Setting

Physical setting

The events described in “A Serious Talk” by Raymond Carver take place somewhere in the US, as suggested by the reference to Santa Clara (p. 19, l. 30). The town where the events happen is not named, and the story’s focus is on the house where Vera and her children live in. 

On Christmas Day, Vera, Burt, and the children spend a few hours together. Although Burt thinks about “his house, his home” (p. 16, l. 31), he no longer lives there, and his presence makes Vera feel uncomfortable. When he looks at his daughter setting the dining-room table (p. 16, ll. 28-29) for another man and his children, Burt feels jealous:

From time to time his daughter walked into the dining room with something for the table (…) He watched her fold the l...