Love Ideal in Two Literary Works

In CarverÆs Popular Mechanics, we are treated to a couple with one child in the midst of a breakup. The man is packing a suitcase and the story opens with his wife screaming at him in a manner not encompassed by the ideal of love, ôIÆm glad youÆre leaving! IÆm glad youÆre leaving! She said. Do you hear? ... Son of a bitch! IÆm so glad youÆre leaving!ö (Carver 1). There is no sensitivity, no tenderness, and no compassion exhibited between the couple throughout the short story. Instead their relationship seems to be completely devoid of love.

The couple demonstrates no elements of the concept of the modern love ideal. They are rude to one another. They show no re

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tic means, even where such parsimony compromises other values: completeness, for example, or richness or precision of statement (1). CarverÆs minimalist approach here makes a very precise statement: the modern love concept is an illusion. In Kate ChopinÆs The Story of an Hour, we get the tale of a woman who hears the news that her husband has died in a train wreck. In contrast to CarverÆs story, we get no descriptions of the coupleÆs experiences or the nature of their relationship. Other than walking into the room at the end of the story we do not even meet the husband. Further, there is no profanity or screaming or fighting that goes on in this story. Nevertheless, we do get a similar theme of the concept of modern love being a myth or illusion. When the woman hears the news of her husbandÆs death, we are told ôShe did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance...She went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow herö (Chopin 1). We might think before reading to the end of the story that the woman is simply inconsolable in her grief and wants to be alone. However, the narrator informs us her grief is not the same as that of other women upon hea
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Approximate Word count = 1345
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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