Themes and message

Marital issues

The short story “Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?” by Raymond Carver is especially focused on the theme of marital issues, such as how differences between spouses can lead to conflict and how problems that are not addressed in a marriage can drive the couple apart. 

In the Wymans’ marriage, everything seems perfect on the surface. They are married with two children, and “they considered themselves a happy couple” (p. 173, l. 16). The interaction between them as a couple is at the beginning tender and relaxed, suggesting they are affectionate and at ease with one another (p. 173, ll. 32-38). But the “injury to their marriage” (p. 173, l. 17) is revealed when Marian opens the discussion about the event which still haunts both of them (p. 174, l. 10). The question changes their attitude towards one another, and all the resentment Ralph is still feeling becomes obvious in his reaction (p. 174, ll. 16-18).

It is also worth noting that he remembers in a flashback how he hit Marian after the party, asking he...