Brent has a Ph.D. in American culture, specializing in cinema studies, from the University of Michigan. She is a freelance writer and teaches courses in American cinema. In the following essay, Brent discusses Carver's use of figurative language.

Carver is best known for his minimalist writing style, as embodied in a sparse use of language and paired down prose. He is also known as a neo-realist, capturing the working class milieu of blue-collar America with his mundane, naturalistic, everyday dialogue. Nevertheless, he does make use of figurative language throughout "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" by exploring its central themes of love, relationships, communication, and alcoholism. Through the imagery of the knight's armor, the beekeeper's protective clothing, the "pill" and the word "heart," Carver demonstrates that the surface level conversation of his four characters is only the tip of an emotional iceberg.

Since...