Love v Lust

In the short story Keith Ron Carlson writes a story about the differences between love vs lust, both of witch can be seen in the relationship between Keith and Barbra.

At the beggining of there story it seems like love is manifested in the relationship barbra has with her current boyfriend brian. Brians relationship is originaly portrayed as a loving relationship but is later revealed to be the exact oppisite (take note as this is true of all relationships in the story essentialy). This is most evident with this quote. ““Just what is the matter with you?” Brian said. For some reason when he’d gone to kiss her, she’d averted her face. Her heart burned with pleasure and shame. She was going to make up a lie about tennis, but then just said, “Oh Brian. Just leave me alone for a while, will you? Just go home.””(Carlson 7) This shows that even conventional relationships can be built on lust. Barbra’s relationship with Kieth on the other hand is originaly presented in the oppisite light with him caring a suprising ammount about her. Buying her a trophy at a thrift store and trying to help her, ““I mean, this girl was a golden girl, an angel, the light in everybody’s life.” “Do I want to hear the tragic story?”” “She was a wonder. Straight A’s, with an A plus in chemistry. The girl could do no wrong. And then,” Keith looked at Barbara, “She got involved with motorcycles.””. This is showing not his lust for barbra, but it is showing that he genuinely cares about her, and later after they do score and barbra ends her relationship with Brian there is a very revealing line, after Barbra finds him at graduation. “You want a farewell speech. Okay, here you go. You better call Brian and get your scooter back. Tell him I tricked you. Wake up, lady. Get real. I just wanted to see if I could give Barbara Anderson a whirl. And I did. It was selfish, okay? I just screwed you around a little. You said it yourself: it was a joke. That’s my speech. How was it?” This eventualy reveals the whole thing as just a scam. It shows how hard it is to tell the difference between love and lust, and it is actualy forshadowed earlier in the book by a quote from one of barbra’s friends. “Right. But please, I’ve known a lot of guys who cook. They were some of the slickest. High School Confidential says ‘There are three million seductions and only one goal.’”. This ultimatly sums it up by showing that it is very difficult to tell the true nature of someones feelings even though it may seem obvious at first glance.