A Small Good Thing Raymond Carver

Children are supposed to be the pride and joy of an adult’s life. When someone’s child is born, the love that is shared between the parents and child is unbreakable; the bond is impenetrable. Nearly everyone, one day would desire to become a parent. Moreover, when that day comes and the little one enters the world, the child is the most important thing in their parents’ lives. Parents cherish the simple precious moments with their son or daughter, which is imbedded in their memory forever. For instance, the first time one holds their baby, or the first time steps are taken, the first time the child smiles, the first time the little one utters the words mamma or dada, or says’ I love you. There are no words to express the feelings one possesses

But, the worst of them all is finding out that your little angel is on the verge of losing his or her life. When you lose or are close to losing your child’s life that in itself, is the definition of pure torture and agony. While reading “The Bath” and “A Small Good Thing” by Raymond Carver, individuals see what parents’ go through when they are at the brink about to lose their child. According to McCaffery et al. watching characters in Caver’s stories is like spending time with people who have just had a huge fight before you get together, this is true of the characters in the two short stories; that revel emotional depths and creates hidden meanings: (p.228). These feelings are displayed between the parents’ and the baker. The link between these two stories are that Scotty gets in an accident, yet in both stories it is portrayed differently. This is supported by May, who agrees that “ Carver adds explanatory information to 'A Small, Good Thing' that adds nothing significant to the original version entitled ‘The Bath’

One theme here is lack of communication, for instance, when the mother, who is known as mom in this version of the story tells the technician “I don’t understand this,”(Carver, “Bath” 53)(Carver, “Small Thing” 5) when the technician draws blood from Scotty. As any parent, one would like to know specific information, especially when involving a child, yet the tech never explained to either party why he was taking blood. He just continued without argument or clarification. In addition, when the first phone call from the baker is received, Scotty’s father picks up the phone. The baker makes the phone call to figure out why no one has picked up the cake. It is ready and he would like the collect his sixteen dollars. Yet, the father is unaware of a cake, which leads him to hang up the phone on the baker. This lack of communication is between the mother and her husband. Scotty’s father is seated beside Ann in the infirmary, and “he wanted to say something else” (Carver, “Bath” 52)(Carver, “Small Thing” 4). But there was no saying it. Lastly, when mom spots Nelson’s parents, it is acknowledged that Nelson’s mother mistakes her as the doctor and voices, ‘Tell me now, lady” (Carver, “Bath” 55)(Carver, “Small Thing” 7). From this the viewers can tell that no clarification will be detailed since mom is not a doctor and cannot provide any