‚ and bub didn’t like the feeling a blind man coming to his home. Robert knew bubs wife from the past from a place where they read stories to blind people. Later in the story bub notices his wife and Robert were talking‚ and laughing‚ and just having a good time‚ which
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In the Cathedral by Raymond Carver we read‚ the wife said‚ “a blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to.” (Raymond Carver‚ the Cathedral) This statement above is the perfect embodiment of a completely dysfunctional relationship. This statement clearly illustrates a dying relationship between the two. In the Cathedral Carver majestically brought the story to life by portraying two working class individuals struggling with every day’s challenges. In the cathedral‚ the story portrays
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Abstract Raymond Carver‚ being a famous American short story writer in the 20th century‚ was often labeled as a minimalist writer. However‚ his “Cathedral” was nothing like his previous stories. With no extraneous words‚ Carver expressed his unique worldview and vision in “Cathedral”. This essay will examine the text from four different perspectives: sight and insight‚ names and downplay of individuality‚ dialogues between characters‚ and the growth of narrator‚ which are all related to
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Men in Raymond Carver Stories - Will you please be quiet please? TASK 1: Write a paragraph that outlines your general observations of the male characters in “Will you please be quiet please?” All the male character in Raymond Carver’s collection of short stories: “Will you please be quiet please.” seem to portray disconnection and neglect in their relationships with family‚ especially their wives. For example the reader can notice‚ the objectifying of the waitress (his girlfriend) by Rudy
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I fear this essay may come off a bit choppy due to the fact that while reading “The Cathedral” by Raymond Carver I had a lot of different questions and thoughts running through my head. The first thing I noticed was that the narrator never really uses names and that confused me. Making the story difficult to navigate and raising the question‚ why leave character names a mystery until later? What purpose does it serve? We never learn the names of the narrator‚ the wife or the officer‚ most of the
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