(An Analysis of the Conclusion of Raymond Carver’s Everything Stuck to Him)

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There’s a Whole Lot of Voice in This, Sorry in Advance

(An Analysis of the Conclusion of Raymond Carver’s Everything Stuck to Him)

Never in my life have I read an anthologized short story so stylistically appealing to my own personal tastes.Raymond Carver takes readers on a poetic journey exploring the dynamics of family, marriage, and friendship within a few short pages. The final installment of Raymond Carver’s short story Everything Stuck to Him can be quite perplexing, however the final lines are what gives this story such substance.

In technical terms, Carver’s frame story ends on a rather happy note. “The boy looked down at himself, at everything stuck to his underwear. It has been said that the course of true love never did run easily, which is exactly what occurs within Everything Stuck to Him. “I was starved, he said, shaking his head. You were starved, she said, laughing. He peeled off the woolen underwear and threw it at the bathroom door. Then he opened his arms and the girl moved into them. We won’t fight anymore, she said. The boy said, We won’t.” Oh how refreshing it is to see two lover’s quarrel resolved in minimalistic, poetic lines. Normally, a person in my age group would think this is the absolute most unrealistic depiction of marital fights. However it is quite the contrary, I have found through my own exploration of personal relationships. It is beyond ridiculous, but when I find myself becoming bored in a relationship, I will let the other party boil to a solid simmer with all of the implications that come with hanging around me until I am given an ultimatum to shape up. Or vise versa. However when one is married, they should be a bit past that, especially in the case of the young married boy and girl in...

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...story Everything Stuck to Him can be quite perplexing, however the final lines are what gives this story such substance. In technical terms, Carver’s frame story ends on a rather happy note. The lighthearted ending of the frame story in Everything Stuck to Him is ironic considering the actual story’s end note of discord. The father/daughter relationship presented in this story is very interesting when juxtaposed with the Carver’s frame story. Gordon B. Hinckley once wisely said: “The remedy for most marital stress is not in divorce. It is in repentance and forgiveness, in sincere expressions of charity and service. It is not in separation. It is in simple integrity that leads a man and a woman to square up their shoulders and meet their obligations. It is found in the Golden Rule, a time-honored principle that should first and foremost find expression in marriage.”

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