Ingrained within the American identity is a restless spirit that is never content to be defined by the same terms for too long. Yet the things Americans value remain the same, evidenced by the titles they strive so hard to attain—husband, wife, mother, father. These titles represent who Americans are as much as what they are. They are the roles that give Americans purpose and meaning. The defining aspect of Raymond Carver's short story, “A Small, Good Thing,” is the fact that its characters are undeniably American. “A Small, Good Thing” was originally published in 1981 as “The Bath” in Carver's second major publication, What we Talk About When we Talk About Love, before reappearing two years later in Cathedral, longer and revised. The second version includes a new ending that lends more closure than its predecessor but completely changes the meaning of the story, painting the conflict in a new light, creating a tone that saturates the story like a colored filter over a lens; however, what the new ending offers most is deeper insight into the identity of the characters involved—who they are, what they hope for, what they're afraid of, and what has the power to heal them.
Like the characters in his stories, Carver was no stranger to sorrow. Born in 1938 and raised in the Northwest, Carver was a typical blue-collar American, working odd jobs to support a wife and two daughters, doing his best to cope with the frustrations and struggles of the working-class (“Raymond Carver”). He was reputed to be self-centered, an alcoholic with violent tendencies, and ambitious to the point of sacrificing his marriage and family for the fame he sought (Yardley). Dying at the age of fifty from cancer, he lived the harsh reality of the American Dre...
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...orld, wondering what aweful thing might be lurking unseen around the corner. In “A Small, Good Thing,” Carver shows how strong Americans can be, how it is part of their nature to find a way to begin again and continue the story, which is the most beautiful kind of ending. This is what good literary fiction should do: bring a mirror up to your face so that you see who you are with clarity, without losing sight of the world beyond you.
Works Cited
Carver, Raymond. “A Small, Good Thing.” American Literature Volume 2. Ed. William E. Cain. New York: Pearson, 2004. 1035-1055. Print.
“Raymond Carver.” American Literature Volume 2. Ed. William E. Cain. New York: Pearson, 2004. 1035. Print.
Yardley, Johnathan. Rev. of What it Used to be Like: A Portrait of my Marriage to Raymond Carver, by Maryann Burk Carver. Thewashingtonpost.com. 16 July 2006. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
“Good Country People” is a masterfully written example of irony as a method of characterization. It is more than snark or satire. Flannery O’Connor uses characterization to give this short piece a deep emotional impact. When Manley Pointer leaves Hulga Hopewell in the barn loft, helpless and hopeless. He declares that she, “…ain’t so smart.” That he has been, “…believing in nothing even since [he] was born” just as he slips away. Here we see the full irony of the characters names. These titles hold multifaceted meanings and expose each characters failure to acknowledge themselves and others as they are, They prefer instead their cherished assumptions until the ugly truth escapes from sight.
O’connor, Flannery. "Good Country People" The Bedford Introduction To Literature, 5th ed. Ed, Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s,1999. 393-406
Upon reading Raymond Carver's short story of the Cathedral one will notice the literary devices used in the short story. When analyzing the story completely, one then understands the themes, motifs, metaphors, and the overall point of the piece. This leaves the reader with an appreciation of the story and a feeling of complete satisfaction.
The characters and their traits in the short story, “Good Country People,” play a major role in enhancing the plot of the story. The short story’s main character, Hulga Hopewell, is a physically impaired thirty-two-year-old woman who uses her physical complications as
Hewson, Marc. ""My children were of me alone": Maternal Influence in Faulkner's As I Lay Dying." Mississippi Quarterly 53.4 (2000): n. pag. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 Apr 2011.
Lauter, Paul, vol. 1, 3rd ed. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Pub: by Houghton Mifflin, 19
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
A transformation took place during the story and it is evident through the narrator?s character. In the beginning he was lacking in compassion, he was narrow minded, he was detached, he was jealous, and he was bitter. Carver used carefully chosen words to illustrate the narrator?s character and the change. Throughout the story his character undergoes a transformation into a more emotionally aware human being.
...of a Great American Anecdote." Lincoln, Stowe, and the "Little Woman/Great War" Story: The Making, and Breaking, of a Great American Anecdote. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
Carver, Raymond. Cathedral. “The Norton Introduction to Literature.” New York: W.W Norton &, 2014. Print.
“While it may seem small, the ripple effects of small things is extraordinary” is a quote that perfectly fits the novella Signs Preceding the End of the World. This hundred-paged novella by Yuri Herrera might seem tiny but it’s loaded with the culture, language and life of people of those Mexico and the United States. Herrera also provides us a glimpse of life of an immigrant in the States. He explores the crossings and translations people make in their minds and language as they move from one country to another, especially when there’s no going back.
... words, and they had better be the right ones, with the punctuation in the right places.” n each of these stories, Carver makes those words take reader to the same scene twice and end up in a new place each time. He is a master wordsmith and the uniqueness that is 'The Bath' and 'A Small Good Thing' is a masterpiece.
Last but not least, O’Connor confirms that even a short story is a multi-layer compound that on the surface may deter even the most enthusiastic reader, but when handled with more care, it conveys universal truths by means of straightforward or violent situations. She herself wished her message to appeal to the readers who, if careful enough, “(…)will come to see it as something more than an account of a family murdered on the way to Florida.”
Belasco, Susan, and Linck Johnson, eds. The Bedford Anthology of American Literature. Vol. 1, 2nd Ed., Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 1190-1203. Print.
Hewson, Marc. "'My Children Were Of Me Alone': Maternal Influence In Faulkner's As I Lay