A Small Good Thing Comparison

Delight and distress can be the words to describe life depending on a person’s view of it. Raymond Carver, a prominent short story author, demonstrates this in his stories, “A Small, Good Thing, and “The Bath”. Both stories deal with a father and mother’s departure from their joyful life to a one with misery after their son’s death. “A Small, Good Thing” and “The Bath” contain the same general plot, but the differences are evidently present. While "A Small, Good Thing" and "The Bath" both offer the same broad story, most readers can agree on that "A Small, Good Thing" is superior as it provides significantly more explanations and character development. The ending of “The Bath” is ambiguous and left up to the reader to decide the fates of the characters. Ambiguous endings tend to work well with most stories, but with these two stories, it is better to have a story with a satisfying, resolute ending. “A Small, Good Thing” does have a slightly ambiguous ending, but it still provides readers with the explanation on what became of the boy. Compared to "The Bath," "A Short, Good Time" explores the specifics injuries of Scotty and the relationship between the parents. The phone call between the unknown caller and the …show more content…
Explanations of the boy’s fate, injuries, parents, and the resolute ending are lacking in “The Bath” but are present in “A Small, Good Thing”. Character development and analysis is further present in “A Small, Good Thing” as most characters are explored, show sympathy, and given his or her respected name. Readers who generally believe little detail and interpretation of stories prefer “The Bath”. Readers who prefer explanation and resolute endings turn to “A Small, Good Thing”. It is up to an individual reader to decide which story is