When We Talk About Love Short Story - 1459 Words

Language and communication can be used to show one’s affection towards another person, yet it is still difficult to convey the true meaning of love. The short story â€Å"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love† by Raymond Carver signifies through sharing vastly different experiences, that language is inadequate in communicating a clear definition of love. Each of the four characters in the short story explain to the group their own meaning of love while striving to come to a coherent conclusion. The first experience brought upon to the conversation was Terri’s ex-husband Ed. Terri claimed that although Ed beat her up, he loved her and â€Å"loved her so much he tried to kill her† (Carver 651). After Terri left him, he drank rat poison and when†¦show more content†¦In this Mel shares how an old couple who had been severely injured in a car crash due to a drunk teenager were in love. Because of the car crash and their injuries, the old couple wa s both set in bandages head to toe. Resulting from this, the man became very depressed and his â€Å"heart was breaking because he couldn’t turn his goddamn head and see his goddamn wife† (Carver 660). The man had more serious issues than being able to see his wife as he himself was injured too. Even after the old man found out that his wife was going to be okay he was still very depressed all because he could not see the person whom he loved most. Different from the previous so-called definitions of love, Mel uses this experience to convey what he believes to be the true meaning of love and it leaves the group bewildered as they all have never experienced that kind of love. Despite each of their own different meanings of love, one thing the group has in common is that they all currently love the person they are married to, have been married to someone else before and probably loved other people before that too even. Mel agrees on the fact that he must have loved his e x-wife Marjorie too, just like Terri loved Ed, but has a hard time accounting for where that love went. Mel said â€Å"There was a time when I thought I loved my first wife more than life itself. But now I hate her guts† (Carver 655). While thereShow MoreRelatedExploring Carvers Short Story, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love1512 Words   |  7 PagesWhat is Love? Does anyone really know the meaning of the word? Does it have a different meaning to different people? These are the questions that Carver’s four characters ponder over heavily flowing gin and deep conversation in the short story, â€Å"What We Talk about When We Talk about Love.† Carver characters discuss and debate the meaning of love throughout the story. I will explain what the different characters feel about love. 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