Essentially, in Carver’s Stories Very Little Appears to Be Happening.

Essentially, in Carver’s stories very little appears to be happening.

The collection of short stories in, “will you please be quiet, please” by Raymond Carver, is filled to the brim with a minimalistic and precise writing style that leaves the reader with more questions than answers. The characters portrayed in Carver’s stories show a lack of meaning in their ordinary and routinely lives, which generates more of an impact when they come to an epiphany in their lives. The relationships that are shown are what lead the characters to their crucial point and although many believed Carver’s writing was simplistic, it is more than meets the eye and symbolises much more.

Through Carver’s portrayal of his characters, we are presented with a copious amount of people who are struggling to cope with their everyday routine that lacks passion and ambition, which causes more of an effect on the audience when the characters come to an epiphany in their lives. In the story “Are You a Doctor” we see that Arnold desires affection and communication that he isn’t getting from his wife “He knew he should hang up, but it was good to hear a voice”. This allows the audience to realize that even though Arnold lives a materialistic life, he is still unhappy and lacks purpose in his life. So when the temptation of Clara Holt comes into play, he wants to obtain his desire of a more intimate relationship. Carver uses Clara as a stepping stone so that Arnold can come to a realisation that what he did with her was wrong and makes him more aware of his relationship with his wife. Furthermore, Carver illustrates the importance of epiphanies with the character “the waitress” where after meeting the “Fat man” she desires change in her life.  This shows how Carver fills his stories with significant and emotionally filled crucial points in the character’s lives.  

Carver is famed for using his minimalistic and precise approach, but his writing is far from minimalistic. At first glance, the way Carver writes may seem insignificant, but it has underlying meaning and every word used is there to generate a symbolic connotation. This is shown in the story, “The Father” where the entire family is pondering “Who does Daddy look like?” which gives a feeling that the Father whose name is never mentioned, lacks a sense of identity and purpose in his life. Furthermore, Carver reiterates this idea of no personality or passion in the Father’s life when the last sentence of this story is, “He had turned around in his chair and his face was white and without expression.” This encourages the audience to think about what has just entailed and gives them more questions than answers as to why Carver ended the story at such a crucial moment. By using an abundance of symbolic meaning within his writing, this demonstrates that there is a great deal happening in Carver’s stories.