Love is a simple word spoken daily; indeed, spoken thousands of times daily. It is a word spoken so often and so casually as to be in danger of losing any real meaning.
As the reader is drawn into the complexity of each characters views, one’s own views and opinions are realized. The vast differences among the friends, their experiences with love and life, are something that is easily related to in some way or another by the reader.
The idea that loves meaning is so easily lost can be seen in the cynical view that Mel has of love. Mel being a man of higher education and great spiritual guidance, clearly has not allowed either education or spiritualty influence his views of love. His inability to even entertain the idea that the violence shown by Terri’s first lover, Ed, could reflect love no matter how perverse. When Terri was presented with her views on love, her thoughts went straight to a past lover, Ed. Even though she is currently in a healthy loving relationship with Mel, thoughts of Ed entered her mind. Her response to Mel’s disgust at the sheer mention of his name, as though the man was vile scum not even worthy of love “sure, it’s abnormal in most people’s eyes. But he was willing to die for it. He did die for it.” (303). For most people though, that’s not love. That’s ownership and possessive passion. As sick as the relationship was and as angry a man Ed appeared, Terri wouldn’t even leave his side on his death bed. Almost as if she owed him something.
To Terri, Ed loved her, even after telling the others, “he beat me up one night, he kept saying, I love you, I love you, I love you, you bitch.” (303) To Terri this was love. Yes, while in its entirety, was a love much different than the love showed to her by M...
... middle of paper ...
...m of protection, just the same were the head to toe body casts covering both the husband, and the wife. As the old couple were laying bandaged in their room, the man, wrapped from head to toe in a cast to mend his broken body, with only holes in the important spots, her as well. The cast being on the couple to heal them, and protect them from greater damage, was ironically causing the old man a great deal of pain. The cast wasn’t causing physical pain in any sorts, for either of them, but was inhibiting him from seeing his wife. This, for him, was the most painful thing he could think of happening to him, and he wanted nothing more than to be able to look across the room and see that his wife was physically there with him. Mel was flabbergasted, “I’m telling you the man’s heart was breaking because he couldn’t turn his goddamn head and see his goddamn wife.” (309)
The short story is about two couples drinking and arguing about what love truly is. One of the couples, Terri and Mel, argue about Terri’s ex, Ed. Mel does not think that Terri’s ex truly loved her, but she does. For example, Mel said, “My God, don’t be silly. That’s not love, and you know it,” (412) in response to Terri saying that Ed loved her very much. Mel believes he did not love her because he threatened to kill her and later killed himself when she left him. Terri believes he truly did love her for that exact same
His feelings of animosity and venomous hatred for his ex-wife are in direct conflict with his original self- evaluation of both being capable of understanding, and engaging in that enigma known as true love. Mel is, in many cases, the Ed to his ex-wife. Whereas Ed engaged in the violent act of dragging Terri throughout the apartment by her ankles, Mel describes, with almost childlike delight, how he has fantasized about playing the starring role in her murder. Mel does not seem like the type of man who would commit such a deed. He does, however, consider how good it would feel to seek revenge against Marjorie in retaliation for her “crimes” against his heart. Therefore, rather than fondly reminiscing, or even grieving at the lost love between him and his ex-wife, he instead resorts to anger and resentment, neither of which is characteristic of the type of “love” he so dogmatically professes to
The type of narration, the plot’s rising action, and the overall imprint that is left on the reader, pushes this book above and beyond. Whaley creates a picture for the reader by using third- person omniscient point of view. This method helps the reader better understand the main characters. The rising action development was extremely easy to follow. The descriptions of the characters and the background information helps explained how the story was laid out. Also, the author seemed like he wanted the reader to realize the purpose of the three-way friendship. It represented how a relationship allows everyone to learn from their flaws and unwarranted decisions from other’s reactions. This book is truly unique, from the composure to the character’s
Each friend and family member played an important role in the main character’s life that encouraged and allowed their path of
When an emotion is believed to embody all that brings bliss, serenity, effervescence, and even benevolence, although one may believe its encompassing nature to allow for generalizations and existence virtually everywhere, surprisingly, directly outside the area love covers lies the very antithesis of love: hate, which in all its forms, has the potential to bring pain and destruction. Is it not for this very reason, this confusion, that suicide bombings and other acts of violence and devastation are committed in the name of love? In Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, the reader experiences this tenuity that is the line separating love and hate in many different forms and on many different levelsto the extent that the line between the two begins to blur and become indistinguishable. Seen through Ruth's incestuous love, Milkman and Hagar's relationship, and Guitar's love for African-Americans, if love causes destruction, that emotion is not true love; in essence, such destructive qualities of "love" only transpire when the illusion of love is discovered and reality characterizes the emotion to be a parasite of love, such as obsession or infatuation, something that resembles love but merely inflicts pain on the lover.
Time and time again, she asserts to Mel that Ed’s love for her was genuine: “‘It may sound crazy to you, but it’s true just the same…Sure, he may have acted crazy. Okay. But he loved me. In his own way, maybe, but he loved me.’” (Carver 171). While the others often express doubtful opinions on love, particularly Mel, Terri remains constant on her attitude towards the subject. She wholeheartedly believes that Ed loved her to the point of death, as explained in the following quote: “‘I was in the room with him when he died,’ Terri said. ‘He never came up out of it. But I sat with him. He didn’t have anyone else…It was love,’ Terri said. ‘Sure, it’s abnormal in most people’s eyes. But he was willing to die for it. He did die for it.” (Carver
Love is said to be one of the most desired things in life. People long for it, search for it, and crave it. It can come in the form of partners, friends, or just simply family. To some, love is something of a necessity in life, where some would rather turn a cold shoulder to it. Love can be the mixture of passion, need, lust, loyalty, and blood. Love can be extraordinary and breathtaking. Love being held so high can also be dangerous. Love can drive people to numerous mad things with it dangerously so full of craze and passion.
