28 pages • 56 minutes read
A Small Good Thing
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Symbols & Motifs
Hunger and Eating
To heighten the impact of the final image, Carver makes several nods toward hunger and eating throughout the story—for example, in this exchange between Dr. Francis and Ann: “‘Feel free to go out for a bite,’ he said. ‘It would do you good […] Go and have yourselves something to eat.’ ‘I couldn’t eat anything,’ Ann said” (388).
Later, Ann rejects Howard’s suggestion of breakfast, and Howard concedes that he’s not hungry either. This lack of appetite sharpens their suffering in a way that sets up a contrast with the ending, when the baker tells them, “Eating is a small, good thing” (404).
In addition, an aspect of self-denial, even martyrdom, permeates the Weisses turning down invitations to eat throughout the story. This adds interest, for example, to Ann’s noticing the Black family’s discarded “hamburger wrappers and Styrofoam cups” (390). Why Carver draws attention to this detail is open to interpretation. It might be simply because Ann is hungry, despite her protestations, and thus they leap out to her from the clutter on the waiting room table. If, though, Ann is somewhat classist or racist (however unwittingly), this detail about a replete family may affect how Ann perceives the quality of their grief. It certainly seems to signal a further difference between her and the family, and Ann’s noticing these details may belie that she finds something distasteful in the family’s indulgence given the situation. Her denial of sustenance may be part of socialization that shapes her attitudes toward gender, race, and class—and she fails to really communicate with them because she thinks their suffering has a different quality if they’ve eaten rather than denied themselves the comfort of a full stomach. As much as their fear for a loved one unites them, the sight of discarded junk food wrappers may temper Ann’s empathy and stifle her ability to bridge the silence that descends on the waiting room.
Missed Connections
Ann’s inability to continue her conversation with Franklin’s family is just one instance of miscommunication. The story starts with an inability to connect, when Ann imagines that the baker must be a parent and share that in common with her: “There must be that between them, she thought. But he was abrupt with her—not rude, just abrupt. She gave up trying to make friends with him” (377). Other instances of missed connections are the hit-and-run driver (i.e., someone who fails to connect with his victim, Scotty), the numerous mangled phone calls, and even moments like Ann’s missing the doctor stopping by Scotty’s room because he arrives earlier than the announced eight o’ clock visit. This fits well with an ironic reading of this story, in that Carver might be commenting on the state of society in the early 1980s: It’s a world in which upper middle-class people like Ann and Howard are oblivious to their relative privilege, and it affects their ability to connect. Remember, Americans elected Ronald Reagan to the presidency in 1980, a decision that helped introduce an era of rugged individualism (Cannon, Lou. “Ronald Reagan All-American Individualist.” The Washington Post, 22 April 1991). Carver’s story shows what that world looks like—and even asks to what extent a society of individuals who look past each other, or fail to listen to each other, is really desirable.
Touch
Despite sometimes poor communication with others, Ann and Howard are a tactile couple. They often resort to touch rather than words to comfort each other. An example is when Howard returns to the hospital after his quick visit to the house: “Howard put his hand against the back of her head. He ran his fingers through her hair [...] Howard’s hand was a weight on her shoulder. She was aware of the pressure from his fingers” (380-81). Instances of touch repeat throughout the story. Ann even thinks about the comfort of Dr. Francis’s touch after Scotty’s death: “She could feel his chest rising and falling evenly against her shoulder. She kept her eyes open and let him hold her” (397). In addition, Howard seeks out a replacement for Scotty’s touch after his death: “He took hold of the bicycle awkwardly so that it leaned against his chest” (399).
Despite potential pessimism about the state of society, Carver signals hope through these frequent references to touch. While other means of connecting fail his characters, this very fundamental, primitive way of communicating remains—and could provide the basis for redemption, some better future. Even here, however, Carver’s optimism has limits. The Black mother in the waiting room consoles herself as she awaits news of her son, Franklin. She experiences only the comfort of her own cheek on her shoulder: Carver acknowledges that divisions in US society might preclude some human connections.
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By Raymond Carver
