The short
story "Popular Mechanics" by Raymond Carver made me feel pity towards
the child for having to deal with selfish parents he or she had. In a way I can
relate to the child. This story reminded me of when my parents went through
divorce. Though the baby dealt with physical pain my pain was more on the emotional
side. The custody battle tore me apart to be honest. My parents would selfishly
fight in front of my brothers and I just like the story. They never stopped to
think of how we felt. Children have feelings too! Luckily things are a lot
better now.
Raymond Carver
brings to light the effects of selfishness through his use of symbolism in his
short story. Flowers are beautiful and delicate forms of life, just like a
child. They both need tender loving care. When the flower pot broke over the
parents fighting it symbolized the breaking of the child to me. The parents
were so involved in their destructive selfish behavior and caused harm to the
child. At the end of the story the reader is lead to believe that the child's
shoulder may have been dislocated. It upset me as a reader because this all could
have been avoided. But Carver purposely took it to the extreme to make the
world realize that this is a universal issue. There is one thing I learned from
Carver, its that through selflessness and love, relationships and families can
thrive.
Now my
question for the class is do you think both parents have fault in the progression
of the events or does one have more fault than the other?
I'm very sorry to hear that you had to go through something so difficult, but very happy to hear that thinks are going well. I had never thought the flowers to symbolize the child, I leaned more toward that was the love between the parents. To answer your question i think both parents were at fault because at any time either one of them could have stopped the progression. If they both loved the child as much as they seem to, how could they not stop the progression?
ReplyDeleteI think they are both at fault. We can defiantly see the mom’s fault by provoking the dad when she took the picture. She didn’t have to do that. If she is getting the child the least she can do is let him keep a picture of the child. And while she did provoke the dad, he could have chosen to not react. We are all capable of controlling our emotions. He chose to react to her taking the picture and when she would give it back he reacted again. So it is both their faults. They were both selfish in different ways, but both ways, in part, ended up in destroying the life of the baby.
ReplyDeleteI agree that both parents acted foolishly. It was certainly not a very smart way to solve "the issue" of who's keeping the baby. But I think that their emotions, which were so intense, that they ultimately led to anger and aggressiveness, proved both parents' love for the baby rather than disproved it. I don't know about you guys, but I never get angry about something that doesn't matter to me. Yes, I think that, "to a certain degree", we can control our emotions, but if you're an honest/realistic person, you would have to admit that there are times and situations when you CANNOT. Sometimes you just want/have to let it all out. To answer your question Lauren, I think the reason why the parents didn't stop the fight is because they "couldn't", not because they didn't really love the baby. If anything, they could've controlled themselves not to start the fight in the first place, but once you're in the middle of it (maybe you know from experience:) ) it's hard to just stop. I don't think either one of them was proud of the outcome and I like to think that in the end they came to their senses and regretted their own behavior. But anger clouds judgement. In divorce situations (or a couple breaking up) both parties are usually emotionally stressed out,thus very easily provoked by any little inconvenience. So, psychologically, I think that a fight like this is, maybe not normal and definitely not the best way to go, but certainly expectable and explainable. Unfortunately it's also happening a lot in our society.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you compared the baby with the flower pot, I never thought about it that in depth. I just looked at it as getting broken and symbolizing the baby getting torn apart. I think both parents are at fault here and i think that is what Carver is trying to point out. At the end they both tore the baby apart which was the root of the problem. I think Carver wants us to stop and think about how we resolve our conflicts before we make them worse.
ReplyDeleteAlthough my parents have never been divorced, I can definitely relate to how you felt when they would fight in front of me. It wasn't a good feeling. I agree how they were both so selfish that they didn't realize what they were doing to their baby. This situation could of been easily avoided if they just stopped and thought about how bad they were hurting the child! I think both parents are at fault. The mother definitely did start to aggravate the father but he could of easily stepped back and handled the situation in a more calm manner.
ReplyDeleteBoth parents did act completely in appropriate. The woman on her behalf should have respected his leaving. And the man should not have followed her antics. He should have been the bigger person and walk away. I definitely wouldn’t want my parents acting like this around me. So for any child to have to go thru domestic volence can really cause serious psychological problems.
ReplyDeleteYou did a really good job of describing what went on. I liked how you compared the child to the flower pot and how delicately both of them need to be treated and how the parents ignored that. I think that both parents are equally at fault for everything that takes place. Neither of them stepped up to show concern about the well being of the child. They were just concerned with the possession of it. They were both too caught up in themselves to show concern for the baby.
ReplyDelete