SSRJ #2- Carver
I
thought this story was very heavy, but was also very applicable to just about
anyone. The author told a very specific story but left the specifics of the
story out in a way that it can be applied to anyone. I thought it was
interesting that there were no names used in the entire story as well. My
initial reaction was the affect that a situation like this could have on the
child, and what the future had in store for “the baby.”
This
story used a lot of symbolism throughout to portray the message it had to tell.
The story starts off by foreshadowing what the story would entail when it says “it
was getting dark on the inside too.” As the story goes on we can see what the
meaning of that sentence was. The love and friendship that was once present in
this house. The author uses light late on in the story as well as he says “the
kitchen window gave no light.” It was very symbolic of the events taking place.
Another symbol the author used was the breaking of the flowerpot in the
kitchen. The fact that it took place in the kitchen was symbolic itself as well
because the kitchen is the center of the home. This is the place that the
family comes together and spends time together and when the author says “she
stood in the doorway of the little kitchen” it was a representation that the
mother was cutting the father off from the center of the home and the life of
the family. The flowerpot, representing love and friendship, breaks and it just
went to represent the falling apart of the family as they go through this “scuffle.”
There are many symbols that the author uses in the story to represent the
significance of these events. Although the event on the surface appears to be a
couple fighting over the custody of the child, I believe the underlying message
is the importance of sacrifice and selflessness in order to make a relationship
work.
What
other implications do the symbols used throughout this story represent? And how
do they help us gain a deeper understanding of the message the author wants to
convey?
posted by Nathan Willis @ 4:59 PM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
I really like the relationships you made with various uses of symbolism. I can really see each of those connections as leading to your overall message of the importance of sacrifice and selflessness in a relationship. I think the scene of the splitting of the baby is very symbolic as well. Two parents who know what they want fight over something they both love and as a result of their selfishness they both get a "half" of what they wanted. And the ultimately nothing with the death of the baby.
Love how you point out all the different symolisms this story holds. I thought it was incredible how Carver used heavy symbolism with a sprinking of foreshadowing to lead us into a much deeper plot than most longer stories would be able to do. Here was this short story, but you knew what Carver was getting at just by analyzing the little details.
Your emphasis on symbolism and how relatable it is for normal people made the story much more interesting because at first, one would think that Carver just wrote another stereotypical stories, but the way you explained all the symbolism made it broader and "heavy." I also like how you question the baby's future because in stories like these, reader's first reaction is about the now, not what is going to happen in the future.
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