”Blackbird Pie” by Raymond Carver 1. Sum up the short story
The story is about a divorce between the narrator and his wife. His wife leaves him a letter where she tells him, that she can’t live with him anymore. She has to go her own way and figure out things on her own. The narrator doesn’t believe the letter is from his wife because he doesn’t recognize the handwriting. However, it turns out the letter really is from his wife and as he confronts her about it in the front yard the sheriff and a guy named Frank shows up. They are collecting 2 horses, which walked up on the narrator and his wife’s property. When the sheriff and Frank leave, they take the narrators wife with them and leave the narrator alone.
2. The narrator doesn’t believe that the letter he receives is from his wife – why not? Why does the narrator spend so much energy and so many words on trying to convince the reader that the letter is not written by his wife?
I think he is in denial. The fact that he doesn’t recognize his wife’s handwriting indicates he doesn’t know his wife anymore. He spend so much energy on trying to deny that the letter is from his wife, because he, in my opinion, knows it’s coming – it inevitable (in-evitable).
3. What does this letter indicate about the couple’s relationship?
The letter indicates that there is a lack of communication between man and wife. During the years of marriage the man have become withdrawn – he has withdrawn himself from his marriage. He spends his time in his “room” (an office, maybe?).
4. Do you think the narrator can be trusted that he for instance says that he may have accidently thrown his wife’s letter away?
In my opinion the narrator can’t really be trusted. He only remembers the things he wants to. The fact that he may have accidently thrown his wife’s letter away indicates, that he is avoiding the conflict that is inevitable. (in-evitable)
5. What does it tell us about the narrator that he doesn’t finish reading his wife’s letter?
He already knows what is coming – therefore he doesn’t bother reading the letter from his wife. She’s leaving him – and he doesn’t want to admit to the reader. The reader had already figuring this out, and he is prolonging the inevitable (in-evitable).
6. Which reasons does the wife give in the letter for leaving her husband? Do you think these reasons are plausible (rimelige)?
In the letter the wife says thing have gone from bad to worse. She says they aren’t talking anymore, and that the narrator’s job became more important than their time together. The wife never thought this would happen – that it was impossible, but it has happened and therefore she must leave him.
In my opinion the reasons are plausible because communication is the foundation for marriage. If you don’t communicate how will you get to know each other, solve problems, etc.? Many divorces happen because of similar reasons as the wife is stating.
7. Which reasons does the narrator list for his wife leaving him?
The narrator is blaming his children for the leaving of his wife. He thinks that moving to the country is the reason that his wife is leaving. He thinks his wife have slipped a cog – that she is crazy.
8. Are there any symbols in the story? If yes, what do they symbolize?
The fog could be a symbol of the narrator’s mind. It’s fogged and he is denying what he know is coming. The horses could be a symbol of the wife who has finally freed herself from the marriage she’s in and the horse is a big animal – an unstoppable.
9. At the very end of the story, the narrator says that now he has “to go on without history”. The word history has to do with the past – in this respect; do you think that it is true that he has to go on without history?
When one chapter of your life ends, it doesn’t mean that the whole story is ending. Yes, the narrator has to have a new start, but he isn’t going on without a history – he is just at a new chapter. He feels as if his history is ending because he can’t picture a life without his wife. She is his other half, and when she leaves a part of him is gone too
.
10. In connection with the nursery rhyme, please comment on the title of the story – why is it called “Blackbird Pie”?
The blackbirds in the pie are the content of the letter. The narrator is the king, who doesn’t know what awaits him. The narrator can’t predict what is going to happen, just as the king can’t predict that there are four and twenty blackbirds in his pie.
In the medieval-times baking a bird in a pie was a joke played upon the king. The narrator sees himself as king of the house and the letter his wife leaves him is a symbol of the bird in the pie. When the king released the bird from the pie he would be rewarded with an actual pie. When the content of the letter is revealed he is confronted with the actual leaving of his wife.
11. Do the three short stories by Carver have any themes in common?
The three stories by Carver have the following themes in common: The lack of communication: In the short stories is a recurring theme that the main characters lack communication skills. The painful atmosphere of helplessness: In both “A small, good thing” and “Blackbird Pie” main characters are helpless. Isolation and connectedness: The point of the stories is to illustrate how we separate from one another and still exert our loneliness. The main characters are in a conflict with themselves, which expresses the constant pessimism that they endure. Recurring themes in the short stories are the main characters seeking comfort in others.
