Sunlight in ôWhat We Talk About When We Talk About Loveö
In Raymond CarverÆs short story, ôWhat We Talk About When We Talk About Love,ö the element of sunlight serves as an indicator of the mood in each scene where it appears. The first time we see the sunlight is in the kitchen scene. The two couples are happy and joking, relating with each other affectionately. The story says that ôSunlight filled the kitchen from the big window behind the sink.ö This indicates that on a subliminal level, sunlight fills the room in much the same way that positive words and feelings are filling the room. In a sense, the sunshine of love is imparting joy to everything it touches in the room. The feeling is relaxed, happy, and comfortable.
As the couples talk, drink more glasses of gin, and bask in the warmth of the moment, the sunlight continues to surround them like a comforting presence. "The afternoon sun was like a presence in this room, the spacious light of ease and generosity.ö There is an expansiveness associated with the sunlightùa sense of camaraderie and affection that is captured in the moment as though nothing else matters just then. As though they are captured in a microcosm of good feelings, the couples seem suspended in a sense of emotional embrace, flushed with the familiarity of friendship.
However, as they continue drinking, the mood subtly begins to change. Mel has passed the point of the ôbuzzö or ôglowö that comes with moderate drinking and is descending into the dazed state of mind that comes with drunkenness. The conversation also deteriorates, as though they have run out of things to talk about other than their drinking. Drinking seems to be an empty thing that has usurped the place of affection and interaction. Now they are not really interacting anymore, just sitting there. At this point, ôThe light was draining out of the room, going back through the window where it had come from. Yet no...