Everything Stuck To Him By Raymond Carver Analysis

The story “Everything Stuck to Him,” by Raymond Carver, is a narrative which employs the format of a frame story. In the beginning of the story, Carver depicts a setting where a father is telling his daughter about an incident when she was an infant. The usage of a frame story enhances the emotion that is felt, of which is communicated indirectly to the reader. A narrative about cancelling a hunting trip and spilling maple syrup would otherwise have no significance had it not been for the symbolism employed. Through the use of plot, the author’s minimalist style, and his universal themes, Carver further drives the story, enhancing its meaning. Plot also enhances the story. The progression of the story is also very critical to the meaning of the story and the message conveyed to the reader. At the start of the inside story, Carver depicts two teenagers crazy in love, but …show more content…
Whether one enjoys it, life can be altered from one point to another. Even though Carver does not directly tell the audience that his wife (the girl) has left him, a reader can infer that something negative has occurred to the family. By spilling his breakfast on his lap, the boy made a mess of things, in both a literal way, and figuratively. The name of the story “Everything Stuck to Him” implies that things resonated within himself. This is especially true regarding, when in the outside story, the boy, now a man, recognizes what his life had been like merely twenty years ago. “Things change, he says. I don’t know how they do. But they do without your realizing it or wanting them to. . .”(Carver 1331). This theme is universalized via the usage of “boy” and “girl,” implying that the circumstances of the story can truly happen to anyone. Carver also uses the title to drive the message and the theme that things in life can easily stick to and impact