Comparison of Relationships between Susan Minot's Lust and Coraghessan Boyle's Carnal Knowledge"After the liveliness of love, love stands still"-Susan MinotThis quote from Minot summarizes love affairs in his short story "Lust" and T. Coraghessan Boyle's short story "Carnal Knowledge". The protagonists of these stories go to great lengths to please their loved ones, hoping to find loving and fulfilling relationships. They make sacrifices and give up certain degrees of power to find happiness, only to find that this happiness is temporary. Both authors use literary techniques to enhance these themes. The tales “Lust” and “Carnal Knowledge” argue that relationships lacking an honest, loving foundation and a lack of balance of power end abruptly and cause pain and loneliness. The love that the narrator hopes to find in Minot's "Lust" continually eludes him. The story consists of a young narrator recalling her numerous sexual experiences with numerous partners. Her motivation is not licentious, nor is she proud of her experiences, she is simply struggling to find comfort and emotional satisfaction. Unfortunately, her experiences take her further and further away from the love and acceptance she desires. Sex initially makes the narrator feel loved, appreciated, and valued. She loved feeling "safe, at rest, in a restful dream" (258), as she would feel when he began to touch her with tender caresses. It almost becomes an addiction for her, a need for happiness. Ironically, it is an addiction that does not satisfy the need. Like a drug, sex offers the narrator a temporary escape and a temporary "high," but after the "high" passes, she feels empty, alone, and... middle of paper... .. d the last paragraphs do not mention Alena. This also helps demonstrate how he comes in and out of Jim's life. Her effect on him was short-lived and transitory, and he is able to return to his old lifestyle after she leaves. Both "Lust" and "Carnal Knowledge" examine very short love relationships. The relationships depicted in each story lack a solid foundation, so they cannot last. Power imbalances exist in these relationships that intensify the protagonists' pain. Both characters initially take great pleasure in the relationship, but then it slips away and leaves them with a feeling of emptiness and loneliness because "After the liveliness of love, love stops." Works Cited Boyle, T. Coraghessan. “Carnal knowledge.” Bedford's compact introduction to literature. Ed. Michael Mayer. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2000. 242-255.