Themes and message

Suspicion

The theme of suspicion is explored by Raymond Carver in the short story “So Much Water So Close to Home”. Since Stuart and his friends fail to call the police as soon as they discover a girl’s dead body, Claire starts to become suspicious of him. Their decision to continue their fishing trip alongside a dead body makes her feel doubtful, and she begins to imagine that Stuart and his friends might have somehow been involved in the murder. 

Claire’s suspicion of Stuart makes her avoid him as soon as she realizes that his story might be incomplete or false. She decides to pretend to be asleep to avoid talking to him (ll. 122-123), and, later on, she decides to sleep on the sofa (ll. 140-141). Her need to avoid Stuart might also be because she feels horrified by his lack of empat...