Characters

The most important characters in Raymond Carver’s short story “Collectors” are the narrator and Aubrey Bell. The narrator hides his identity, probably because of his debts. Bell is a vacuum-cleaner salesman who might actually be a debt collector. The true identities of the two men, however, remain uncertain, as the story sometimes provides contradictory details.

Throughout the story, the narrator is passive, reacting to Bell's presence in the house, but never taking any initiative. Bell does not give away at any point that he might not be a salesman, but his behavior is at times eccentric, and the readers might suspect he is more than he claims to be.

Bell mentions Mrs. Slater, who has supposedly won a free cleaning service in a lottery. However, Mrs. Slater does not appear in the story, and the man whom we assume is Mr. Slater says she does not live with him.

You can read a full characterization of the narrator and Bell in what follows.