A Small Good Thing Analysis

Meal Analysis Essay

Food is one of the underlying factors of our everyday lives. Every animal needs nourishment to survive, but for us humans it can be so much more. It can connect people on many different levels from broad and professional to intimate and personal. Eating releases endorphins in the brain making food a pleasurable and comforting thing. In many cultures, food is also celebratory. In the United States, one is almost guaranteed to see some sort of food at any event. From birthdays to funerals to weddings—food is almost always used as a way to celebrate. In Raymond Carver’s “A Small, Good Thing” Carver uses food throughout the story to reveal the significance it has in everyday life. Carver’s story, along with Caitlin and Nicole’s

essays all show these significant elements throughout their works.
Carver’s “A Small Good Thing” is a tragic story with many underlying themes.

The story starts out with a mother going to a bakery to order a birthday cake for her son’s upcoming birthday. Instead of having a birthday party after school that day, Scotty, the son, is rushed to the hospital after he becomes unconscious from being knocked down by a car. The parents, Ann and Howard, are told over and over again that Scotty will be just fine. Throughout the few days that they are waiting for Scotty’s recovery, they strengthen their bond together over this tragic event. All the while, the birthday cake was never picked up. The baker is frustrated that he wasted his time baking this cake, so he repeatedly calls the house. Ann and Howard don’t realize who this mysterious caller is until the end of the story, after being blindsided by Scotty’s sudden untimely death. The couple goes to confront the baker late at night and instead they end up making a connection with him while eating the decadent food the baker provides for

them.
Both Caitlin Paredes’ and Nicole Ramsey’s essays express their personal feelings associated with their favorite foods. Caitlin talks about her favorite meal, beef stew, bringing her family together and comforting her. She passionately writes, “my family’s beef stew represents something bigger in our lives” (Paredes). Nicole’s essay also expresses feelings of togetherness and comfort that her special meal brings to her and her family. She says that lasagna is “very much a family event at [her] house” (Ramsey).
In cultures all over the world, food is used as a way to celebrate. At any event on any occasion, one is almost guaranteed to see some sort of food there. Carver specifically shows this idea in his story with the event of Scotty’s upcoming birthday. Ann goes to the bakery to order a birthday cake for the party. Ann excitedly chooses the cake and tries to tell the baker about her son. Nicole also talks about the celebratory connection she has with her favorite food. Rather than a traditional cake for her birthday, she has her family “put candles in the lasagna and sing to [her]” (Ramsey). Of course, food is not limited to birthdays. It is common to see an array of foods at weddings, baby showers, funerals, holidays, and even something as simple as a sports game.
Food brings people together. It creates a specific bond that can either be temporary or permanent. In the beginning of “A Small, Good Thing” Ann tries to make a connection with the baker. They had a professional relationship because she was ordering a cake from him. He was to bake a cake for her son’s party and she was to pay him for doing so. Ann, however, tries to connect on a more personal level. The baker is much older than her, so she assumes that he has had children of his own and has gone through the “special time of cakes and birthday parties,” just like she is with her son. The baker on the other hand is abrupt and to-the-point. Later in the story, Ann tries to connect with Franklin’s family because they were going through the same type of tragic situation and the family “was in the same kind of waiting.” Again, she was unsuccessful.
Connections made through food can also be very personal and intimate. In the end of Carver’s story, Ann is finally able to connect with the baker. He offers her and her husband an array of delicious baked goods and they talk all night long. The baker, who was previously seen as almost rude now opens up to the family “revealing his palms” (Carver) and explaining his sympathy. The personal connections made through food can also be seen in both Nicole and Caitlin’s essays. Nicole talks about her family’s lasagna as “a meal that brings everyone together.” She wrote that she enjoys watching her mother cook along with her siblings then “sit down and enjoy a meal together.” Caitlin also expresses similar feelings in her essay. She says that beef stew “brings her family together” and they “laugh, smile, and love” together.
Besides bringing people together, food is also very comforting. Of course, eating is necessary for survival, but it has a significant psychological effect too. In times of stress, people often turn to food for consolation. Carver’s story, however, shows the opposite of this phenomenon until the very end of the work. When he was writing about Scotty’s parents he used a very different connotation food. Instead of turning to food for comfort, Ann and Howard hardly ate at all. While Ann is walking through the hospital, she smells the “unpleasant odors of warm food” (Carver). Usually warm food especially is associated with comfort and happiness. Carver also shows us a harsh image of the child lying in bed with “a bottle of glucose with a tube running from the bottle to the boy’s arm.” This contrast reminds the reader that food is absolutely necessary for survival, which is often forgotten in today’s world. Later in the story, the idea of food is again associated with feelings of pleasure and comfort. The baker offers them decadent baked goods and consoles them. He tells them, “eating is a small good thing in a time like this” (Carver).
Following the idea of eating for comfort and pleasure, Nicole and Caitlin’s essays both talk about the delightful feelings associated with their favorite meals.

Nicole writes that lasagna fills her with excitement and anticipation (Ramsey). Caitlin explicitly writes that beef stew comforts her (Paredes). They both write about how delicious their favorite meals are for them and use expressions like “feeling[s] of warmth” (Paredes) and “a smell that makes your mouth start watering” (Ramsey). Along with the food, they both explain that part of the reason the food is so comforting to them is because it is a family event. Nicole affectionately writes that she gets to “see all the people [she] love[s] at the same place and the same time.” Similarly, Caitlin writes that she and her family “come around the dinner table and laugh, smile and love”

(Paredes).
It is clear that food has a profound impact on everyday life. For most humans today, food is no longer merely a necessity. Of course it is still needed for survival, but food has become a part of something much bigger. There are countless industries built solely around food all throughout the world. Food makes up a big part of every culture helping to make them unique. Specifically speaking, the modern western culture is very much dependent on food. Food is used to celebrate almost any event that can be celebrated. From special dinners to cakes to holidays and everything in between, food is something they all have in common. Along with celebrating, food is used as a way to connect with people. Many households still hold to their traditional “family dinners.” Everyone needs food to survive—it is something that every living person has in common and therefore brings everyone together. Food has also become something that comforts people. From hot soup when someone is sick to ice cream on a bad day, food is pleasurable and comforting.