Raymond Carver

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What does the baby represent in Carver's "Popular Mechanics"? Is irony used to convey the theme?

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In "Popular Mechanics," the baby represents the egos and sense of self-worth of the warring couple, who are more interested in winning the argument than the child's welfare. Irony is used to convey the theme, as the couple's undignified struggle over the baby, which likely results in the child's death, highlights their failure to act as responsible adults despite their insistence on being the right parent.

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In "Popular Mechanics," the baby could be said to represent the respective egos of the warring couple. It's abundantly clear right from the start that neither the man nor the woman has the best interests of the child at heart. They each want the baby, not because they love him, nor because they genuinely believe that they can give him the best upbringing, but because they don't want their partner to have him.

The satisfaction of ego has taken precedence over the child's welfare. The baby is not to be loved and valued for his own sake; instead, he is nothing more than a pawn in a titanic battle of egos between two selfish, emotionally needy people.

The biggest irony in the story comes in the chilling last line:

In this manner, the issue was decided.

Only the issue hasn't been decided at all, because neither party to the conflict...

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has what they want. And the reason for this is that the child appears to be dead, killed due to being pulled about by the man and woman as they struggled to grab hold of him.

On another level, however, one could say that the issue has been decided, in that the egos of the warring couple have finally been satisfied. As neither party in the conflict has what they originally wanted, both have effectively saved face, but only at the expense of a baby's life.

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What does the baby represent in "Popular Mechanics" by Raymond Carver?

The baby in "Popular Mechanics" could be said to represent the sense of dignity that most of us have, a sense of self-worth. Both the unnamed man and woman in the story instinctively acknowledge that the baby is an intrinsic part of their self-worth and dignity. That's why they're so desperate to hang on to the child—quite literally. Their sense of self is so closely bound up with the baby that neither is prepared to back down in the violent, intensely physical struggle that follows, even if the baby gets caught up in the middle.

The supreme irony of his conflict is that neither the man nor the woman behave in a way that is consistent with their sense of self-worth. An insistence on one's dignity being respected has never looked quite so undignified. In their unseemly squabble, the warring couple act like little children, which merely adds to the sense of irony.

Each one believes that they are the right parent to take care of the child, yet both show a total inability to conduct themselves like the responsible adults they're supposed to be. Indeed, their conduct is so utterly reckless and appalling that it's likely that it leads to the baby's death.

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