A Silver Lining In The Hopelessville: A Comparative Analysis Of Women And Men In Carver Country

Raymond Carver has been widely recognized as an important short fictionwriter of contemporary American literature. His influence on short fiction writingdoes not only lie in the minimalistic style he created but also in the “downbeat moodof America” theme he always focused on. Carver’s fictions have received enormouscomments all over the world since their publishing. However, most of the researchesfocus on his minimalistic writing style and blue collar theme. The character analysiscan be barely seen, especially the female characters who are very important but havealways been ignored. Therefore, this paper will focus on the characters in Carver’sshort fictions through a comparative analysis of women and men in Carver’s fiction.The isolation and desperation of modern people is the main theme of Carver’sshort fictions. And they all live in the hopelessville, Carver Country. And the malecharacters live in the country are jobless, alcoholic or spiritually malaises. The femalecharacters are always supporting characters but they are another expression of theauthor’s another point of view on the world. They are more decisive, tough andoptimistic than male characters. They’ve got the characteristics and qualities men arelack. The characteristics of the male and female in Carver Country corresponds withthe deconstruction of the binary oppositions of male and female in Derrida’sdeconstruction theory. Therefore, this paper gives an analysis of the characteristics ofmale and female in Carver Country based on the feminism and deconstruction theory.This paper aims at helping the readers have a further understanding on people inCarver Country and read Caver’s fictions through a different point of view.