Short Story and Neighbors

In "Neighbors", Raymond Carver contrasts the lifestyles of two couples. The Stones are a more privileged couple who mix business with pleasure and take vacations at will. Their neighbors, the Millers, are a less fortunate couple who watch over the Stone's cat in their absence. While on one of their many excursions, the Stones ask the Millers to once again watch over their cat. With access to all of the Stones' possessions, the Millers develop an abnormal obsession with the alternate lifestyle. They constantly find themselves eager to feed the cat and satisfy their curiosities as to the contents of the Stones' apartment. The story closes as the Millers are locked out of the apartment that they adore so much. The Millers find themselves longing to be with the possessions that are so close yet so far from their grasp. The reader feels the emotions of this grief stricken couple. This unexpected corner is a perfect example of situational irony.

1.Raymond Carver's "Neighbors" In Raymond Carver's "Neighbors" the speaker's attention seems to be more directed on the Bill and Arlene Miller. The Millers are a married couple who were once a happy couple but as the years went along they felt grew apart. It seems as though they are too busy comparing their lives to the Harriet and Jim Stone, which are their neighbors, that they don't have time to fix their marriage. The Stones do what married people should do and that's "go out for dinner, or entertaining at home, or traveling about the country somewhere…(70)." The Millers are given the responsibility of looking after the Stones apartment for ten days, while they are on a pleasure trip. ...

2.Raymond Carver's "Neighbors"
In Raymond Carver's "Neighbors" the speaker's attention seems to be more directed on the Bill and Arlene Miller. The Millers are a married couple who were once a happy couple but as the years went along they felt grew apart. It seems as though they are too busy comparing their lives to the Harriet and