They're not your husband by Raymond Carver

The author, Raymond Carver, used real life experiences to write this story. Just like the husband in his story, Earl Ober, he too was an alcoholic with no respect towards women. the main character reflects the authors personality. Earl is also an jobless alcoholic  I think it bothers him that he is unemployed and the fact that he has nothing to be absorbed in, makes him feel useless and insignificant. This is partly the reason why he starts drinking and suddenly visits Doreen at her job.

One night after going to the bar, Earl decides to visit his wifes workplace in the hopes of getting a free meal. He sits down with a few workmates, when his wife, Doreen, comes to take their order. One of Earl's collegues comment about her 'big ass', while she is bending over scooping up ice
cream. "But some jokers like their quim fat," the man continues to his friend. Earl does not tell his friends of his relationship to the woman, as he is ashamed of her given their earlier comments. Later that night, he convinces Doreen to lose weight. This shows how conscious Earl is of others thoughts and opinions to stoop to this level. Until this point in the story, Earl had never thought of his wifes weight to be an issue. But seeing it from a strangers point of view made him rethink the idea. Rather than sticking up for his wife, he sits back and agrees with them. He did nothing to defend the woman he was supposed to love.

The language in this piece is descriptive and clearly shows the ignorance of Earl's character. '"Slob," Earl said. "Go ahead, eat! Go on!" This example depicts the husbands rudeness and selfishness.

After a few weeks, the weight drops off Doreen, though she is feeling tired and run down due to her lack of eating. People at work had also noticed her dramatic weight loss. Doreen confronted her husband of this issue, but Earl wouldn't hear of it. "They're not your husband." He told her firmly.  Still, Earl pushes her to lose more weight, despite the damage it is doing to her health. Earl is a sexist pig of a man who cares more about the views of strangers than his wifes wellbeing.

Another night after drinking, Earl decides to stop by the cafe his wife works at. He plays dumb to the waitress and says, "Who's your friend?" (referring to Doreen). He watches her behind the counter, proud of what he's accomplished. He sleazily says to the man beside him, "What do you think of that?" The man ignores him, though Earl continues to try to get his attention, but he won't budge. Doreen reveals who the man is to a fellow co-worker, after she's questioned ("who is this character?").

It is safe to say that Earl went too far with his obsession for his wife to be thin and desirable to other men. Earl and Doreen may be husband and wife, but they are in relationship without love and commitment (mostly Earl). He thought far strongly of others perspectives and not enough about what was best for his wife. Doreen felt the need to make him happy and was pressured into going on a diet, risking her health in the process.






 

My Personal Reading History

These are my top 6 favourite books/series:

• Clifford the Big Red Dog:

- Read when I was about 5 year old

- One of my favourite books as a child

- Always wanted a big red dog after reading these books :)

• Roald Dahl Books:

- Read Roald Dahl books all through primary school and absolutely loved them :)

- I particularly enjoyed 'Matilda', 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and 'The Witches'. 

• Green Eggs and Ham:

- I liked Green Eggs and Ham as a kid because it was easy to read and I liked the illustrations and use of colour.

- I have heaps of Dr Seuss books, which helped me learn to read when I was younger.

- I liked the language of the book (rhyming words)

• Harry Potter:

- I loved the idea of living in a magical world :)

- Wish I could go to Hogwarts

- Went through a stage where I couldn't stop reading them

- The movies aren't as good as the books, but I like the first few movies the best :)

•  A Series of Unfortunate events: 

- Used to read this series at the beginning of highschool

- I liked the situations the Baudelaire children would be put in

- I never finished the series because I found it too depressing after the 6th book , but one day I hope to finish it :)

•  Vampire Academy Series:

- I recently finished reading this series

- I like the plot of the series because it was surprising and unpredictable

- At the end of each book you would constantly be guessing of what would happen in the next book, as it always ended in a cliffhanger

- It wasn'tjust the idea of the vampire world I liked, it was the relationships within the book and the storyline that got me hooked :)



Walkabout (1971)

In our Literature class, we watched the first 10 minutes of the 1971 film, Walkabout. Although we only views a small part of the film, we were able to see many clips showing the contrast between the city and the desert.

The use of brickwalls and fences in the city shows us that they don't exist in Aboriginal communities.It also shows the disconnection between the two worlds and how different they both are in comparison. The city looks overcrowded and closed in, whereas the desert is free and open.
There was a clip showing businessmen and women walking, particularly focusing on their legs, which captured the hussle and bussle of the city. In this scene there is no focal point, showing the lack of individuality and character of the city people. Everybody is so serious and impersonal, the city people populace doesn't seem all that friendly.
A scene was shown with a class of young female students doing breathing exercises. The lack of indiviuality is evident in this scene, not only because of their plain uniforms, but their robotic behaviour. We notice that the girls and boys schools are separate, shows how life is depicted in the city as an 'ideal world'. 
The great, tall buildings were used to show the mans/fathers isolation and depression, as we see later in the film he commits suicide. The buildings also show how they cut off the beauty of nature as well as sunshine (all is black and white). There is no green to be seen in the city, but hidden behind.
When the father arrives home, we see that their is no acknowledgement between family members, mainly between the mother and father, though their children appear to be quite close. They would seem like the pefect family in the world they live in, but love within it is absent.
By seeing the home the family live in, we see that they are quite wealthy. This shows how they may have so much but that doesnt buy happiness- the father is a perfect example of this.