In the Raymond Carver story “Neighbors” he makes us take a closer look at the morals and integrity of the Millers. Although in the beginning we think the Miller’s are living a normal life we come to find out their lives may are not so normal. The way they yearn for the Stones life becomes quiet disturbing and interesting. We also come to find out that the fantasy invokes sexual arousal for Bill. Falling into the world of the Stones seemed to make everything that they know and were doing disappear. This is shown in the fact that Arlene forgets to feed the cat and take the key at the end. This is definitely a piece of work that is realistic fiction. People are trying to find ways to escape from the mundane and the stress of their lives. What better way to do this then to pretend to have someone else’s life you wish for!
What would make Bill stay and rummage through the house for the first time? The way it was described in the beginning, shows they had not done this before. They had fed kitty in the past and looked over the Stone’s apartment, but they were in no rush to get over there after the Stones left. Bill waited until after dinner to go and feed Kitty. Also, the way the apartment was described when he went in “the air was already heavy and it was vaguely sweet” shows this. Bill would have had a difficult time waiting to go to the apartment. The air would not have been heavy for he would have been very excited. Arlene would have not been surprised to see him come home early from work the next day either.
Bill’s actions do not seem too odd at first. People would not think that looking around someone’s apartment would be that off the wall. We come to find out that it is just the tip of the iceberg though. He later begins to eat their food, drink their booze (straight from the bottle), and try on both Jim and Harriet’s clothing. These events make you wonder where the line between curiosity and just plain weird is.
The fantasy just seems to fuel...