Shiftless and Bridled: Raymond Carver's critique of the American Dream's Promise
Author
Laursen, Lucas Aksel Weiling
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2026
Submitted on
2026-06-01
Abstract
This thesis examines how Raymond Carver’s poems and short stories articulate a critique of the American Dream’s promise by portraying unemployment, poverty, and an ideological attachment to work through notions of work ethic and pride. It situates Carver within debates that accuse his blue-collar characters of complacency and inaction, and argues that the short story form’s open-endedness enables a subtle yet sustained engagement with systemic failures. The study outlines key tenets and political visions associated with the American Dream to frame the analysis, then conducts close readings across a career-spanning corpus to trace recurring patterns in narrative design, characterization, symbolism, and plain, colloquial language. Across the texts, Carver’s depictions foreground money fixation, strained family dynamics under economic pressure, the stigma of poverty, and questions of class and identity, suggesting that ordinary Americans are constrained by structures that undermine stability despite promises of reward for hard work. The thesis concludes that Carver’s understated style constitutes an effective critique rather than romanticization or passive acceptance, challenging readings that see his work as ideologically inert.
Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan Raymond Carvers digte og noveller artikulerer en kritik af den amerikanske drøms løfte ved at skildre arbejdsløshed, fattigdom og en ideologisk binding til arbejde gennem begreber som arbejdsetik og stolthed. Projektet placerer Carver i en kritisk debat, hvor hans arbejderklassefigurer ofte beskyldes for passivitet og selvtilfredshed, og argumenterer for, at kortprosagens åbenhed og indeterminering muliggør en subtil, men vedvarende beskæftigelse med systemiske svigt. Afhandlingen opridser centrale principper og politiske visioner knyttet til den amerikanske drøm som ramme og foretager derefter nærlæsninger af et karriereomspændende korpus for at identificere gentagne mønstre i narrativ struktur, karaktertegning, symbolik og enkel, hverdagslig sprogbrug. På tværs af teksterne synliggør Carvers skildringer pengefiksering, pressede familiedynamikker under økonomisk pres, stigmaet omkring fattigdom samt klasse- og identitetsspørgsmål, og antyder, at almindelige amerikanere er tøjlet af strukturer, der undergraver stabilitet trods løfterne om belønning for hårdt arbejde. Afhandlingen konkluderer, at Carvers underspillede stil udgør en effektiv kritik snarere end romantisering eller passiv accept, og dermed udfordrer læsninger, der ser hans værk som ideologisk inert.
[This abstract has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project full text]