Dysfunctional Love in the Works of Carver and Faulkner

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The instability of emotions caused by love is a proven threat in many instances, but specifically when untreated individuals are ignored or fail to seek appropriate assistance. The result of love lost is sometimes the harnessing of pain or anger, which could lead to fatal endings. Raymond Carver and Faulkner represent these entities in both the male and female counterparts. These insights are valuable in that they point to a greater truth about life and about the human race's inability to cope with several obstacles involving love, which both Carver and Faulkner represent perfectly in their short stories. Both stories illustrate the lives of two different scenarios involving lost love, but with similar endings. As human beings, there is always a capacity that a person can withstand, furthermore, when that capacity is met, life becomes disoriented and meaningless, which leads to unprecedented events, such as the homicidal actions, in which Emily took part in, or Ed who could be regarded as sadistic, dangerous, and pathological. These short tales challenge its audience to embrace the possibility of these events transpiring, while at the same time delivering a powerful message behind unstable emotions that follow a lost love and further bring light to the question, is love truly a disease in itself?

The evidence, however, that Emily was significantly distraught and traumatized by the loss of a loved one –her father was clear. Hiding away in her home, while allowing much time to pass as she separated herself from society allowed the development of unstable emotions to transform into something uncontrollable. Doctors have evaluated and reported several symptoms for depression, including helplessness, self-isolation, along with many...

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...ckle and vacillating world. [Talk about Terris husband and how he was once in love but now hates his ex-wife] which backtracks to the notion that inevitable sadness is attached to love. Mel had been through love lost and several difficulties involving love, which in turn generated his despise of the thought of love and his condemening of the elderly couple involved in the fatal crash. Mel could not understand why the old man loved his wife so much, and only hoped to see her before he passed. The loss of love and presence of heartache created an alternate mentality in Mel’s head, and a new outlook on life. Is completely shutting love out of the mind the only remedy and prevention from fatal occurrences after losing a loved one? It seems as though a person must acquire a particular mind set when attempting to find love to protect oneself both physically and mentally.

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