Are You a Doctor

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Identity in Raymond Carver’s “Are you a Doctor?” In Raymond Carver’s “Are you a Doctor?” a man picks up a ringing telephone expecting his wife to be on the other end. He is surprised to hear the voice of another woman. Initially, the man asks the woman to throw away his number and not call him again. The woman begins flirting with Arnold and he finds himself wanting to talk to this woman. Arnold agrees to the woman’s request and goes over to Clara’s house where he kisses her goodnight. He returns home to find that his wife has been calling him for a couple of hours. The telephone rings again and Arnold picks up the phone and hears his wife say, “You don’t sound like yourself” (32). Carver explores the concept of identity through his story “Are you a Doctor?” by illustrating how identity can be difficult to define through the life of Arnold. Carver uses a mirror to illustrate how identity can change based on new circumstances and new information. During a phone call with Clara, Arnold excused himself and “removed his glasses and looked at himself in the mirror over the fireplace. When he returned to the telephone, he was half afraid she might be off the line” (26). A mirror does not reflect the same image everyday; an image changes as a person changes. Carver relates exploring superficial appearance with discovering what is occurring deeper down in the soul. Arnold was afraid that leaving the conversation with Clara would make her disappear from his life completely. Identity is an indefinite concept and evolves through a process. It is difficult to determine how long an identity might last. The maturing from childhood to adulthood shows that identity is always changing. New roles are taken on, new responsibilities are given, and identities change. Identities must be adjusted to each new situation in a unique way because situations have the ability to change an

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