The adage goes “Say what you mean and mean what you say,” however, symbolism plays an important role in literature. In Raymond Carver’s “Popular Mechanics” details are used to symbolize the lives of the characters and the changes in their lives during and after the break up between the man and woman. Carver uses four details as symbols in the story: the dark and dreary details of the weather, the woman’s picking up …showed first 75 words of 537 total…

…showed last 75 words of 537 total…and the woman the give in the relationship. Even though Carver does not come right out and say it, the lives of the man, woman, and child were changed dramatically. Carver instead uses details as symbols to represent the effects of the situation on the man, woman, and child’s lives. Bibliography Work Cited Carver, Raymond. “Popular Mechanics.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. 5th ed. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. 238-239