Structure

“Why Don't You Dance?” is a brief short story structured around a single main event, a yard sale which brings a couple and a middle-aged man together. The elements of the plot are not obvious at first, as the author’s focus is on conveying hidden meanings.

Raymond Carver relies on the iceberg technique to structure this short story, which means that readers are only given about 20% of the actual plot of the story and the rest is left for them to guess and interpret.

Title

The title of the short story represents a line from the narrative which marks the start of the climax. It is the suggestion the character of the middle-aged man makes to the young couple interested in buying his furniture: “Why don't you kids dance? he decided to say, and then he said it. "Why don't you dance?” (p. 2, ll. 12-13)

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Beginning

The story begins by introducing readers to the character of the unnamed older man. The exposition sets the context—the man is having a yard sale with all his furniture: “In the kitchen, he poured another drink and looked at the bedroom suite in his front yard.” (p. 1, ll. 8-9);

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Middle

The rising action is triggered by the young couple’s arrival at the yard sale. Tension points are represented by the impression that the yard is deserted, but also by the interactions between the couple which suggest a latent conflict:

He looked around. The house was dark.
"I feel funny," he said. "Better see if anybody's home." (p. 1, ll. 6-7)

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Ending

The ending of the story does not shed a lot of light on the plot, but leaves it open to interpretation.

The falling action presents the older man taking the place of the drunk young man and dancing with the girl: “"Dance with me," the girl said to the boy and then to the man, and when the man stood up, she...

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