The Cake
The story "A Small, Good Thing" begins with the description of a birthday cake. It is chocolate, sprinkled with white stars, a spaceship and a planet and the birthday boy's name "Scotty, would be in green letters beneath the planet." Scotty's mother goes to the baker to order the cake, who says it would be ready by Monday. That morning, Scotty is hit by a car while walking to school and in the fracas, the cake is not picked up from the baker's. The cake is a symbol of joy and celebration and it's outer space theme suggests a childhood wonder, all of which are threatened as Scotty lies in a coma in a hospital bed.
Lawn Furniture
The story "Why Don't You Dance?" is set on a lawn covered in furniture. There is a bed, a set of drawers, a turntable, a sofa, and a desk, among other items. The owner of the display is a heavy-drinking man. When offered money for the bed from a young couple, he settles for a surprisingly low sum. He then offers the couple a drink, and watches them dance as the turntable plays. It is evident that the man's life is in turmoil, and the furniture on the lawn is a symbol of a turbulent and fractured domestic sphere.
The Gazebo
The story "Gazebo" follows a turbulent episode involving an unfaithful husband and his suicidal wife. The two are both heavy drinkers who manage a Motel. When the wife, Holly, discovers her husbands infidelity "she tries to jump out the window" and her husband is forced to hold her to prevent her from falling. They begin to discuss their marital problems and the destruction of the trust they once shared. While the conversation grows heated and combative, the two eventually begin to reminisce about a drive they once took as a young couple. Out in farm country, they found a large property with a beautiful large gazebo. The memory, and the gazebo are symbolic of a more pure and tranquil period in their relationship, a period which is obviously long past.
The Body and the Fishing Trip
While on a fishing trip several characters in the story "So Much Water So Close to Home" discover a woman's body in the water. Instead of altering the police, they tie the body up and continue fishing. Finally, when they are done their weekend trip, the men inform the sheriff that they found a body. The men's lack of urgency in dealing with something as sensitive as a dead body is indicative of an inhumanity and disrespect. While someone lost their life, and a family potentially worried about a missing loved one, the men prioritized their fishing. This deeply disturbs the wife of one the fishers named Stuart. She obsesses over the body, and it alters the way she views her husband. In some sense, the treatment of the body was the composite of all that the wife despised about her husband, and the rest of the story is spent detailing the tense deterioration of their relationship.
The Suitcase
Like many of Carver's stories, "One More Thing" details the effects of alcoholism on interpersonal relationships. After a heated argument, Maxine orders her heavy-drinking husband, L.D., to leave the home or else she would call the police. Angrily, he agrees and says that she will never see him again. Before he leaves, he grabs a suitcase and fills it with his clothing, an ashtray and some magazines. In an oft-employed symbol, the suitcase acts as a testament to the dissolution and dysfunction of an interpersonal relationship, in this case resulting from the abuse of alcohol. As they cannot reconcile, L.D. packs his belongings into a suitcase, and he leaves for what he says will be forever.
