Will You Please Be Quiet, Please free essay sample

?â€Å"Will You Please be Quiet, Please† is a short story collection that explores the human condition in the blue collar, working class citizens of the 1960’s in America. Carver is known not only for his minimalist style of writing, but also for his habit of basing many, if not all, of his stories on his own real life experiences. In this collection, Carver shows modern life as a series of hardships whereby ordinary people, who have the odds stacked against them, must battle for survival. He explores this idea in many of his stories, using themes such as a consistent pattern to which he creates his males characters, the effects of worldly events that are not explicitly named nor even mentioned, and the failure of the American Dream. Carver consistently creates male characters from the same basis of personality. Each of his characters are dissatisfies with their existences, and many of his characters feel isolated and alone. This feeling of failure and helplessness closely resembles Carver’s own self-professed feelings during his first marriage after the first ten happy, ‘idealistic’ years. Carver creates characters that reflect himself, hence why characters such as the presumed ‘Mr Slater’ in ‘Collectors’ is dealing with what seems to be the aftermath of a devastating divorce. Carver writes ‘Mr Slater’ as lost, alone and without purpose, shown by his constant twice of looking ‘through the curtain for the mailman. ’ This shows that the passage of time for this man is marked by nothing other than the comings and goings of the mailman. Further showing this sense of helplessness that proves Carver’s idea that ordinary people must struggle for survival, is the underlying message of the story ‘Collectors’, which refers to the loss of personal identity. Imagery such as the vacuum cleaner sucking up the ‘little bits of ourselves’ that are left each night on a mattress, shows the character Aubrey Bell slowly taking away what is left of ‘Mr Slater’s identity. ‘Mr Slater’ is struggling to stay afloat after his divorce, but the odds are stacked against him, as Aubrey Bell later takes a letter for a ‘mr slater’ and says that he’ll ‘see to it. ’ The presumed ‘Mr Slater’ of this story has lost his battle of survival against the odds stacked against him, as Carver presumably believed he had after his divorce with his first wife. In the short story collection, ‘Will You Please be Quiet, Please? ’ Carver portrays modern life as a series of hardships whereby ordinary people, who have the odds stacked against them, must battle for survival. As Carver heavily based his work upon experiences of his own life, it can be assumed that the ‘odds stacked against them’ refers to elements outside of the characters control, such as the economic situation of America in the 1960’s. The poorly state of the American economy was a direct result of the Cold War, which occurred during the 1960’s. The Cold War was a stalemate between Russia and America, with each country aiming nuclear weapons at the other, yet neither firing. As each country had to majorly increase production of these nuclear weapons, a huge chunk of the country’s budget was spent on this cause, leaving less money for America’s other needs. The state of the economy, although not explicitly mentioned, is apparent especially in the story, ‘Jerry and Molly and Sam’ in which the company Al is employed by is ‘cutting back. ’ According to Al, ‘no one is safe’ from these cut backs due to the company attempting to reduce costs. As is apparent in Jerry and Molly and Sam, the impending loss of a job can result in many problems, most of which replicate problems faced throughout Carver’s own life. A theme consistently broached by Carver, is the theme of the Failure of the American Dream. The American dream, an ideology brought on by the economic boom after world war two in America, was a standard to which all working class families strived to live up to. The American Dream conveyed the idea that anyone can have this level of happiness, provided they work for it, and each fit into their socially accepted roles. However, this American dream frequently failed working class citizens, as elements outside of their control such as the economic state during the cold war and the American involvement in the Vietnam war, each individually impacted their ability to achieve this happiness. The failure of the American dream is especially apparent in the story ‘Neighbours’ in which Bill and Arlene Miller consistently compare their lives to that of Jim and Harriet Stone. Bill and Arlene represent the working class, and Jim and Harriet Stone are white collar workers. When comparing each apartment, Carver uses structural techniques such as a significant lack of describing works when talking about the Miller’s life, and an abundance of describing works used when talking about Jim and Harriet Stones’ life. Another way Carver portrays this theme is through the actions of the characters, such as Bill Miller, always wishing to ‘go to bed’ and make love with his wife, only after immediately returning from the Stones’ apartment. This shows that the white collar lifestyle is an experience that is vastly different and hugely preferable to the blue collar, working class lifestyle. Carver depicts modern life as a series of hardships because, to him who faced mostly all of the hardships portrayed in his stories, it was a battle for survival.