SO MUCH WATER SO CLOSE TO HOME/EVERYTHING IS TURNING TO WHITE

So Much Water so Close to Home

By Raymond Carver

Q4. What is the meaning behind the title 'So much water so close to home'? Is it an effective title?

The title is referring to the wife's confusion about why her husband and his friends had to travel so far just to go fishing. This is showing how her trust for her husband fades as the story becomes more complex, and we learn more about the characters.

At the beginning of the story their fishing trip was referred to as a 'tradition', and when the trip goes wrong this is lost with trust. This proves how little Claire and Stuart knew about each other, they only knew each other as 'them'. 

I think it is an effective title because it presents the reader with a sadness, but doesn't give away too much so it makes them want to continue to read.

Q6. Why does Claire find her husband's behaviour during the fishing weekend so shocking? Why does it have such an impact on their marriage? What does she discover about her husband that she hadn't known before?

Claire finds Stuart's behaviour so shocking because she thought he had more respect for women than he actually did. She thought that he would have reported the body immediately, as apposed to two days later. This had a great impact on their marriage as Claire thought she'd known somebody really well, but finds out she hadn't. Also, another reason why there was huge impact from this event was because it reminded Claire of things that had happened in the past that she had swept under the rug. She discovers her husband is quite selfish, as he left the girl for two days to continue his trip, and how his lack of respect made his past behaviour make a lot more sense.

Q8. How does Carver show you that Claire is disgusted with her husband's actions without explicitly telling you?

Raymond Carver wrote the story in first person, from the wife's point of view. Throughout the story his style of writing presented the reader with Claire having a very negative and disappointed state of mind. None of Claire's words sound happy or upbeat, everything that she says either sounds sad, afraid or broken. Her words express hopelessness about her marriage to Stuart, for example, when she realises she was staring she thinks to herself, "I shake my head stupidly, stupidly". this word, when repeated, makes her sound like a stranger in her own home, and to the people she lives with. Claire's words throughout the entire story present the reader with discomfort, sadness, and disgust in a very polite, subtle and very effective and clear way.

Everything is Turning to White

By Paul Kelly

Q2. If there is so much water so close to home, why have they driven 100 miles 'just to fish in a stream'? What do you think his wife's opinion of this is?

His wife has a very strong opinion against him and his friends going so far just to fish. The word 'just' makes her point of view very obvious. She now wonders why they reported the body on Sunday, two days after they had found her. The word 'just' shows the lack of trust she has in her husband.

Q6. How does the title of the song relate to the story (lyrics of the song)? What do you think the title means or represents?

The title 'Everything is Turning to White' relates to what the wife is feeling. As it is a song, it is far less complex than the short story, and only presents us with one opinion. In this case, it is giving us the wife's opinion. She believes she no longer knows her husband, and she is expressing her fear and confusion towards her husband, herself and their marriage. The title shows how she feels confused as she doesn't know what happened, what is going on or what is going to happen. This story tells us how easily love can become sadness and mistrust.

Q7. What themes/messages from Raymond Carver's short story does Paul Kelly focus on in his song? What elements of the short story does he leave out? What does he change?

Paul Kelly focuses on the wife's opinion in his song. He took from the story all elements of her feelings such as sadness and betrayal. He leaves out all the possibilities of what happened on her husband's weekend away, so it is simple and only gives us one point of view. He changes the story by saying 'that a young man had been arrested'. The short story said nothing about a killer being found, but of an encounter with a strange man on the side of the highway. 

This is changed because of how it was perceived. The entire story allows for multiple perceptions, and when putting it in the form of a song, only one can be used.

THIS OTHER EDEN: CONSUMERISM

Throughout This Other Eden, consumerism was proved to be the overarching theme. Ben Elton made this clear through his writing style, the way the characters were portrayed, and the world they lived in. Consumerism is a word used to describe the continual consumption of things, and I believe the plot of the story, of buying one’s way out of the end of the world, proved this definition to perfectly describe what Ben Elton was trying to depict, a consumerist society at it’s worst.

(Dystopia: Society characterised by misery, disease and squalor. Opposite of Utopia)

PLOT

One aspect of the plot was the ‘Rat Run’. The earth could no longer sustain the human race and it’s lifestyle, so they had to abandon their lives, purchase and move in to Claustrospheres (like a miniature world, to keep a person alive inside and the dying world around them out). Even though it was written in the book that the damage was too great to be reversed, but nothing was said about the general population trying to help the problem.

Today’s society is the same. People know what effects their wants have on the environment, but it does not stop anybody from continuing to consume. Society has now accepted it’s habits as normal and have chosen the economy over the environment. The only problem is that without an environment there can be no economy.

CHARACTERS 

Max was horrified by Rosalie’s grandparents. He had never seen a person age naturally before, as he grew up in Hollywood, and was constantly pressured in to staying young. This was obviously achieved by having plastic surgery. Max came from a world where buying beauty was seen as normal, and ageing naturally out of the question, a world where consumerism was seen as a lifestyle.

Rosalie had very negative beliefs about what Max’s world stood for, but was still star struck at first by his presence. She also found him physically attractive. This showed how Max’s world, Hollywood, had an effect on everybody, in the book and in the reality.

SETTINGS

In the story, Claustrosphere Corp., run by Plastic Tolstoy, was perceived as the most powerful advertising company on the planet. Plastic Tolstoy invented something called ‘advertainment’ (advertisement fused with entertainment). The entire world would see products in good and bad ways, either way the products would be successful as people could be frightened in to buying certain products. Also, it was a mixture of advertisement and entertainment, so actors would always be endorsing the goods. Consumers, in the real world as well, find the product more desirable if somebody they admire is using it.

(Utopia: Real or imaginary, considered perfect and ideal)

STYLE

Ben Elton payed very close attention to physical detail in his writing. This connects to the theme of consumerism. For example, when Rosalie remembered seeing Jurgen Thor’s house for the first time, it was described as perfection, paradise. Also, when Max met Rosalie’s grandparents he did a great job at making wrinkles sound like disease. Paying attention to physical detail is a direct link to consumerism. In reality, if something looks unattractive, it is immediately considered incapable of doing a good job, and therefore undesirable. Consumers never take their needs in to account, and always judge ‘‘the book by it’s cover’’.

Ben Elton made it clear that consumerism was the overarching theme in the book. All aspects, the setting, plot, characters and style of the book have many similarities to the reality of our industrial world, and the people who feed it. If links from This Other Eden can be made 10 years after it was written, it shows what a tremendously accurate view Ben Elton had of the future, and also how little our society has evolved. It is impossible for consumerism to be eliminated, it is apart of being a human, but it can be seen as something that can be too much of a good thing. We can improve our ways, and improve our quality of life.