Popular Mechanics

"Popular Mechanics" by Raymond Carver can be read as a retelling of the story I Kings 3 in the Bible. In the story involving Solomon in the bible, there is a conflict consisting of two women  and a baby. Going along with that, in the story "Popular Mechanics", the characters consist of a man, a woman, and  a child. In both of the stories, there is a custody battle over the child. Both stories also consist of parents who are settling the issue in a very immature way. In the story about Solomon, woman battle through arguing with each other. In "Popular Mechanics", the parents of the child settle the dispute by going through a game of tug-of-war over the child. Both of the stories end with unhappiness for the parents. In the story about Solomon, the judge declares that sense a decision cannot be made by the women as to whose baby it is, the child shall be cut into two and each of the mothers given half of the baby. The ending to "Popular Mechanics" is kind of like that. I do not think that the baby was literally split into two pieces, but the baby was killed while parents grabbed a hold of the limbs and pulled on them with all of their strength. "But he would not let go. He felt the baby slipping out of his hands and he pulled back very hard" (Carver, 35).