I read another story and I'm in the process of reading another, which I will post about later (hopefully). The story I read was called "So Much Water Close to Home." Let me just say, it was strange to say the least. It was about this guy and his friend who go on a fishing trip and discover a girl floating in the water with no clothes on, dead. They had hiked to get to this spot and didn't want to leave, so they ended up staying for 3 days before returning to report the girl's death. He goes home after calling the police, has sex with his wife, and goes to bed without telling her what has happened. Then, the next day there is a story published in the paper about the men who didn't immediately report the body and they start receiving menacing phone calls.
The wife is distraught that her husband did nothing and it starts to overwhelm her. Carver goes into the details of their relationship and the wife's mental state.
I think it could be a story that we could use in a unit on minimalism... though I still think we should try to come up with a thematic unit - which we can't do until we have read more of the stories. It seems very straight forward in nature. While reading it appears to be telling what has happened, providing details, and asking for little interpretation. However, something about it left me thinking all weekend. There is a lot more to it than first appears. It got me thinking about what the wife really though happened. Or, what did really happen? It is told from the perspective of the wife, Claire, so we are receiving all of this information second-hand. We only know what Claire knows. I kept thinking about how I would feel if I were her. I think it would really intrigue students too. It is a question of morality. He writes, "Two things are certain: 1) people no longer care what happens to other people; 2) nothing makes any real difference any longer" (222). Those are really thought-provoking statements. I think students would have a lot to say about them.
Two quick things I wanted to add. I did a search on this story and I found out that there was actually a movie based on it. It is called “Jindabyne,” directed by Ray Lawrence and starring Laura Linney. I had never heard of it, but it might be an interesting way to get students into it. Or, perhaps just showing them the movie trailer as a preview and then reading the text. Also, I read a story last semester in Methods from the Flash Fiction book and I don't remember what it is called but it is about the deterioration of a marriage, which might also be a good supplment, especially since the 1st paragraph of the text ends with the sentence: "Something has come between us though he would like me to believe otherwise" (213).
The ending is very ambiguous and ends " 'I love you,' he says. He says something else and I listen and nod slowly. I feel sleepy. Then I wake up and say, 'For God's sake, Stuart, she was only a child' " (237). That really threw me off to be honest. I'm not sure if Stuart admitted to doing something or if that is how Claire takes it. Maybe if someone else reads it they can help me out (but I think that would also be a discussion starter in the classroom).
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6 comments:
Alicia,
This is the link for the full text of the story:
http://www.nyx.net/~kbanker/chautauqua/carver.htm
I know you said that you didn't have the book yet so maybe this will help catch you up with what we are doing.
I like the ideas you brought up about the questions of mortality with the story (and it seems most of his works). "He writes, "Two things are certain: 1) people no longer care what happens to other people; 2) nothing makes any real difference any longer" (222)." This is very much the same sense that is talked about with that story "Raymond Carver." You have this man who supposedly died from lung cancer chain smoking cigarettes in a bar, seeing lovers fight, stating, "This feels good... Aren't you glad to be alive?" While Carver's works don't give a lot of detail, they definitely are open to interpretation and a lot of discussing, making them ideal for a classroom setting.
Thanks! I actually did get the book, and I've been reading. I really really liked the story you were writing about. I think that line about waking up at the end really signaled that the main character was finally realizing what kind of person she'd married.
The gender issues in this were also something I think you could do a lot with. Really great choice!
I finished reading the story a couple days ago, and am still slightly confused by it. I understand the relationship between the husband and wife, but there are some little things that repeat themselves that I noticed. One thing that is mentioned several times are fingers. The husband fingers are mentioned several times, both refering to him touching his wife as well as other things. It also mentions the son's fingers a few times when it doesn't seem necessary. I take it as an idea of unclean hands becasue of what the father did.
The other things that I noticed, in connection to "A Small Good Thing" was the mother talks about the idea of connections between people. "There is a connection to be made of these things, these events, these faces, if I can find it. MY HEART ACHES WITH THE EFFORT TO FIND IT."
In regards to the end, Shannon, to me it seems that he expects that everything will eventually blow over with his wife. He seems to think that saying "I love you" will be able to fix everything, but she can't forget about what happened. Her statement at the end seems to be her frustation and anger finally bubling to the surface.
I didn't notice the mention of hands and fingers until you brought that up. I definitely agree that it has to do with the husbands hands being stained by what he has done - or really didn't do. I think that's important especially since the husband doesn't really think (or at least let on) that he did anything wrong. The wife on the other hand feels like she has had a hand in the entire thing because of her mere connection to the husband, which may explain why she went to the funeral.
Something else that I have been thinking about is the parents of the dead girl. I thought it was interesting that the wife was so eager to answer the phone because she was worried about her son when he was only at his grandmother's house. The mother is realizing that there may be a time when she is unaware of her son's whereabouts and that could mean danger.
I often think about how terrible it would be not to know where your child is. Because the husband and his friends waited days to call, the girl's parents had no idea if their daughter was dead or alive. It must have been a horrible experience. I immediately thought of how the parents in "A Small, Good Thing" were waiting for their child to come out of a coma, waiting for a phone call.
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