Character Analysis And Symbolism In “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” By Raymond Carver
Book report writing introduction is critical for the success of the essay. The first statement (Main topic sentence) identifies the main protagonist, whom the researcher intend to extensively discuss because the story revolves around him.
The protagonist in this short story is a man named Melvin McGinnis. According to the narrator, Melvin is “forty-five years old, tall with curly soft hair” (Carver 172). The narrator says that “his face and arms were brown from the tennis he played” (Carver 172). From the text, Mel, as the narrator calls him, has personal and career goals. He aspires to offer his services to the patients as deduced from the description of medical cases he had attended to in the past. He also wants to live a happy life together with his wife Terrie.
In one of the significant statements that Mel makes, he tells Nick, Laura, and Terrie that if “something happened to one of us tomorrow I think the other one, the other person, would grieve for a while, you know, but then the surviving party would go out and love again, have someone else soon enough” (Craver 177). Mel speaks these words as the four enjoy a drink in his house. He insinuates that love, like other emotions, can wear off. He explains his point by mentioning the love that he and his first wife shared, and the fact that their bond is no longer there. In another remarkable statement, Mel describes the medical condition of the old couple injured by the drunk teenager as “multiple fractures, internal injuries, hemorrhaging, contusions, and lacerations” (Craver 179). This statement explicates Mel’s knowledge of medicine and his love for his work as a heart surgeon.
Terrie makes various statements that describe the character of Melvin. For instance, he asks him to stop “talking like you are drunk when you are not drunk” (Carver 178). Terrie makes this statement when Mel becomes verbose after taking alcohol for some time. From this statement, the reader learns that the protagonist’s speech changes when he becomes drunk. Terrie is aware of the changes, and she feels that her husband was acting drunk when he was not. In one of the opening statements, Nick says that Mel “thought real love was nothing less than spiritual love” (Carver 170). This statement means that Mel was enthusiastic about love and he considered it as a spiritual bond between two people.
In the text, Mel takes charge of all conversations and prefers telling stories while making a point. These two actions mean that Mel is an orator with remarkable rhetorical skills. His control of the party demonstrates his leadership skills and charisma that keep the audience glued to his stories. The motivation behind these two actions is Mel’s inherent desire to remain relevant in the company of friends. Other statements about love reveal Mel’s thoughts on romantic relations. He said that” the kind of love I'm talking about, you don't try to kill people” (Carver 171). Through this remark, Mel advocates for love where mutual respect abides, and where a couple will avoid any actions that would harm each other.
Symbolism
Raymond Carver employs symbolism throughout the story. The sun appears bright at the beginning of the story but its radiance diminishes by the end of the plot. The author uses this symbolism to illustrate the loss of clarity in the subject matter as the four converse about love. The old couple that survives after a deadly accident symbolizes the undying nature of true love that perseveres amidst calamity. Finally, a bottle of gin symbolizes the common factor that unites the four people regardless of their varying opinions about love. Although each one of them holds a peculiar position about true love, they all partake in the bottle of wine to symbolize their connectedness in this discussion.
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