Love has many definitions and can be interpreted in many different ways. William Maxwell demonstrates this in his story “Love”. Maxwell opens up his story with a positive outlook on “Love” by saying, “Miss Vera Brown, she wrote on the blackboard, letter by letter in flawlessly oval palmer method. Our teacher for fifth grade. The name might as well have been graven in stone” (1). By the end of the story, the students “love” for their teachers no longer has a positive meaning, because of a turn in events that leads to a tragic ending. One could claim that throughout the story, Maxwell uses short descriptive sentences with added details that foreshadow the tragic ending.
After analyzing Raymond Carver’s “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” it is easy to see that there are several different ideas concerning true love that the characters in the story are in dispute over. Terri’s idea of real love is the most valid out of the group at the table. All of the members of the group are rather confused as to what real love is. Terri is included as one of the confused. However, I believe that she is the closest to understanding what love is. A key piece of evidence demonstrating her understanding of love is her remark to Laura and Nick. She scolds the couple for basing their relationship on physical aspects, rather than emotion or passion. Terri, like the rest of the party, is on her second marriage. Her first husband was an abusive man that beat her, and even dragged her by her ankles around their living room. Terri’s current husband, Mel, is a cardiologist that believes in spiritual love, and that between spouses, people are barren and hollow inside, and that he could be married to any other empty person without difference. Mel is rather shielded from emotion between spouses. His only real love lies with his children, unfortunately Mel allows his conflict with his ex wife to block him from calling his them. Terri does love Mel, but she reminisces about her time with Ed. Terri realizes that Ed was full of emotion, and that he was just befuddled and chaotic in his methods of sharing his feelings....
Some may say love is just an emotion while others may say it is a living and breathing creature. Songs and poems have been written about love for hundreds and thousands of years. Love has been around since the beginning of time, whether someone believes in the Big Bang or Adam and Eve. Without love, there wouldn’t be a world like it is known today. But with love, comes pain with it. Both William Shakespeare and Max Martin know and knew this. Both ingenious poets wrote love songs of pain and suffering as well as blossoming, newfound love. The eccentric ideal is both writers were born centuries apart. How could both know that love and pain work hand in hand when they were born 407 years apart? Love must never change then. Love survives and stays its original self through the hundreds and thousands of years it has been thriving. Though centuries apart, William Shakespeare and Max Martin share the same view on love whether i...
Love is an interpersonal relationship developed, maintained, and possibly destroyed through communication, but also can be enhanced by communication. Love is often described as a feeling of closeness, caring, intimacy and commitment between two people. There are six different types of love: eros, ludus, storge, pragma, mania, and
Love is not a god as the fine philosophers of Greece once suggested. Love is something far more powerful and universal, for not all people believe in gods, yet people cannot refuse the existence of love. Instead, love is a condition of the human body that cannot be denied. True love is obstinate; in the way that music pours into the ears of an audience, love pouring into the heart of a man cannot be stopped, denied, or set off course. Love is a natural instinct. You cannot artificially make love where there is none or where it does not belong. Yet, the condition of being in love grows independent of all rationale. It grows places where an observer may not understand its existence. Attempting to fight love in such a situation leaves even powerful and noble families, such as the Capulets and Montagues, suddenly powerless. When love takes control of two souls, it takes the lovers on a journey. The journey is the growth of love throughout its many progressive stages. In this way, the growth of love between two people is analogous to the growth and development of a painted masterpiece. A work of art and a bond of love both have distinct stages and characteristics. A painting initially begins with a vision in the mind of the artist. This vision is a perfect vision that the artist will strive to replicate on her canvas. Similarly, love often begins on a visual level based on the physical attractions between two people. The vision of the painter is soon transformed into quick, loose sketches. The pencil freely marks the page; the artist has no control over where it goes, he merely paints. Similarly, lovers have no control over their new feeling of love that has taken over their bodies and rendered them helpless. After an artist has loos...
The word love is usually misused or misinterpreted. There are numerous meanings and definitions to this overly used word. Not many of them make much sense to me. Love is a feeling of complete bliss. Love is something that can’t be touched or bought, but is something that is much better than money and earthly objects. I can stay here and describe love all day long and still have so much more to say about this word days later. Love isn’t a word that should be used lightly, but usually is. I believe that love is the most commonly used, but most understood word ever known
Love, that single feeling which generates the funny sensations in people's stomach, giving them the warm pleasures in their body, causing them to feel joy, and to believe every aspect in their life is right. It causes them to receive an exhilarating, appealing feeling that makes them want to rejoice. Love can be a speeding of their heart, but it can also be nerve-racking. It makes their hearts begin to rapidly pump, making a rapid beat— “ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom”. Attempting to describe love is a rigorous task, but it is possible. However, the easiest detail to describe and understand about love is not so much the feeling of it, but the concept of what it is about. Many people may obtain different views and definitions regarding love, but
What is love? Love is a very special and meaningful word to each human being. Each human being has his/her own thoughts about love to guide himself/herself to land safely and smoothly into the kingdom of Love. Without this preconceived idea of love, people would be acting like a blind person searching for the light with thousand of obstacles in front of him.