Neighbors by Raymond Carver
"Neighbors" by Raymond Carver is a short story that explores themes of envy, identity, and the complexities of human relationships through the lens of two couples living in adjacent apartments. The Millers, Bill and Arlene, perceive their lives as mundane compared to their more vibrant neighbors, the Stones, who travel and socialize frequently. When the Stones leave for a ten-day trip, they ask the Millers to look after their cat and plants, which opens the door for the Millers to intrude into the Stones' private world.
As Bill begins to explore the Stones’ home, he becomes increasingly captivated by their possessions and lifestyle, engaging in behavior that crosses boundaries, including taking items and even trying on their clothing. This experience triggers a transformation in both Bill and Arlene, as they grapple with their desires and the allure of living someone else's life. The story culminates in a moment of emotional intensity as the couple finds themselves locked out of the Stones’ apartment, symbolizing their struggle between aspiration and reality. "Neighbors" ultimately invites readers to reflect on the nature of desire and the lengths people will go to in order to escape their own lives.
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Neighbors by Raymond Carver
First published: 1971
Type of plot: Psychological
Time of work: The mid-twentieth century
Locale: An American apartment house
Principal Characters:
Bill Miller , a middle-aged bookkeeperArlene Miller , his wife
The Story
The Millers and the Stones live in apartments across a hallway from each other. The two couples appear to have lives fundamentally alike. Bill and Arlene Miller, however, feel they are missing out on the better things in life. They believe that the Stones' lives are more satisfying, more exciting, than theirs. The Millers particularly envy the fact that the Stones frequently socialize and travel. When the Stones leave on a ten-day trip, they ask the Millers to care for their plants and cat. In the few days after the Stones depart, both Bill and Arlene are transformed by their explorations of the Stones' home.
The responsibility of caring for the Stones' household becomes an opportunity to take over their possessions, to occupy the spaces of their most private lives, to become the Stones. During the first evening of the Stones' absence, Bill Miller enters their domain, delights in its very air, ogles at their ordinary treasures, pockets a bottle of Harriet's prescription medicine, swigs their Chivas Regal, and stakes a strangely thrilling proprietary claim on their way of life.
Bill's initial incursion into the Stones' world arouses his sexual energy and leads him to break his own routines at home and at work. During a second visit to his neighbors' apartment the next day, Bill rummages through their cupboards, refrigerator, and bedroom. He takes a pack of cigarettes before he is interrupted by his wife, who is sharply curious about his long stay. The next day, Bill is so preoccupied he does not go to work. Again he enters the Stones' lives, and his violation of his neighbors' personal privacy is still bolder. Reveling in his dominion over their most intimate spaces, he locks up the cat and masturbates on his neighbor's bed, then dons Jim's clothing, and finally changes into Harriet's underwear, skirt, and blouse, losing his sense of his own identity in the process, or perhaps merging with their identities.
Bill's sexual arousal and long journeys next door do not escape Arlene's notice. She also takes a trip into the Stones' world. When she answers Bill's impatient knock and steps into the hall, she appears flushed and flecked with white lint as if she has duplicated Bill's indulgences in the pleasures of the Stones' bed. Standing close to each other, aroused, on the brink of thrilling sexual travel together in this magic realm of their neighbors' apartment to look at pictures that Arlene has found, Bill and Arlene discover she has left the key inside. Abruptly, they find themselves locked out of their new lives. They both appear stricken; Bill utters what seem to be inappropriate words, "Don't worry." One would think this is merely a brief delay of their gratification. However, they cling together, apparently paralyzed by emotions powerful but not explicit. Is it loss, fear, excitement, shame, guilt, or something else that they feel as they brace themselves for what is to come?
Bibliography
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Gallagher, Tess. Soul Barnacles: Ten More Years with Ray. Edited by Greg Simon. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000.
Halpert, Sam. Raymond Carver: An Oral Biography. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1995.
Lainsbury, G. P. The Carver Chronotope: Inside the Life-World of Raymond Carver's Fiction. New York: Routledge, 2004.
Nesset, Kirk. The Stories of Raymond Carver: A Critical Study. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1995.
Powell, Jon. "The Stories of Raymond Carver: The Menace of Perpetual Uncertainty." Studies in Short Fiction 31 (Fall, 1994): 647-656.
Runyon, Randolph Paul. Reading Raymond Carver. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1992.
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Stull, William L., and Maureen P. Carroll, eds. Remembering Ray: A Composite Biography of Raymond Carver. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Capra Press, 1993.