In
Popular Mechanics the author, Raymond Carver, uses painstaking details,
numerous
symbols, and an unusual title to convey the universal theme that not
all relationships end happily. He tells the story the process of conflict
between man and woman. We can see the aggression and struggle between a man and
a woman who are suffering an unhappy marriage. This is a baby who has been in
the midst of aggression and struggle. They both want to have a baby but their
actions are extremely wrong. The tone of whole story is very aggressive and
angry and it comes to the end that none of them have a baby as their desire.
Carver uses all these things to his advantage. He brings out the theme of this
depressing, but truthful story.
In
Shiloh the author, Bobbie Ann Mason’s short story “Shiloh” tells the story of a
marriage with serious problems. Leroy, a truck driver, injured his leg in a
job-related accident, and can no longer drive his truck. Leroy feels entitled
to relax and be non-productive instead of keeping himself busy. Norma Jean is
his wife. Norma Jean feels smothered by the change of Leroy being home all the
time. She had become accustomed to having her space and is rigid in what she
wants. Norma Jean decides instead of offering emotional support or alternatives
to the situation, to become more distant, difficult and cold hearted. Both
parties failed on their duties as husband and wife because of poor communication
and immaturity by blaming others for their problems instead of facing them in a
constructive manner. In these two short stories, we can clearly see the profile
of woman and man who live in harmony with each other in
terms of emotion, drama, aggression and anger.These two stories are similar to
each other in terms of the story of the man and woman as the theme.
At the beginning of Popular
Mechanics, Carver opens the story by telling the reader ‘Early that day the
weather turned and the snow was melting into dirty water.” (Carver 123) This
opening sentence is important because it acts as symbolism. Snow is white and
usually, white would symbolize some sort of purity, or cleanliness. Carver may
be suggesting to the reader, through symbolism, that what was once a healthy,
loving relationship between the couple has been tainted in some way. Lighting
also plays a significant part in the setting of the story. The tone of the
story is one of anger, aggression and tension and it also questions our
everyday life; does this really happen in reality? A man and a woman’s struggle
over a child can clearly be seen as their relationship. Another idea is that
the struggle within their relationship is causing emotional pain to the child.
In the
same way, at the beginning of Shiloh, The log cabin that Leroy dreams of
building for his wife symbolizes his marriage. The cabin is an impractical
idea, and the project does not interest Norma Jean. Leroy clings to his dreams
of building the cabin with the same touching and misplaced tenacity with which
he clings to his wife. “Every woman must find comfort in understanding herself
as an individual; when she becomes the emotional appendage of a male, all of
heer individuality is lost.” (Frazier) Nothing dissuades him, even the
straightforward words of Mabel and Norma Jean, who repeatedly tell him that
living in a cabin is unpleasant, that new developments wouldn’t allow such a
structure, that building is too expensive, and that, in any case, Norma Jean
hates the idea. Just as Leroy won’t let go of the idea of the cabin in the face
of strong opposition, he won’t give up on his marriage in the face of clear
evidence that his wife already has. At Shiloh, Leroy at last realizes that his
marriage is as hollow as the boxy interior of a log cabin. Too late, the
symbolic link between his dreams of a cabin and his failed marriage becomes
clear to him.
Leroy
realized how many years of social activities he had joined, but he never
noticed that his wife, Norma Jean, had changed.
Setting also comes into play by supporting the theme in the latter part
of the story when Leroy and Norma Jean travel to a civil war battleground named
Shiloh. On this ground a battle took place due to the clashing of two sides.
One side was unwilling to adapt, similar to Leroy’s unwillingness. While they
are at the battle ground Norma Jean tells Leroy that their marriage is over,
like she is ending a war that has been going on for too long. The setting in
the story of “Shiloh” supports the theme of the story by accentuating on what
the characters do throughout the sequence of the story.
