Analysis Of Little Things By Raymond Carver - 1269 Words

The short story â€Å"Little Things† by Raymond Carver deals with the humanity’s spiteful nature and its desire to flaunt what others can not have. On the surface, the story is about a man, a woman, and baby, none of which have a confirmed relation to each other, and a dispute over who should keep the baby after the man leaves. As the story reaches its end, there is no clear winner and the reader has a sense of unease based on the last line, â€Å"In this manner, the issue was decided† (Carver). Carver’s use of dialogue, allusion, and sight/sound imagery help build the darker mood for the story, and his use of those elements ultimately leads to one of Carver’s main messages. By utilizing the previously listed items, Carver highlights the idea that†¦show more content†¦Both of them trying to keep the baby away from the other in this manner shows that the have allowed their petty anger and spite to cloud their judgement, thus causing them to lose sight of what actually matters: the baby’s well being. One of the main ways Carver shows his thematic message is through his use of allusion. In this case, the fight over the baby acts as an allusion to The Judgement of Solomon. In the original story of Solomon, he presides over the case of two women claiming to be the true mother of a single child. To solve the conflict, Solomon decrees that the child be sawn in half so that each woman may get an equal part of the child. One of the women then tells Solomon to give the baby to the other woman so that the baby can continue to live, thus revealing herself as the true mother. In â€Å"Little Things,† Carver uses this story to provide a context for the audience for the events transpiring at the end of the story. Going back to the end of the fight where both He and She are pulling on the baby, the narrator says this, â€Å"She would have it, this baby. She grabbed for the baby’s other arm. She caught the baby around the wrist and leaned back. But he would not let go. He felt the baby slipping out of his hands and he pulled back very hard† (Carver). It is a similar situation to that in the alluded material, two people are fighting over one child, but in Solomon’s story the baby comes out unharmed. 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