A Comparison of Two Raymond Carver Short Stories

A writer’s personal, emotional state is often reflected in his or her writing, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the case of Raymond Carver. Making Literature Matter offers us two of Carver’s stories; the first, entitled “The Bath”, is an original work, while the second, “A Small, Good Thing”, is a revision of the first. While Carver leaves the basic plot and characters mostly unchanged in his revision, he makes many changes that reflect his improved emotional state. Carver wrote “The Bath” in 1981, the final year of a marriage ruined by his alcoholism; the stark, distant, minimalist feel of this story reflects his attitude at this time, no doubt less than cheerful. “A Small, Good Thing” was written a mere 2 years later in 1983, and, while it retains the basic plot of “The Bath”, Carver replaces the story’s stark minimalism with a deeply descriptive, warm sincerity. It is of no small coincidence that this revision was completed at a time when Carver was beginning to turn his life around, successfully enrolling in Alcoholics Anonymous while beginning a new relationship with poet and short story writer Tess Gallagher, which was to last until his death in 1988. As Carver’s personal situation improved, it seems that his concern, and compassion, for his characters did as well.