Characters
The most important characters in the story “Why, Honey?” by Raymond Carver are the mother and her son. Neither of them is named, so the readers do not know their identity. Another character which is only mentioned is the anonymous receiver of the letter, whose identity is also hidden. Fred, the friend of the woman’s son, is yet another character that is only briefly mentioned, probably an accomplice to the boy’s lies.…
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The mother
The mother is the main character of the short story and also the narrator. She is the one who responds to a letter concerning the background of her son. The interesting thing about her character is that it lacks any outer characterization.
Inner characterization
Everything we know about the mother comes from the inner characterization which results indirectly from the way she depicts herself in relationship with her son.
She also describes herself directly, by mentioning that she lives in fear:
No one knows who I am here but I’m afraid all the same. Who I’m afraid of is him. When I look at the paper I shake my head and wonder. I read what they write about him and I ask myself is that man really my son, is he really doing these things? (p. 164, ll. 4-7)
She fears her son, although she never says why. The ending of the letter reinforces this idea:
I should be so proud but I a…
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The son
The woman’s son is the topic of her letter. His outer characterization is not given, so readers do not know how the boy looked like or how he looks like now. The only thing we know about him is that he is a governor and a very powerful man.
Inner characterization
His inner characterization, on the other hand, shows that the boy had serious issues from a very young age: “He was a good boy except for his outbursts and that he could not tell the truth. I can’t give you any reasons. It started one summer over the 4th of July, he would have been about fifteen.” (p. 164, ll. 8-10)
The boy is seen killing the family cat b…
