Suffering In Raymond Carver's Little Things

The general argument made by author Raymond Carver in his work Little Things is one about a couple facing problems in their marital life and a child suffering because of it. The story begins describing the weather outside and the overall feeling of what is to come. More specifically, Carver discusses that there is something that has come between the couple, but he does not elaborate. Towards the end of the story he writes, “But he would not let go. He felt the baby slipping out of his hands and he pulled back very hard.” In this line, Carver suggested that both parents treated the baby more like a possession rather than a person. He then writes, “In this manner, the issue was decided.” Carver is surely right because both parents act as if they …show more content…
The language he uses is simple and full of action. For example, Carver uses the phrase “I want the baby”, the lack of a personal pronoun reduces the character’s connection to the baby. In doing this Carver highlights the harsh relationship between the man and woman. Howe also writes, “Mr. Carver’s characters, like those of many earlier American writers, lack vocabulary that can release their feelings, so they must express themselves mainly through obscure gesture and berserk display” (42-43). We can see this as the couple’s argument escalates to the point of no return. Carver writes “The baby was red-faced and screaming. In the scuffle they knocked down a flowerpot that hung behind the stove.” He uses short sentences like this throughout the story which gives emphasis to the inevitable of the relationship between the two characters coming to an end. I feel as if the flowerpot is foreshadowing for what happens next in the story when the parents are pulling the baby. Carver uses words such as; “gripped”, “forced”, and “pulled”, this only added more tension to the story and as the reader you cannot help but to feel angry and frustrated at the situation that is accruing. The story is then ended with one passive sentence that strikes with a bit of emptiness and confusion, which is until we fully realize what has happened. Consequently, “In this manner, the issue was …show more content…
While doing so, he leaves the story up for interpretation, beginning with the title “Little Things.” The word ‘little’ is used in the story as well, suggesting that the home was too small for all of them. This gives a sense that the relationship is coming to an end and there is no room to grow. I feel that the child can be seen more as a symbol than a human, but either way, the child and relationship suffers in the end due to the selfishness of the parents. The couple fights over the child more like a possession than a human being resulting in the child and their relationship being broken and not able to be fixed. Carver uses simple words and big actions to tell this story from the very beginning. He depicts a marital couple where separation, conflict, struggle and lack of communication are taking over their emotions, and leaving them with nothing but silence and anger. This is why I conclude that “the issue was decided” before it