More Carver

AGENDA:

Read "Are These Actual Miles"

MORNING REFLECTION: Radezia


  

In the short story “Are These Actual Miles?” Raymond Carver introduces a couple, that are trying to live the American dream, but can’t seem to live within their own means. Throughout the story, this couple struggles to be happy, emotionally and financially. This couple is faced with multiple situations that show how, as Ron Hansen puts it, “ethical grayness characterizes much of our human experiences”
From the beginning of the story, readers can clearly see that there are underlying problems within the couple’s relationship. When Toni goes out to convince a man to buy their car, “she puts on a new white blouse, wide lacy cuffs, the new two-piece suit, new heels”, clearly trying to impress the buyer (Carver 146). This detail in her appearance shows that she’s taken the time to look her best, making sure everything is perfect, even if it causes her to be late for the meeting. Is it because she wants to dress professionally, or is it because she wants to forget about the bankruptcy and enjoy an extravagant night out that she normally wouldn’t get?
Leo obviously knows how she sells– by flirting, maybe even by going a bit further, with the buyer. When she used to sell, “she signed him up [for children’s encyclopedias], even though he didn’t have kids” (Carver 146). This somehow led to them being married, which suggests that with Toni, there wasn’t really a line between persuasion and flirting with the customer. Just as the  wife is aware of how the use of her appearance can aide in her car sales, Leo is aware that she is using this very tactic. But he still lets her do it, because they are that deep in debt. This is where the ethical grayness comes in. Is it right that Toni should cheat on her husband since she’s the only one doing something to change their financial situation? Or is it right that Leo knows what’s about to happen, does not do anything to stop it, because he thinks the bankruptcy is his fault?
The readers can continually tell that there are more problems when Toni calls Leo, five hours after she left the house, and tells him she’s getting drinks with the businessman The fact that it takes five hours for Toni to meet the businessman and find a place to get drinks clearly shows the lack of communication within this couple’s relationship. Leo must suspect something, but he doesn’t ask–he doesn’t want to know the truth. This example shows that this couple obviously has communication problems. Leo, who has already “brought a woman home,” and Toni, who didn’t come home till dawn the next day, must have some idea what the other one is doing (Carver 147).They’re not addressing these issues, except Leo says, “We start over Monday. I mean it” (Carver 147). There are several instances in the story where Leo keeps repeating the word “Monday”. Monday is when the hearing is, and when Leo keeps repeating the word, to his wife, to the businessman, and to the readers, we recognize how important Monday really is. After Monday, what will happen with their possessions? What will happen to their marriage? This sentence shows the desperation to forget about everything that’s happened–the bankruptcy and the disloyalty. It’s like he’s telling Toni to do whatever tonight, it doesn’t matter, because they’re going to start over on Monday. This is most likely why he doesn’t ask Toni why it took five hours just to get drinks. Again, this shows the ethical grayness of the situation: does it make it okay for Toni to do whatever it takes to sell the car, even if it comes to adultery? Is it okay for Toni to cheat, since Leo already has?
A sense of anxiety and stress was portrayed throughout the entire story, which leads the readers to see how much stress Leo must’ve been feeling this entire time. One moment, they were living the high life– the next, they were bankrupt. “They buy what they want. If they can’t pay, they charge. They sign up” (Carver 148). This sentence characterizes the American Dream–they want what they can’t have. They want to provide a better life for their kids than what they had. Toni even mentions, “I had to do without when I was a kid…these kids are not going to do without” (Carver 148). So does that make it okay for them to purchase luxury items they can’t afford, if it makes their children have these items their parents didn’t have? Even Leo, feeling the pressure of keeping everything under control, admits “he is willing to be dead” (Carver 148). Is it okay for Leo to feel self pity for himself, because this situation frequently occurs? For Leo to surrender  because he’s lost control–with his money, his wife, his life–and he cannot gain it back?
Still, the question remains the same: Under certain circumstances, can what we perceive is wrong be changed into right? This is essentially the “ethical grayness” that Hansen has mentioned before, and this is the main question that occurs throughout most of the story.

Continue to work on speculative fiction

HMWK:  Finish reading Carver short stories