an in conflict over a baby. Carver begins with the story’s conflict, a relationship between a man and woman that has already gone extremely wrong. He does not need to tell the reader why or how this relationship came to this point. Carver relies on the reader to know the usual reasons that cause people to split up. Therefore, this gives readers the opportunity to attach their own explanation. As the title, “Popular Mechanics” implies, it is the common workings of relationships that can be applied throughout this story.Finally, it appears that Carver does not give an adequate description of his characters. The male and the female characters in this story are flat, stock characters. Although, Carver does not use straightforward adjectives Keen 3to describe the characters, through their actions and dialogue, readers can easily identify and associate them with someone they know. Because Carver relies on commonly held gender-based stereotypes this helps the reader to create his or her own image of the characters. The need for physical or psychological description is not necessary. For example, the woman’s opening statement, “I’m glad you’re leaving! I’m glad you’re leaving! Do you hear?” (265), illustrates that she is a stereotypical, emotional female, who is out of control. Furthermore, the man’s refusal to acknowledge her illustrates a stereotypical male response to conflict. It shows that he considers her unworthy of a response. As if the same fight has occurred many times before and he knows there is no sense in replaying this scene again. The story escalates to a physical struggle over who will have the baby. Again this brings to mind the stereotypical physically aggressive male and the stereotypical manipulative female that uses a baby as an attempt to gain power and control of the relationship. Carver relies on the readers’ knowledge of these pop...
