What We Talk About When We Talk About Love- Raymond Carver

Abstract: In the story, four friends are sitting around the table drinking gin. One friend is Mel ,a cardiologist, who is married to Terri, and then there is Nick who is married to Laura. They are all talking about love. Terri talks about how her ex-boyfriend loved her even though he was abusive. Mel does not think it was love, but Terrie insists that he really did love her, but he just showed his love differently. When Terri left her boyfriend, he ate rat poison which really screwed his teeth up. He then would stalk Mel and Terrie. He would threaten to kill Mel. Her ex-boyfriend then eventually shot himself and died, and Terrie was in the room with him when he died. Nick and Laura also love each other. Their love was still in the honeymoon stage. Mel also talks about how love changes for people. He used to love his wife, but now he hates her. Mel also tells how one day an old couple were in a car accident. They were extremely injured. They had casts all over their bodies. The husband was depressed though even though he knew his wife was going to live. He was so upset because he couldn't see her through the eye holes in his cast. They then finish the gin. Once they have finished the gin, Nick hears his and the others' hearts beating. Not one of them moved though when the room went dark.

Response: Even though throughout the whole story they talk about love, none of the characters really know what love is. Nick and Laura cannot really describe their love. Mel says how if one of them died the other would grieve for some time, but then the other person would just go out and love someone else again. He then says how the love for the deceased person would just be a memory, but it may not even be a memory. Mel also doesn't understand the old couple's love. None of the other friends could understand it either when Mel asked if they knew what he was saying. It is ironic that Mel is a cardiologist and works with hearts, but he doesn't understand love. The characters also could be trying to fill the void in their life because of the absence of love with alcohol. They all don't really know what love is, and different forms of love confuse them. Mel is confused about how he once loved his ex-wife, but now he hates her. He also seems depressed about his life. It seems like he wishes that he could have the love and passion like other people have, but he doesn't. When the gin is finally gone and none of them move, they don't move because they realized that no of them have ever really moved. Their whole life they have been the same and nothing has really changed them. Their lives will always be empty and dark like the room because they don't really know what love is or have the ability to love.