In
Popular Mechanics, Carver describes the situation in which the characters live
by making certain descriptions to improve the theme of the story. Another setting
that Carver uses in order to develop the theme of the story is the darkness. He
doesn’t only describe the darkness outside the house but also inside the house
as well, “Cars slushed by on the street outside, where it was getting dark. But
it was getting dark on the inside too.” (Carver 123) The darkness is
approaching to the house and it may suggest something sinister is going to
happen not only to the couple but also to the baby. When the woman stared at
the man and left to the living room, the man looked around the bedroom and
turned off the light. There was no light in the bedroom at that time and the
kitchen window gave no light also when the couple was struggling over to get
the baby. The fact that it is "getting dark on the inside too" shows
that things such as daylight, happiness, love and a relationship are coming to
an end and things such as darkness, anger, sadness, and hatred are beginning.In
the story, the darkness fills up the whole house and it implies that the
couple’s relationship is over.
In his story, Carver describes the
main characters through their conversation and actions. When the man
wanted to have the baby’s picture, the woman refused it. Then, the man decided
to take the whole thing, the baby. “ Carver, however, combines the dual meaning
of "the issue" with more disturbing, more menacing, existential
questions concerning both the nature of the parents' relationship to the baby
whom they physically fight over and with the state of the baby himself.”
(Powell) Carver illustrates his characters clearly when he put the couple on
the fight. Both the man and the woman want to keep the baby, and they dare to
fight to make sure who will get it. There is no sympathy for the parents when
they act like that. Both the man and the woman were afraid to hurt the baby
during the struggle. In fact, the baby got injury or got killed from the
parents. It is showed in the last sentence of the story, “In this manner, the
issue was decided.” (Carver 125) The baby of Leroy and Norma Jean died years
ago. Nevertheless, grief about the tragedy persists. Characters like Carver's
story show their thoughts and behaviors very often. However, in Mason's Shiloh,
the communication between the characters is very little and the relationship
between them is as though they are two foreign alien. Despite all these, the
problems between the characters in both stories ended with the ending of their
relations in both stories.
In conclusion, the title “Popular Mechanics”
refers to a mechanics of relationship. Most of marriages are not always smooth.
There are always fights, struggle, or misunderstanding between husband and
wife, and it is quite common or “popular”. We can state that the theme of this
is a sad and miserable story about an unhappy marriage and its consequences.
Following that, the children are always the ones, who got struggle, suffer and
go through many obstacles in their lives because of their parents’ separation.
By telling the story to all readers, the author sends a message that parents
should think of their children before deciding to get divorce or stay
separated. Is set in the Kentucky backwoods, “Shiloh”, and uses characters that
are vividly portrayed so the reader can feel like they know everything about
them. The characters are common people from a small town. Mason does a great
job of putting these elements together to capture the reader's attention. A
large section of society can easily relate with them. children whenever they
are fighting or struggling in their marriage life because the children are
innocent people. Mason uses the characters to present problems and conflict
that are central to the American society. Dysfunctional marriages, relationships
and identity problems are some of the main problems that occur with Leroy and
Norma Jean. This is what I think the aspects that should be considered in the
marriages show. In addition, these two short stories show that the main
problems between the characters and the end of these problems in every way I
think that the end.
Works Cited
Carver,
Raymond. “Popular Mechanics.” What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. New York:Random, 1989,
Accessed 05 November 2018.
Mason, Bobbie
Ann. “SHILOH.” SHILOH LYRICS - SHILOH. https://genius.com/Bobbie-ann-mason-shiloh-annotated
Accessed 05 November 2018.
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Powell, Jon.
“The stories of Raymond Carver:
the menace of perpetual uncertainty.” Studies in Short Fiction; Fall94,
Vol.31, p647-656, 10p, Accessed 05 November 2018.
Frazier, Thomas
B. “Shiloh, and Other Stories by Bobbie Ann Mason.” Theory & Practice in
Language Studies; Jan2014, Vol.4 Issue 1, p217-223, 7p, Accessed 05 November
2018.
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