Themes and message

Death and grief

One of the main themes explored in the poem “Lemonade” by Raymond Carver is death and grief. After Jim Jr.’s death, his father has been inconsolable. For example, his wife has taken him “to thirteen foreign countries in Europe in hopes it’d help him get over it”, yet her mission was “unaccomplished”. This highlights the intensity of Jim Sears’ grief, who is unable to enjoy anything in life after his son has died.

His pain and suffering affect Jim both physically – as he “came down with Parkinson’s disease” – and mentally. He torments himself thinking about how he could have prevented his son from dying, and he is constantly haunted by the image of his son’s dead body. For example, he is unable to participate in a wood-carving class that his wife enrolled him in because “every time Jim Sr. looks up from his lathe, or his carving knife, he sees his son breaking out of the water downriver…”. 

The poem’s ending shows that Jim Sears is so affected by grief that his only wish is “to just die”. This suggests that he is unable to find meaning in life without his son. 

Guilt

In an attempt to reason with his son’s death, Jim Sears tries to understand the causes that led to his son...