The Role of Dominance in Popular Mechanics Essay

While reviewing three stories; Popular Mechanics by Raymond Carver, Doubt by John Shanely and Incarnations of burned children by Foster Wallace all have some differences and some similarities. All three stories engage in different situations but one similarity that stands out. In the three stories Popular Mechanics, doubt and incarnations of burned children all have the same lens of the fight of dominance between male and female.
The lens of the fight between male and female dominance is portrayed in all three stories. ” The basic prediction from sexual selection theory is male dominance. Males usually win conflicts and have priority of access to food, etc. Why? This goes back to sexual selection;
Because of sexual selection, you get sexual dimorphism; males are bigger and have more weaponry. When they come into conflict with females, it's usually the male who wins. In this sense, male dominance is kind of a byproduct of competition between males. Sexual selection shapes males physically but also mentally- they tend to be more aggressive and more competitive. There are cases where males and females are equal but there are very few instances where females are dominant”.
In popular mechanics there seems to be a couple who are getting a divorce or parting from one another. In the scene of the story you can almost picture and feel the tenseness in the room. The used to be couple is fighting over who the baby gets to stay with. This mental fight over power of the child quickly turns physical. At this point of the story the mother and the father both have their hand on the child pulling at opposite directions. This fight clearly shows fighting over the power of dominance.
Text evidence from popular mechanics by Raymond Carver “She turned and tried to hold the baby over in a corner behind the stove. But he came up. He reached across the stove and tightened his hands on the baby. Let go of him, he said. Get away, get away! She cried. The baby was red-faced and...