For the purpose of this week’s discussion, I have chosen to write about “The Bath”, a

lovely story written by Raymond Carver. The story is about a young boy, Scotty, an

eight years old boy who got an accident prior to his birthday. The boy, according to the

story, was playing with friends, when he had a road traffic accident. His mother, Mrs.

Weiss had ordered a birthday cake from an old baker for his birthday. Unfortunately, the

birthday didn’t have, and instead, the birthday boy got admitted in the hospital following

the accident. While at the hospital, the boy’s father rushed in from his office to the

hospital and sat by the boy’s bedside with the mother, holding her hands. The mother of

the boy is reportedly very worried about the condition of her son as she refuses to leave

the boy’s side, although she wasn’t doing anything helpful. According to the story, “they

waited for hours, and then the father went home to take a bath” [CITATION Car89 \l

1033 ].

When he drove home, the father of the boy received phone calls from the baker who

apparently was calling to remind the boy’s mother regarding the birthday cake.

Unfortunately, the boy’s dad was angry and responded to the phone call with some anger

and hanged the phone to go take a bath.

Throughout the story, the parents of the boy are reported being closer to the boy, moving

with him through to all investigations or tests required and showing great concern for the

boy’s condition. The boy’s father asked the whether is son wasn’t in a coma, which the

doctor did not agree with [CITATION Car89 \l 1033 ].

What I liked with this story

This story touches the heart of everyone who reads it to its conclusion. The behavior

portrayed in the story is a ‘real’ world experience that any other parent in the situation of

the birthday boy in the story would have.

Reference:

Carver, R. (1989). The Houston Community College. Retrieved June 28, 2021, from HCC

Learning Web: https:hccs.edu/faculty/selena.anderson/engl2307/readings/the-

bath-by-raymond-carver