Monday, January 16, 2012

How is "Neighbors" classified?

Carver's narration in "Neighbors" is objective narration that is sometimes referred to as "Fly on the wall."  Today, we might think of it as similar to a security camera on the wall.  The idea is that only what is seen and heard is revealed to the reader.  No comment or interpretation is used by the narrator, and no character thoughts are revealed, either.


"Neighbors" is a story about voyeurism.  The husband and wife become fascinated and obsessed with the lives of their neighbors.  So much so that merely being in their apartment creates erotic feelings or, at least, since we do not have access to their thoughts, creates erotic behavior on the part of the husband, and possibly on the part of the wife--she is the one who reveals the pictures. 


It's important to notice that the husband and wife behave normally before we see them behind closed doors with no one, except the reader of course, watching.  They are just a normal couple like every other couple.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Discuss at least two characteristics of Romanticism in John Keat's poem "Ode toa Nightingale".

The poet in Ode To A Nightingale  is an escapist .He escapes through imagination .On his way the bower of the bliss wher the nightingale is ...