Paralysis is when a person loses the ability to move. The function of motion is either completely or partially gone. However, paralysis can also be a state of powerlessness or incapacity to act. Being stuck in one place, both physically and mentally, is a common problem that has always been around. Not being able to move forward in one’s life is often a sign of helplessness or a desperate attempt to not be seen but being unable to move forward in life is unhealthy. This theme is clear as day in the short story “collectors” by Raymond Carver. The story is part of “Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?”, which is a collection of different short stories. The collection was published in 1976.
The first person the reader meets in the story is the narrator. The reader isn’t told much about the narrator, not even a name. However, it’s possible that the narrator could be the ex-husband of the woman mentioned in the story, Mrs. Slater. There is no confirmation of this, even though the salesman Aubrey Bell tries long and hard to get the narrator too tell him his name,” I see you do have a carpet, Mr… .” (p. 86, ll. 12-13). The reader gets an outer description of Bell, however it’s the way the narrator perceives him. This makes it dubious as we know next to nothing about the narrator, he does describe Bell as being “[…] an old guy, fat and bulky under his raincoat” (p. 85, ll. 22-23
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