Patricio Acosta Essay n. 315 April 2014 Are you a doctor? The story titled "You're a Doctor" by Raymond Carver is a very short but interesting story. This story is about a man, Arnold Breit, who receives a call from the wrong caller. The woman who called Arnold, Clara Holt, was trying to contact someone else but the number she dialed was wrong. After a couple of minutes of small talk and superficial conversations, the woman found the courage to ask the Arnold to come to her house. The story seems simple and it is. It is simple and also very interesting because the writer managed to add suspense and doubts to the story to captivate the reader. I think the most valuable and fun thing about this story are the doubts that Raymond Carver leaves unanswered throughout the story. Most readers like ambiguity more than anything else in the story. Some readers are intrigued by the mystery of the story, asking questions like: Who is that woman? what does he want? They continue reading seeking the answers to the questions raised in their mind. 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 defined it as “individuals' desire for a firm answer to a question and an aversion to ambiguity,” a drive for certainty in the face of a world that is anything but. Certain". (1) Human beings have a drive to want answers. Since the beginning of humanity, humans have been motivated by uncertainty to get answers, and that same drive is that desire to continue reading the story that features uncertainty. Carver presents uncertainty through... middle of paper... electoral challenge. Carver doesn't tell us what exactly happens because it leaves some doubt and this makes the brain and 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 the meeting between Clara and Arnold progresses, it becomes more and more apparent that the only reason Clara wanted Arnold to come to her is because she is lonely and wants a man and that it is a truly pointless meeting. If Craver had simply told the reader what was happening, the story would be less interesting. It is the uncertainty that makes the reader understand what is happening and, when he puts the puzzles together, delays the answer(1) http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/04/why - we-need-answers.htmlPatricio Acosta