“Elephant” By Borden Deal
Explain how the author-narrator has changed the mood/tone of the story (focus on the choice of words / the weather / atmosphere). “Elephant” by Raymond Carver is made up of five sections. In sections one to three there is a gloomy and pessimistic mood. The narrator describes how he has to carry the load of his family by financially supporting them. He also describes how he works day and night to get money that he doesn’t get to spend. But in section four he gets two dreams that make him feel satisfied and relaxed for once in his life. In the last section of the story the author-narrator completely changes the mood or tone of the story. He starts by describing the morning beautifully. He writes about the rising sun and the migrating flock of birds. In fact, what surprises the readers more is that the narrator didn’t even lock his house because he didn’t have anything in his house that he couldn’t live without. The narrator was clearly in a good mood. He was wishing everyone good luck even to strangers after all it was summer, the season everyone’s luck was supposed to change. The narrator was so pleased that he began to whistle and swung his arms as he walked. Afterwards the author-narrator meets his comrade who offers him a ride in his car and the narrator happily accepts the offer, after all he is in an optimistic mood. The narrator and his colleague zoomed away. The narrator ends the story on a good note and makes the readers satisfied with the story.