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  • Essay / Analysis of Are You a Doctor - 885

    Patricio AcostaEssay #3 April 15, 2014Are You a Doctor?The story titled “Are You a Doctor” by Raymond Carver is a very short but interesting story. This story is about a man, Arnold Breit, who receives a phone call from the wrong user. The woman who called Arnold, Clara Holt, was trying to reach someone else, but the number she dialed was the wrong number. After a few minutes of small talk and superficial conversations, the woman gathered the courage to ask Arnold to come to her house. The story seems simple and it is. It's simple and also very interesting because the writer managed to add suspense and doubt to the story to hook the reader. I believe the most valuable and entertaining things about this story are the doubts that Raymond Carver leaves unanswered throughout the story. Most readers love the ambiguity of the short story more than anything. Some readers are intrigued by the mystery of the story, they ask questions such as: who is this woman? what does she want? They continue reading in search of the answers to the questions that arise in their minds. The reason we want to keep reading is a normal human impulse. The desire to continue reading the story is present because we want to achieve “cognitive closure.” This term was coined by social psychologist Arie Kruglanski, who ultimately defined it as "individuals' desire for a firm answer to a question and an aversion to ambiguity", a search for certainty in the face of a less that certain. (1) Humans have a motivation that drives them to want answers. Since the beginning of humanity, humans have been motivated by uncertainty to obtain answers and that same motivation is this desire to continue reading the story that presents the uncertainty. Carver presents uncertainty in middle of paper......intellectual challenge. Carver doesn't tell us exactly what's going on because that leaves some doubt and it makes the brain and the intellect work. When Arnold arrived at Clara's mysterious house, the reader expected the meeting to be important because Clara said she had to tell Arnold something. As Clara and Arnold's meeting progresses, it becomes more and more apparent that the only reason Clara wanted Arnold to come is because she is lonely and wants a man and she is a Very unnecessary encounter. If Craver had simply told the reader what was happening, the story would be less interesting. It is the uncertainty that leads the reader to understand what is happening and, when piecing together the puzzles, delays the answer (1) http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/04 /why -we-need-answers.htmlPatricio Acosta