Raymond Carver's What We Talk About Love And Cathedral

Raymond Carver was born on May 25th, 1938, into a middle-class working family in Oregon. Nobody, not even himself, would have known he would become one of the most distinctive and influential short story writers and poets of the late-twentieth century and the key component of the revival of the American short story. His life-works often consists of stories of average, working-class people, dealing with different life situations that resembles Carver’s own life. That is what makes Carver’s stories honored and criticized by so many to this day. In Carver’s later-life works, Cathedral and What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, his writing style, writing content, and his own life experiences are displayed and characterized in these two short stories. …show more content…
For an example, Mel, Terri, Nick, and Laura we drinking gin while discussing what love is and what love is not (What We Talk About) and the nameless husband and wife and Robert were drinking whiskey (Cathedral). This writing characteristic is easily recognizable throughout most of Carver’s story because the drinking are key components to the reflection of Carver and his stories. This characteristic also reflects Raymond Carver’s life after he quit drinking alcohol. In Carver’s two short stories, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” and, “Cathedral,” are reflections of the “second” stage of his life, after he had