河を渡って家族の中へ─ Raymond Carver の“Nobody Said Anything”（2）─

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Raymond Carver’s masterpiece “Nobody Said Anything,” which was published in 1973, has been read primarily as a story of a boy’s（ miserable failure of） initiation into early manhood, built around the theme of neglect of children, or that of the failure of Hemingway-esque wilderness ideal in the modern age. By looking closely at some peculiar details in the story, however, we can see that he is not only fantasizing about his own sexual escapades but more poignantly longing for the peace and tranquility in his family on the verge of breaking apart. We will also look at the scenes in which the protagonist goes on a fishing trip to the place where he used to go with his father and brother, and demonstrate how the protagonist here can be seen as thinking, though unconsciously, about the relationship between himself and his father or his/his father’s brother. Throughout the discussion, we will see that this story is about a desperate attempt of the protagonist’s to act as a successful mediator between arguing parents, reflecting the author’s affection and guilt toward his own father who died 7 years prior to the magazine publication of this story. We will also see that this is a story which marks virtually the very beginning of the author’s career as a serious writer with a definitive object of literary pursuit of his own.