"Popular Mechanics" is a short story by Raymond Carver that was first published in 1977. The story is about a man and a woman who are arguing about their relationship. The man is trying to leave, and the woman, holding their child, is berating the man. They begin physically fighting over the child, eventually ending in the child being dropped and presumably killed.
The story is notable for its lack of quotations. The man and the woman do not speak to each other directly, they instead, communicate through the perspective of the third-person narrator. This lack of quotations creates a sense of distance between the reader and the characters, making the story more ambiguous. The reader is not sure what the characters are thinking or feeling and this ambiguity adds to the story's power.
The lack of quotations also reflects the characters' emotional state. The man and the woman are both feeling angry and hurt, so they are unable to communicate their
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This, coupled with the lack of quotations, puts the reader in the midst of the events, while simultaneously making us feel disconnected from the interiority of the characters. It creates a sort of confusion for the reader, making the story all the more compelling to read. The story is very short, only about 500 words long. While making the story more concise and focused, it also conveys a very specific moment in time: the moment when a relationship is about to end. Carver knew that he didn't need to spend a lot of time setting up the story or developing the characters. The reader could easily imagine the years of history that led up to this moment, and the reader could also easily imagine what would happen after the man leaves. Third, the story is written in simple language. This makes the story easy to read and