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Metamorphosis of the Narrator in Cathedral by Raymond Carver A metamorphosis is an act of change or a transformation from one thing to another. Most associate a metamorphosis with the process in which a caterpillar turns into a beautiful butterfly. However, metamorphoses occur in humans as well. Cathedral is a story of man, the narrator, who experiences a life changing metamorphosis in an unexpected manner. The narrator is first introduced to the reader as an insensitive and ignorant man, and he reveals these characteristics in many ways throughout the majority of the story. However, interaction with a blind man not only exploits the narrator's character flaws, but is ultimately the catalyst for his metamorphosis. The narrator's insensitivity reveals itself early in the story when his wife's blind friend, Robert, comes for a visit after the death of his wife. Almost immediately in the beginning of the story the narrator admits "A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to." [Carver 2368] He even goes so far as to suggest to his wife that he take the man bowling. He hears the story of Robert's dead wife and can not even imagine " what a pitiful life this woman must have led." [Carver 2370] The narrator is superficial, only recognizing the external part of people and not recognizing the value of a person on the inside. The narrator, although insensitive, is actually quite polite. He tries to engage in small talk when Robert arrives but shows his insensitivity once again when he asks him which side of the train he sat on during his trip. He clearly does not know how to communicate with Robert, and it appears that he does not want to learn. Robert makes him uncomfortable, and the narrator does not know how to handle this. The narrator, in an effort to relieve his discomfort with the situation, offers Robert an alcoholic drink, and pours the first of many drinks to come. The narrator is not only insensitive, but ignorant as well. His beliefs about the blind are based on only what he has seen in the movies. He believes that the blind are led by seeing eye dogs, wear sunglasses, carry walking sticks, and move very slowly. Robert does none of these things, much to the narrator's surprise. When Robert lights a cigarette, the narrator is surprised.
Upon the arrival of his wife’s friend, the husband is ultimately uncomfortable around Robert because he does not know how to communicate with or act around him. His discomfort is revealed when Robert and his wife were sharing their experiences “about the major things that had come to pass for them in the past ten years” (367). He felt it was necessary to join in because he thought Robert would “think [he] left the room and didn’t want [his wife] to think [he] was feeling left out” (367). It is obvious the husband is overly involved with Robert’s handicap and fails to see him as a person with his own thoughts and ideas.
The idea of having Robert as his guest makes Bub uncomfortable. He is stubbornly resistant to the notion of having this strange man in his home, doubly so given this particular man’s physical limitations and the shared history with Bub’s wife. Bub has a disjointed understanding
The close outside friendship between the narrator’s wife and Robert, the blind man, provokes the narrator’s insecurities. This friendship has lasted for ten long years. During those years, they have exchanged countless voice tapes wherein they both tell each other what has happened in their respective lives. Because of this, the narrator feels that his wife has told Robert more than Robert needs to know. The narrator laments, "she told him everything or so it seemed to me" (1054). The narrator’s fear is somehow confirmed when Robert arrives and says that he feels like they have already met (1055). The narrator is left wondering what his wife has disclosed. This murky situation leaves the narrator feeling insecure, especially when he sees the warm interaction between his wife and Robert.
Carver writes about three different characters with a focus on the development of the narrator himself. Although the reader never know her name, the narrator’s wife plays a small role in the story. She introduces the reader to the blind man. When the wife is in the room with both of the men, things seem to go wrong between the two men. The narrator seems to be almost nervous and upset with the wife for paying so much attention to the blind
The narrator is biased against the blind from the beginning. For instance, he stereotypes all blind people thinking they ...
He didn’t like the fact that his wife had a new friend that was going to stay with them and he felt threatened by their closeness. He selfishly says, “ I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me” (Cathedral 86). He clearly didn’t have compassion for that fact that Robert was disabled and that his wife had just died. All he cared about was his own feelings and his own relationship with his wife. He also had the nerve to go on and say, “ My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Some times they were led by Seeing Eye dogs. A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to” (Cathedral 86). He was clearly uninformed and biases when it came to people with disabilities or people that were different from him. He didn’t look at the situation as an opportunity to get to see something different and learn but to complain for pretty much the entire short
Throughout the novel there are several instances where characters, including the narrator, are physically blind or experience the loss of their sight. Such cases of physical blindness represent the unwillingness or incapability to see past the prejudices and falsities of an American society based on the superiority of Whites. An important example of this in the text is the boxing scene in which the narrator is fooled into fighting other fellow African Americans for the enjoyment of notable white folks in the community. The narrator is searching for truth behind the horror of this arranged fight, but his eyes are blindfolded by oppressive Caucasian hands:
soon have to accommodate a visitor, But not just any Visitor, Robert her blind friend. The Narrator and his wife were discussing the fact that she had invited Robert to visit. She worked for Robert ten years ago. Although, the Narrator agreed to the visit, he still expressed how it felt to know that his wife had shared intimate details about herself and the people in her life. These facts made the narrator jealous, considering the fact that she had maintained contact with Robert through two marriages. (94). The Narrator continues to speak in a possessive nature, stressing the fact that she is now his wife, when he speaks of her officer to be and Robert. The Narrator places Robert on the same level as her first husband, who just so happened to be her high school sweetheart (94, 95). On the outside looking in, the reader of this short story would probably say Robert is: insensitive, jealous, affectless, and blunt.
