What We Talk About When We Talk About Love

The story considers the complexities of various types of love, which Carver juxtaposes throughout. Phila, or love between friends, is at the fore. There is the friendship that exists between Nick, Laura, Mel, and Terri. They meet as “pals” and spend an afternoon together, drinking gin and telling stories. However, there is an undercurrent of competition between the two men and the two women. Nick admires Mel and sees him as his superior, but at the same time, he refuses to endorse Mel’s ideas about love and later sabotages his medieval fantasy. Terri dismisses the happiness between Laura and Nick and cynically suggests that their “honeymoon” phase will end over time. Carver frames the exploration of love through the primary juxtaposition of the husbands and wives as well as through the respective couples.

Carver also contrasts the concepts of eros, romantic love, and mania, obsessive love. The comparison between Nick and Laura’s ostensibly loving and comfortable relationship and Mel and Terri’s tense bickering undercuts the notion of conventional romantic love. Additionally, Terri’s previous relationship with Ed is a traumatic example of obsessive love, which Terri endeavors to validate.