What We Talk About
Raymond Carvers "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" appears to make the case that it is possible to hate the thing you love. This is the crux of what Terri describes, at least, in her abusive relationship with Ed. Ed used to drag Terri around by the ankles and beat and say, I love you, I love you, you bitch! She believed he meant ithis love was real. The wrath, however, as Mel points out was not love; it could not be. The only explanation, therefore, is that it is possible to have two contradictory passions at once, competing in ones will, even to the point that one destroys the thing one loves. Such is not a new theme in literature, at any rate. Shakespeare touched on it in Othello. Carver touches on it here in this story.
Sleevi (2012) contends that there are two versions of lovea violent one, and a kind one. Each demonstrates itself differently, but both have the same end goalto be loved in return. This is evident in Carvers story in the way the couples reach out to reassure and to be reassured in return: the way Mel reaches out to touch Terris cheek after he contradicts her about what love is; the way the narrator reaches out and touches the back of Lauras hand to reassure her and to be reassured by her when they both speak their minds on the topic. There is a give-and-take, an action and reaction in the love concept. Even the act of talking about love is that way: there is no way to explain it or bring it up without having to...
References
Allen, R. (1985). The confessions of St. Augustine. National Review, 37, 28-31.
Carver, R. (2014). What we talk about when we talk about love. Simon and Schuster.
Sleevi, S. R. (2012). When We Talk About Raymond Carver: Experiencing Two Versions of WhatWe Talk About When We Talk About Love (Doctoral dissertation, Georgetown University).
Taniyama, S. (2000). The outsider theme in selected fiction by EM Forster, Raymond Carver,Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Sumii Sue: An experiment in the study of multicultural literatures. The Union Institute.
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