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. .
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 unfaithfulness (Short 53). There is also an obvious inter struggle when Ralph, the husband tries to deal with the news that his wife has been unfaithful. He then goes and drinks to try to solve his problems and at the bar he sits at a table with a group of men and "wondered if it had ever happened to any of them" (62). Ralph, like Carver, turned to alcohol after his seemingly hopeful life turned into a mess. Perhaps the most interesting is the ending where Ralph returns to his home and lies in bed with his wife. Carver doesn't give away the ending. Actually the story ends as Ralph falls asleep without ever talking to his wife (68). Most of Carvers stories from this period of his life were left without a real ending, leaving the reader to make an assumption, but leaving very little room for an optimistic ending. .
"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.