"Feathers"

Analytical Response C

Raymond Carver continues to write about stories about ordinary life infused with deep symbolism. "Feathers" is a story about a man that goes to visit his friend and his wife. During the visit he realizes that his friend is much different than he imagined. A peacock attacks him, Bud has an ugly baby, and his wife is very strange.
An ugly baby is symbolic of mistrust and the questioning of motives. The ugly baby could be used to suggest that Bud and Jack are not as close as the story may seem to illustrate. This is the first time that they have met outside of work and have never had any serious conversations about their life outside of the workplace. The use of the ugly baby may be used to further demonstrate this point, that if one only sees another in one particular environment, then you do not fully know or understand the other individual.
Carver also uses another symbol, that of the peacock. The peacock represents immortality, and pride. Carver uses the peacock to contrast with the ugly baby. When Jack first sees the peacock, it is used to symbolize that Bud may have a beautiful child and wife. This is not the case. Carver is saying that one does not need to have the most beautiful baby or have a trophy wife in order to be proud. He says that one only needs what he has and should be proud of that.