Raymond Carver's "What's in Alaska?"

Dying for some entertainment, I picked up my collection of short stories by Raymond Carver that I purchased a while back, and read a story called "What's in Alaska?" The story is about two couples, Jack and Mary, and Carl and Helen. Though short, it is filled with puzzles that beg us literary scholars/nerds to analyze. I don't know if I understand the story fully, but that is the beauty of it.

The story opens with Jack buying a new pair of shoes. After getting home his wife Mary remarks that she doesn't like the color but that it looks comfortable. This could be the symbolism for their marriage, or perhaps their lives in the place they currently reside. Mary later tells Jack that she had been interviewed and is likely to get a job in Alaska. Later that night they got together with their friends. While high on hookah, the same question keeps coming up without ever being answered: "What's in Alaska?"

Perhaps there is nothing in Alaska. The party seems concerns with what Jack is going to be doing in Alaska. Not once does anybody mention the fact that they are moving there because of Mary's job. There is also a slight hint of an adulterous desire between Carl and Mary--or perhaps it only seems so because we see it through Jack's gaze. The couple does not seem to be in a perfectly happy state, especially in comparison to their friends. There is also a curious remark by Carl: "Cindy's got to learn to hunt if we're going to Alaska." Earlier when Jack tells Carl and Helen the news, Carl and Helen seems resolved, either seriously or jokingly, that they will go to Alaska too. The relationship between these four are unclear; they seem to be close friends, but what is the degree of this closeness? Carver seems to consciously leave out these details. Perhaps he wants us to make for ourselves who these people are to each other.

Despite not getting the whole picture, I really enjoyed reading this story and thinking about it afterward. Carver is known as one of the best American short story writer, and this collection has never failed to deliver whenever I turn to it in need of inspiration.


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***SPOILER ALERT***

This story has a very interesting ending. Jack is about to turn out the light and go to sleep when he thinks he sees a set of eyes gleaming in the dark hallway, staring at him. He picks up one of his shoe and waits for whatever it is that watches him to move before throwing the shoe at it. It remains a mystery what this "thing" is. Prior to the scene, Mary and Jack have a peculiar conversation, tinted with anger and ambiguity. Mary wants something to smoke, and Jack tells her there is nothing. She asks for something to drink and he gives her a beer, not certain that she actually wants it. She then realizes she hasn't taken her pill, and after taking it she is too tired to even put the can of beer away herself. Following the relationship between these two closely all the way throughout the story will probably reveal more about the state of their relationship. They seem dysfunctional but try to keep themselves together for an unclear reason--perhaps it hasn't got to the point where they want to break it off yet. Maybe, like Jack's new shoes, the relationship works despite seeming imperfect.