Analysis of Raymond Carver's 'They're not your husband'

“They’re not your husband” is a short story written by Raymond Carver, which was first released in 1973, but it also appeared in his collection of short stories in 1976, called “Will You Please Be Quiet, please?” The story concerns a man called Earl and his wife Doreen. She works as a waitress at a 24-hour coffee shop, and Earl is a salesman but is unemployed. One day at the coffee shop, Earl overhears some men calling Doreen fat, which he gets frustrated over. Earl decides to do something about it, so he makes Doreen stop eating food, to make