On the basis of Minimalism, this essay analyses the significance, language, and style in Raymond Carver’s short story Why Don't You Dance?
In the story, Carver uses everyday dialogue to describe the problems of ordinary people in a mundane way. The characters are probably from working class, they drink, feel desperate about their failure of life and are socially marginalized. Carver wants to “return the reader back to the real world” (Scofield 2006, p. 226). Although Carver’s style is labelled as realism, he focuses on self-reflection and scansion rather than providing facts. The story focuses on the inner emotions, all the descriptions of physical items and behaviours, like moving furniture, selling and dancing, which make the familiar…show more content… The merchandise is the only things described in detail, and the relationship of characters is also commodified. For example, when the girl in the story tries the bed “she thought she could see a star” (Carver 1985, p.188), which implies she has romantic expectations. However, the boy in the story is realistic and is watching the TV. Moreover, while the girl considers other’s feeling and says “they must be desperate” (p.188), the boy only pays attention to material things and responds the TV is good. Furthermore, Carver implies the end of the relation when the man sells furniture, and the young couple’s relationship starts with the purchase of the furniture. In addition, the man sells the goods for less than it worth and sends the young couple the records and record-player. This questioned whether the capitalism brings happiness or…show more content… Carver states that “meaning is communicated by trivial of things.” (cited Pâtea 2012, p.186) He also claimed that “It’s possible, in a poem or a short story, to endow those things – a chair… with immense, even startling power.”(cited Charters 2003). The using of language is simple but precise. Things outside reflect inside emotional experiences, the man arranges the furniture in the way that represents the breakdown of the marriage. The furniture is exposed on the front yard and is arranged exactly as it in the house. The things still worked, but the relationship has changed. The mattress was stripped, which indicates that the old couples’ passion and desire decreased and that might lead to problems in the relationship. The young couple function as key elements to reflect the man’s relationship with his wife. The man ends his marriage and takes furniture outside to be sold, while the young couple, come to buy furniture and to start their future. They will repeat the whole cycle that the old couple has experienced. These unusual experiences bring a huge shift in the ordinary life, which implies the breakdown of the man’s