Harshita Tirthdas
Exposition: The first 3 pages of the story you could say is the exposition. The narrator explains us in details about his wife’s past and how he met her, and also how she met Robert. It helps us understand who Robert is, and what history he has with the wife and tells us a little about how the narrator feels about Robert coming to visit his wife and him.
Complication: The complication begins when Robert arrives at the narrators’ house. Before Robert arrives the narrator was already judging him and hating the fact that he is coming to visit. As soon as the narrator saw Robert from the window he began judging him again by saying things like, “This blind man, feature this, he was wearing a full beard! A beard on a blind man! Too much, I say” (Carver, 2006, p. 79). The wife keeps getting mad at the narrator, because she keeps thinking that he keeps telling this silly blind jokes, when actually he’s just trying to be nice to Robert and have a normal conversation with him. This can be seen when the narrator asks Robert on which side of the train was he sitting which then the wife reacts to it by saying: “What a question, which side!” (Carver, 2006, p. 80).