In the short story “The Third Thing That Killed My Father,” Raymond Carver explores the life of the town outcast. Through the observations of a young boy and his father Carver tells the story of a man caught in himself, and captures the true essence of a mans character and his conflicts. Dummy the town outcast finds himself in a struggle to protect the one thing that makes him happy, a school of black bass. Carver comes up with three major conflicts, which include man verses society, nature, and himself. When Dummy gets his fish he further distanced himself from the community. He has always been made fun