How Does Raymond Carver Create A Frame Story

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Memories are ways that people stir emotions in others. Raymond Carver exploits his characters memories in "Everything Stuck to Him" to create a frame story. A frame story, or story within a story, allows for an author to have a third person account of characters lives. This careful development from Carver allows for his diction, minimalistic style, and characterization to impact the meaning of the piece.

In Carver's frame story, he uses diction to establish that the couple in the man's story is generic, and their names are not as important as their actions. By omitting the characters' names and simply saying things such as, "They were kids themselves but they were crazy in love, this eighteen-year-old boy, and this seventeen-year-old girl when they married". …show more content…

This impacts the story because it causes the reader to view the frame story as a ------------- that could happen to any young family. This establishes an understanding that the young family is unsure of all their choices and mistakes.

Carver continues to change how the story develops with his minimalist writing style. This impacts the story because many things are left unsaid. Because of this the reader then has to draw conclusions from what Carver writes in the text. Carver uses this strategy to create the family dynamic when the boy is bathing his baby. Such an example from Carver is, "He powdered the tiny body. He powdered between fingers and toes. He emptied the bath into the sink and went upstairs to check the air". From first glance, it appears as if the boy is simply cleaning the baby when the boy is, in fact, doing more than that. These simple sentences force the reader to draw the conclusion that he cares for the baby. Carver shows this by being sure to mention how the boy cleans the smallest parts of the baby. Therefore, this minimalistic style develops the loving family aspect of the story. Carver further

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