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Literary Devices
Foil
Explanation and Analysis—The Two Couples:
In “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” the two couples act as foils for each other, as Carver intentionally juxtaposes their differences in order to make a point. To show that Laura and Nick are happier and closer than Terri and Mel, Carver demonstrates that they do not need to put their feelings for each other—or their thoughts about love—into words. Instead, they experience and communicate their care for each other in embodied ways.
This key difference between the couples’ relationships comes across in the following passage, which comes after Terri and Mel have spent an extended amount of time describing their theories about romantic love:
"Well, Nick and I know what love is," Laura said. "For us, I mean," Laura said. She bumped my knee with her knee. "You're supposed to say something now," Laura said, and turned her smile on me.
For an answer, I took Laura's hand and raised it to my lips. I made a big production out of kissing her hand. Everyone was amused.
"We're lucky," I said.
"You guys," Terri said. "Stop that now. You're making me sick.”
Here, instead of musing on love as Terri and Mel had, Laura simply says, “Nick and I know what love is” and bumps her knee against his. Nick engages with the question of love in a similar way—making a vague statement (“We’re lucky”) and connecting physically with his partner (kissing Laura’s hand). That Terri says she feels “sick” watching Nick and Laura show their love for each other in these simple and embodied (rather than complex and verbal) ways hints at the problem in her relationship with Mel—rather than expressing their love for each other with easy touch, they verbally spar over what love is. By setting these couples up as foils, Carver communicates that love is something to be experienced, not something to be understood.
Related Themes:
