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Raymond Carver Analysis

1033 Words5 Pages

Jesus Hinojos
Ms. Knierim
English 3, Period 5
20 February 2018
Life and Career of Raymond Carver Imagine making a career out of little more than pocket litter, Raymond Carver proved anyone can accomplish their dreams, no matter what. The American poet Raymond Carver led a difficult yet intriguing life. An example of his poetry is “The Cobweb” which discusses that life is fragile by examining how the speaker’s life changes over the years. Carver was born into the family of Clevie Raymond and Ella Beatrice on May 25, 1938 in the small town of Clatskanie, Oregon. He was the oldest in the family and was a great role model to his younger brother, James Franklin Carver. In his childhood, his father always used to read him novels …show more content…

This story talks about how life is fragile and how the speaker is looking back at his life and expressing feelings of nostalgia for the past. In the first 3 lines, the speaker refers to his difficult and painful life he had while struggling and being an alcoholic. “From there I could see and hear the water, and everything that’s happened to me all these years” (Carver1). When the speaker describes the weather like the “hot and still and quiet air”, it gives off feelings of emptiness and being calm, stating the speaker’s reflective state of mind. The speaker sees a cobweb hanging in a corner, this symbolizes confusion and being caught in something in which one cannot escape from. The speaker goes inside, this means that the incident’s effort is affecting his inner emotional life and memory. Once he’s inside, the speaker describes the weather while inside as dead calm, but he is actually describing his own emotions. He hangs the cobweb to his lampshade implying he is a thoughtful and tender man. The speaker uses the cobweb as an object to meditate from and can be used as symbol for his life. Then something shocking happens, he proceeds to predict his own death “Before long, before anyone realizes, I’ll be gone from here” (Carver1). This unfortunately came true 2 years later. Themes in “The Cobweb” are morality, meaning how he had awareness of his own inevitable death, nostalgia, as in homesickness for the past, feeling of melancholy, longing and regret. Another theme is romanticism, Carver uses his encounter with nature (water, the sea, the cobweb) so he can dwell in the past and his

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