Neighbors

The Miller’s are a perfectly ordinary couple. They live in an ordinary apartment, in an ordinary town, keep ordinary jobs, and complete ordinary tasks, such as house sitting for neighbors on vacation. He completes ordinary tasks like feeding the cat and watering the plants. Of course, Bill Miller’s human urge encompasses him, and he obeys his ordinary curiosity, like checking the fridge, medicine cabinet, and closets. His fascination turns awry and he eats their food, takes their cigarettes, takes their pills, and spends hours there. Raymond Carver’s stylistic choices such as simple tone, elements of setting, and minute detail imply the odd actions of the Miller’s are commonplace.
The straightforward tone used in “Neighbors” m...