Structure

The short story “Why, Honey?” by Raymond Carver has a very simple structure, as it takes the form of a letter sent by a woman to an unknown receiver. The topic of the letter is the woman’s son, now a governor and a powerful man. The woman reveals that her son always had a tendency of lying and that she is now afraid of him.

Most short stories follow a traditional line of events called plot, which contains an exposition, a rising action, a climax, a falling action and a resolution. As you can easi…

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Title

The title of the short story represents the mother’s plea towards her son. When she questions him about constantly …

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Beginning

The beginning of the story takes the form of an introductory part of a letter. The beginning formula of the letter is formal and polite: “Dear Sir:” (p. 1…

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Middle

The middle of the story consists of the body of the letter. It contains the descriptions of some episodes in which the mother has found out that her son has a tendency of lying, even in the most naive of situations. These episodes represent several tension points in the life of the mother and her…

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Ending

The ending of the short story consists of the final lines of the woman’s letter. She explains to the receiver of the letter that she is afraid of her son, and this is the …