The Power of Carver's Little Things

The Power of Carver's Little Things

To a reader unfamiliar with his work, Raymond Carver's short story, "Little Things" may seem devoid of all literary devices owning to good writing. Fortunately, these people are mistaken. With his minimalistic style, it is what Carver doesn't write that makes his work so effective. Most of Carver's short stories describe situations that many people could find themselves in and that is why his work is so appealing to readers. They are not restricted to harsh explicative details or over-dramatized language, but are allowed to create their own rationale for the actions of the characters and the consequent results.

"Little Things" begins with an explanation of the setting when Carver writes, "Cars slushed by on the streets outside, where it was getting dark. But it was getting dark on the inside too." This is the most descriptive passage in the entire story, which is only one-and-a-half pages in length, and it serves to set a mood of bleakness and animosity between the characters as well as the remainder of the piece. A scene follows in which a man is packing a suitcase and a woman is telling him she is glad he is leaving. Carver goes so far as to omit the characters' names, allowing the reader to more clearly identify with their struggle. One of the major turning points is a dozen lines into the story when the woman notices a picture of their baby and remembers it, forsaken, in the living room. The reader is compelled to ask if she had not remembered the baby at that moment would the rest of the scene have progressed in the same way? The man then follows the woman into the living room and tells her he wants the baby. This she can not allow as she turns away f...

... middle of paper ...

...his own struggle with alcohol and personal strife. Regardless of the origin of the words, they force the reader to take a compelling look into his own life. Carson said that, in many ways, Carver's life was a model for all of his characters. But Carver forces readers to use their own lives as the foundation of the interpretation of the story, allowing them to relate to the characters and events themselves.

Works Cited

Carson, Phillip. "Carver's Vision". (200). Online. Internet. 12 Feb. 2003. Available: world.std.com/~ptc/carver-paper.html

Carver, Raymond. Where I'm calling From. "Little things." (1988, Atlantic Monthly Press). 114.

Hashimoto, Hiromi. "Trying to Understand Raymond carver's Revisions." Tokai English Review. (Dec. 1995). Online. Internet. 12 Feb. 2003. Available:

people.whitman.edu/~lucetb/carver/precision.html