Fat by Raymond Carver Essay Example

pathway to the realm of the deceased.

Carver's style is not distinguished by the stylistic 'innovations' he is praised for, like his prose and irony. Instead, it lies in his creation of images that surpass the limitations of his style. These images, reminiscent of but stronger than the epiphanies found in Joyce or Chekhov, reveal the tragic futility of Carver's characters' lives, a truth that the characters themselves occasionally sense but seldom fully recognize. The presence of these dark images compels readers to reevaluate the entire story.

The story "Fat" can be seen as a revision of Hemingway's "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," according to Bloom. It is narrated by a waitress who serves a huge meal to a remarkably obese customer. The memory of this man continues to trouble her, as it seems to be at the core of her entire expression. The fat man stimulates her storytelling and leads to the ultimate image in the story: the thin narrator's sexual fantasy of being an extremely fat woman with her small husband servicing her.

The narrator's psyche is revealed through an image in the story, showcasing a combination of passivity and aggression that reflects their despair. Additionally, this image causes a shift in readerly identification from the narrator to Rita, the clueless listener. As a result, both the reader and Rita are left confused at the end of the story, uncertain about how to interpret the supposedly "funny" story that lacks humor entirely.