Raymond Carver: A Clearer View

Carver stated in 1977 that his new found sobriety “reflects a change in my life as much as it does my writing (44).” It is obvious that many of Carver’s characters are in many ways an image of Carver himself. In his early writings his characters, like Carver, were struggling with low-profile jobs, failed marriages, al

Carver’s early life consisted of a lot of chaos. He was married at the age of nineteen and had two children. He went through many jobs, none of which he found to be satisfying. But he and his wife were determined. “We thought we could do it all,” he said in an interview, “We were poor but we thought if we kept working, if we did the right things, the right things would happen” (Gentry 123). But after years of struggling with low paying jobs, trying to support his children, and hardships in marriage, he turned away from his family and toward alcohol. He eventually gave up on the dreams he and his wife had at one time. He moved out and divorced his wife and focused his attention on two things, writing and alcohol (29). During this time Carver wrote many short stories that reflected his sense of hopeless at the time.

“What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” another story written during this time, was also left open for the reader’s imagination. Like Carver, the characters are struggling with defining love and each wondering if they have ever really been truly in love. Once again alcohol is used as an excuse for behavior in this story. This time a wife is trying to explain her husband’s behavior by saying he had drank to much and wasn’t aware of what he was saying (Love 143). Carver never really gives a reason for his use of alcohol in the stories, but its use as an excuse for the behavior of his characters leaves the reader to believe that this may have been an excuse he used with himself often. The ending of this story is simply written, “the room went dark” (154). Once again Carver leaves it to the reader to come up with an ending.

During this time the main focus of his writing was family hardships and alcohol, the main problems he was dealing with in his personal life. In the story “Will You Be Quiet Please?,” alcohol is used as an excuse for a wives unfait

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