Popular Mechanics

"But he would not let go.  He felt the baby slipping out of his hands and he pulled back very hard.  In this manner, the issue was decided." - Raymond Carver.

For this blog, I am going to formally answer a question included in the text.  The question is this:

Discuss the story's final lines.  What is the "issue" that is "decided?"

At first, when I read the story, I thought that the issue decided was who the baby was going to go with.  I thought the father ended up getting the baby for it seemed like the couple was fighting over the baby itself.  Then, I realized that it was probably actually the picture of the baby that they were fighting over.  The "issue" that was "decided" was that the father got the picture frame.  After the text says the woman picked up the picture, there is nothing else to suggest that she picks up the baby.  This would also help to explain why the two were being so aggressive while fighting over the object.  If it was the baby they were tugging and pulling at, I would be very shocked.  Such aggressiveness would seriously hurt a little infant.  But, now, after considering it to be the picture they were fighting over, I believe it wasn't so bad that they were tugging and pulling at it.