This piece was interesting to me. It made me wonder why the couple was splitting up. I think this story was demonstrating the fact that when parents split up they do not realize that the child stuck in the middle is the one who will be effected negatively the most.
In the short story "Popular Mechanics," the author, Raymond Carver, uses a short to the point style in writing. He does not give any background information so that we know how the problem or arguement started. Carver starts the story with a scene by describing the weather. Then he transitions into the couples bedroom to where the arguement all began. Carver also uses irony because I felt that it was ironic that the "snow was melting into dirty water" at the same time the couple was splitting up. Although with Carver's style in writing for this story, he makes it difficult to understand the message. I think the message here was that one bad arguement can lead to bad decisions. In "Popular Mechanics" the couples urge to split up leads to a bigger arguement, which was over who gets the baby. The mother wants the father to leave without the child. But the father refuses to leave without the baby. I believe that Carver's intentions were that sometimes when a couple argues they forget how much they love one another and what was bringing them together. In this case it is the baby. I did not understand what Carver meant by the last sentence, "In this manner, the issue was decided." Did the couple finally come to and agreement?
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Interesting interpretation. Personally, I found his closing sentence to be strongly ironic. He wasn't writing this in a literal sense, but bluntly telling the reader that these events were meant to be perceived ironically. The bigger picture had nothing to do with a relationship. His idea was that a child is damaged in the separation of its parents, whether it be physical damage or mental.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me wonder if he is writing this story from personal experience, wether we are getting a glimpse into his feelings or maybe someone that he was close to that went through the damaging effects of divorce or splitting up. Interesting point of view.
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