An Unattainable DaydreamIn a world full of cheaters, liars and con artists, the last person you should lie to is yourself. However, that's exactly what happened in Raymond Carver's "Neighbors." In this story, Bill and Arlene Miller had the opportunity to look after Jim and Harriet Stone's apartment while they were visiting family for ten days. The Millers were tired of their lives and often felt jealous of their neighbors, who they believed lived happier and more exciting lives than they did. In the absence of their neighbors, the Millers behaved very strangely; trying on their clothes, drinking alcohol, and spending too much time in their apartment. They tried to live the Stones life until one day they found themselves locked out of their own apartment with no way to return to their sad lives. This story shows that a person should never try to be something they are not. If change is necessary, it must always come from within, otherwise you will end up lost, with nowhere to turn except to the long, dark, deceptive world of lies. In the story "Neighbors", the Millers finally became like this. disgusted with their own lives, lying was no longer enough. They began living the life of the Stones and repeatedly used mirrors as symbols to show how much they desired to see Jim and Harriet in reflections. For example, on page 70 it says, “He looked in the mirror, then closed his eyes, and then looked again” (Roberts and Jacobs 70). When, after opening his eyes and seeing no change, Bill decided to open the medicine cabinet, take Harriet Stone's pills and put them in his pocket. He's so desperate to become one of the Stones that he decides maybe drugs will help him. The next time Bill visited his neighbor's apartment, he lay on their bed and couldn't even remember when they would return or even what they looked like. After a sigh, he got off the bed to look in the mirror (Roberts and Jacobs 72). Still with no change, he decided to start trying on Jim's clothes in hopes of a miracle. He tried on some of Jim's shorts and t-shirt and looked in the mirror again (Roberts and Jacobs 72).