Raymond Carver (what We Talk About When We Talk About Love)

Mel McGinnis of "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" seems like

that one guy that everyone seems to know. He stands out from others; he's unique. You

either love him or hate him. Mel is very much like one of my good friends. They are

both very individualistic and hey are both annoying drunks. They are both interesting

characters though. I think the author Raymond Carver created the character Mel based

off someone he knew. Carver created Mel for one reason or another.

Mel is just like one of my good friends. One day I like him; the next day I hate

him. People like this tend to get annoying to others around them. They are very

argumentative. My friend will argue forever and Mel is the same way. Mel is touchy and

does not seem to take a joke well. Despite these characteristics that frustrate most

people; Mel stands out. He seems to be a leader.

Mel is very individualistic. He is a Cardiologist who is always busy. This job

creates for good stories. Mel is telling stories throughout this whole story. He will start

to tell a story, get sidetracked, argue all of his points, and then go on to the story again.

He is constantly talking. It seems like there would not be much of a conversation between

Mel, his wife Terri, Nick, and Nick's wife Laura if it was not for Mel's constant babbling.

He surely leads the group. The problem is that he never clearly expresses his ideas. I

think that this is due to the Gin that they are drinking.

Mel seems to be drinking more than everyone else. He gets drunk, rambles, and

always seems to get sidetracked. The conversation from the beginning was brought to the

topic of love. Mel was married before his marriage to Terri as was she. The topic shoots

off towards Terri's ex-husband. Terri was in a marriage with an abusive husband named

Ed. She called it love; Mel called it insanity. Ed tried to kill Terri, and even threatened to

kill Mel. He ended up killing himself. Terri and Mel argued for a little over whether or

not Ed loved Terri. Mel thought not. That started Mel off on what love is. Mel thinks

that real love is nothing less than spiritual love. He explains that everyone is going to love

one way or another. He claims he loved Marjorie his former wife, but he mentions that he

would not mind her dead now. Then he goes on to explain that he loves Terri now, but if

for some reason he lost her he would end up falling in love with somebody else. He

believes that one will always love. To me that almost does not seem like love. It seems

like the fear of being alone. That is an opinion though. Everyone around the table argues

their points. Then Mel goes on to tell yet another story to support his theory of how dumb

people act and live when it comes to this. He talks, gets sidetracked, tells more stories

and babbles about nothing; Then is reminded to finish his original story. After he does so,

they run out