RAYMOND CARVER'S "WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LOVE" Stories, be they written or on screen, usually employ setting as a backdrop and having no direct relation to the actual storyline progression. This, however, is not the case in Raymond Carver’s tale “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.” In this short story, a single element – sunlight – reflects(no pun intended) the progression of the story, showing a direct relation …showed first 75 words of 1429 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1429 total…when the sun went down, so too did their happiness and confidence disappear. The story ends with everyone sitting in the room in complete darkness, which in itself is a metaphor for their situation, that being that they are completely in the dark when it comes to the subject of love. Apparently for them, when they ask the question “What does anyone of us really know about the love?” the unfortunate answer is nothing. (Carver 176)