Are These Actual Miles? - Raymond Carver (Quote Responses)

"Leo tries to pull the two pieces of his shirt together, tries to bunch it into his trousers." (Carver, 589)

-Leo in the story, "Are These Actual Miles?", is a man whose life is completely out of control. This of course parallels him well to previous characters such as Neddy in "The Persistence of Desire", or the main character of "The Swimmer." All of these men have lost all control of their lives, they seem to be desperately grabbing at fragments of control and stability. When Leo tries to pull the remnants of his shirt into his trousers its a metaphor for him trying to pull his life together, just temporarily, all for appearances, so that the car salesman doesn't see how out of control he is. Leo is already so emascilated by Toni's disregard for him that he can't be set down another notch by having the man that slept with Toni think lowly of him. This theme of men having such masculinity issues may stem from the idea of the erupting feminism in that time, and the way that women were no doubtedly treating the men...with indifference that is.

"He remembers waking up the morning after they bought the car, seeing it, there in the drive, in the sun, gleaming." (Carver, 590)

-The love that Toni and Leo once had in this story is represented by the convertible. When he remembers the car, new and gleaming in the sun, it's Leo remembering how their life used to be so serene, gleaming, like that new car, not too exciting but enough that everything in comparison seemed obsolete, all the other cars didn't look as good. Now the car is being used against him. His love is being abused, his life is falling to shreds like his shirt.