The conclusion of the story leads us to believe that he has found a single memory that he can identify with as he watched J.P. And his wife reconcile. The single moment of happiness he remembers is enough to compel him to try to communicate with his wife and girlfriend and become the man he used to be and the man he wants to be. He can recover who he is by reaching out to those in his life. Individuality is often destroyed with alcoholism because alcoholics tend to feel that they cannot exist without a drink. The fact that the narrator wants to try to improve signals that he has rediscovered a strong sense of identity and as ready to live without alcohol.
Where I'm Calling From" is also a story of hope. At the end of the story, we have hope that the narrator and J.P. might actually be able to enter the real world again and get their lives together. The story is structured in that dialogue becomes an important tool. The two men seem to draw strength from their conversations. Alienation is what drives some people to alcoholism and the conversations the two men have are not particularly fascinating but they are real and, to some extent, therapeutic. The author foreshadows this hope with J. P.'s mention of being rescued from a well. We read that he "suffered an kinds of terror in that well" (280) and can immediately elate that experience to the dark descent into alcoholism. We can almost see J.P. And the narrator looking up for that "circle of blue sky" (281) that serves as a symbol for their recovery. We also find hope in Roxy visiting J.P. They have a good visit and this is a...
Another sign of hope emerges from the narrator's memory of a Sunday morning he shared with his wife. The conclusion of the story is also hopeful. The narrator states that he will call someone - either his wife or his girlfriend but he is indecisive. Here we can see how the narrator wishes to be free but is still afraid. We find hope in the final sentence when he says himself to his girlfriend, "It's me" (296). Those two words are filled with hope as the narrator is facing who he is and his problems and revealing himself to her immediately demonstrates a step in the right direction considering that he is reluctant to reveal anything about himself at the beginning of the story.
Where I'm Calling From" examines essential aspects of life through the narrator's experiences at the treatment facility. Through alienation - both forced and chosen, the narrator begins an unplanned journey of self-examination that leads him to the path of recovery. While he sits on the porch and listens to J. P.'s tales, he finds pieces of himself that force him to want to try. He has seen what real alcoholics look like and does not want to become like they are. The result of his alienation and his reflection bring him to a place of hope where he thinks he might actually be able to begin again. Carver illustrates how we often reach moments of clarity in the most dire of circumstances.
Works Cited
Carver, Raymond. "Where I'm Calling From." Where I'm Calling From: Stories. New York: Vintage Contemporaries. 1989.