In terms biology, a metamorphosis means “the process of transformation from an immature form to an adult form in two or more distinct stages” (Oxford dictionary). For animals, they must undergo this event in order to become physically developed and fully mature. This phenomenon that provides the animals with the ability to survive in the wilderness is also shown in The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka; a salesman named Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning and finds himself transformed into a giant insect. Throughout the book, Gregor’s metamorphosis leads to many different changes of the family as they experience their own metamorphosis and grow stronger. Although Gregor’s metamorphosis may seem as if it has caused a great deal of suffering to his family, it had provided him and his family an opportunity to pursue new lives.
Throughout the text the narrator is either jealous or scared and has some idea of what a blind person should look or be like. “I have never met, or known anyone personally who was blind.” (pg.347) The narrator feels uncomfortable about having a blind man in the house because he doesn’t know how to be around blind people in general. He doesn’t feel comfortable with making someone else comfortable when he doesn’t know how to react. “A blind man in my house was not so...
The narrator is uneasy with the thought of Robert staying in his house and believes that he is superior to the blind man. Even before an introduction is satisfied between the narrator and Robert, the narrator is a bit disturbed to have Robert staying in his house. Within the first paragraph of the story, the narrator’s agitation towards Robert is made apparent. “I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me” (Carver 33). The narrator assumes from Robert’s blindness that he is going to just be a nuisance to have to host because
Julia Rodas’s academic study on blindness expressed a various amount of common sayings,for me most i can relate to the narrator's lack of emotion. I can relate it to his lack of soul and as Rodas quotes for her study “eye are the window to the soul.”(Rodas 9) With that being said I feel a soul is a form of lifetimes of knowledge and moral sense. Implying the narrator's eyes are dark, or blind with his sense of being soulless . It’s very possible the narrator is suggested to be a young soul instead of an older soul compared to Robert who seemed to be open to knowledge and already has a sense of understanding. The narrator explains his habit, “every night I smoke dope and stay up as long as I could before sleep.” (Carver 362) It is the narrator's choice to live a mindless, blind life of getting stoned and watching television. He is a burn out who mentions “my ideas of blindness came from the movies” (353) He has no real idea of the world around him and he further proves he is uneducated and assumptious with thinking “he didn’t use a cane or wear dark glasses.”(358) He must not get out much because it’s not that uncommon for someone in public to be visually handicapped and not wear the comical dark glasses and walk around tapping a cane with a seeing eye dog. The narrator's reason for why the blind didn't smoke cigarettes was “they couldn't see the smoke they exhale”(358). Which are both more than likely something the narrator saw in one of his movies or television specials while he was mindlessly stoned not interacting with his wife, or anyone for that matter. It could be the alcohol or marijuana interfering with the narrator's sense
In Raymond Carver's "Cathedral," the husband's view of blind men is changed when he encounters his wife's long time friend, Robert. His narrow minded views and prejudice thoughts of one stereotype are altered by a single experience he has with Robert. The husband is changed when he thinks he personally sees the blind man's world. Somehow, the blind man breaks through all of the husband's jealousy, incompetence for discernment, and prejudgments in a single moment of understanding.
This theme goes hand in hand with the theme portrayed in Hills Like White Elephants. In the story the narrator, whose name is never mentioned, has something against his wife’s blind friend, Robert, due to the fact that he cannot see. Robert visits the narrator and the narrator’s wife for company. It seems that the narrator had a preconceived idea that all blind people are boring, depressed, stupid, and are barely even human at all based on the fact that they cannot see the world. Robert, although he is blind, is a caring and outgoing person who is extremely close with the narrator’s wife. The fact that Robert is extremely close with the narrator’s wife should be reason enough for the narrator to accept him as a person, but he is a cold and shallow person with no friends. His relationship with his wife is lacking good communication and seems very bland. Robert’s wife recently passed away, but their relationship was deep and they were truly in love with each other. The narrator was blind to how a woman could work with, sleep with, be intimate with, and marry Robert as has he talks about how he felt sorry for her. The narrator is superficial and does not understand true love or
Life is a never-ending metamorphosis. It is always changing, always transforming. Sometimes a change is followed by positive results, but on the darker side, a metamorphosis can lead to damage or suffering. But of course, the concept of metamorphosis can also be related into the wonderful yet unrealistic world of magic and sorcery. Metamorphosis can mean a rapid transformation from one object to another or a distinct or even degenerative change in appearance, personality, condition, or function. The concept of metamorphosis is commonly used in pieces of literature to describe an extreme change in character or form.