Seeing Happiness
What is happiness? Do people actually have the right to have happiness in their lives? “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver follows the story of the narrator’s jealousy, and ignorance towards his wife’s relationship with Robert a blind man she used to work for. The narrator’s jealousy towards Robert grows with apprehension towards his upcoming visit to their home on his way to see his in-laws. When Robert arrives, however, the narrator begins to warm up to the man he had previously thought very little of. The narrator soon sees that his beliefs and arrogance towards Robert were wrong and miss guided. Despite the narrators earlier suspensions the two men begin to get along, leading the narrator to bring his guard down, and open up.
…show more content…
“The narrative device enhances verisimilitude, characterizes and creates sympathy for the narrator…” (Delaney, par.12). This first person style helps to include the readers into the story, itself, as they are more able to understand and connect with the narrator and other characters in the story. By using this type of narrative, readers are more able to see the narrator’s point of view, and a side of the story that would not have been available otherwise. “Cathedral” is an effective short story because the central determiners trap the reader within a closed-off, narrow-minded man as he undergoes a spiritual awakening” (Peterson, pg.168). The reader is not only allowed to go through the same learning process as the narrator, but the readers also get to understand how the narrator grew as a …show more content…
The cathedral represents more than just a fancy hundred year old building, it also represents sight. Before the narrator and Robert go through their spiritual connection, the narrator’s life was pretty much black and white, he could see and Robert could not. However, when Robert asks the narrator to describe to him what a cathedral looks like, the narrator found that he was unable to form the words to fully describe what it looked like. “You’ll have to forgive me…” the narrator stated, “But I can’t tell you what a cathedral looks like. It just isn’t in me to do it” (Carver, pg.527). Unable to form the words to describe the cathedral, Robert suggests an alternative for the narrator to try. Up until this moment in the story the narrator was not a spiritual man, of course, that is until he began to draw. The real moment of symbolism however, was not until Robert placed his hand upon the narrators, helping to guide and feel the shapes of a cathedral through the narrator’s own interpretation. By opening up to Robert, and experiencing the moment of true sight the narrator was finally able to “see” something he had previously not been able to,
These audiotapes represent a distinguished type of communication that requires no visual interaction, but an interface that involves understanding and empathy instead, something the narrator has not yet learned. At this point of the story the narrator believes that Robert could not have possibly fulfilled his now deceased wife’s, Beulah’s, aspirations as seen when he states, “I found myself thinking what a pitiful life this woman must have led,” (37). The narrator bases his reason solely on the fact that the man is blind, so how could he have ever interacted or contributed in their relationship. In reality, though, it is the narrator himself, who has not fully satisfied or even begun to fully appreciate his own wife. The audiotapes symbolize this absence of appreciation and reveals to the reader that the narrator has not even considered this “harmless chitchat,” (36) as he describes it, to be of importance to his own marriage. It is not until the end, when he finishes drawing the cathedral that he is capable of understanding what his wife and Robert share. The cathedral is the other major symbol in this story, since it is the pivotal turning point for when the narrator becomes a dynamic character. Without the cathedral the narrator would not have succumbed to his new acceptance of what it means to actually see someone or something. When the narrator says, “I didn’t feel like I was inside anything,” (46) this is the indication of that epiphany coming to him. Moments before, the narrator had just explained to Robert that he did not “believe in it [religion]. In anything,” (45) however, this insightful moment now contradicts that statement, supporting the notion that the narrator has advanced as a character. Furthermore, a cathedral, which is assumed to bring solace and a new light to those in pursuit of one, offered the
In “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, a blind man named Robert help Bub, a person unable to understand or place the feelings of others in front of his own , open his eyes and realize how to consider others feelings. In the story, Robert comes to to visit Bub’s wife after his wife passes away. Bub is not looking forward to his encounter with Robert. As the story progresses, Bub is forced to interact with Robert in ways that seem foreign to him. Bub’s difference interactions with Robert builds up to the both of them drawing a cathedral together, which leads to Bub being changed and him placing Roberts points of view ahead of his own. Bub believes the world revolves around himself and lacks the ability to consider others feeling ahead of his own,
“Cathedral” consists of three individuals. The narrator is the main character, which the story revolves around. The wife of the narrator is the second character, who is the least relevant. The third character is the blind man, named Robert, who is a friend of the wife.
Upon reading Raymond Carver's short story of the Cathedral one will notice the literary devices used in the short story. When analyzing the story completely, one then understands the themes, motifs, metaphors, and the overall point of the piece. This leaves the reader with an appreciation of the story and a feeling of complete satisfaction.
The structural and technical features of the story point towards a religious epiphany. The title of the story, as well as its eventual subject, that of cathedrals, points inevitably towards divinity. Upon first approaching the story, without reading the first word of the first paragraph, one is already forced into thinking about a religious image. In addition, four of the story’s eleven pages (that amounts to one third of the tale) surround the subject of cathedrals.
The narrator in Raymond Carver’s "Cathedral" is not a particularly sensitive man. I might describe him as self-centered, superficial, and egotistical. And while his actions certainly speak to these points, it is his misunderstanding of the people and the relationships presented to him in this story which show most clearly his tragic flaw: while Robert is physically blind, it is the narrator who cannot clearly see the world around him.
... man that was trying to have an affair with his wife. Carver uses this story “Cathedral” to open the readers eyes and send the profound message of intolerance and ignorance and how one can be blind mentally not physically. The narrator is so hostile to the idea of a visit from Robert because he is blinded by jealousy, anger, and confusion.
Raymond Carver's "Cathedral" depicted the interaction between a narrow minded husband, with a limited understanding of the world around him, and a blind visitor, named Robert, that proved to be the catalyst that dramatically changed the husband's view on the world, while they went from being strangers to becoming friends. In the beginning of the story, the husband disliked the concept of his wife bringing her blind friend over to stay since he never had met a blind person before and did not understand it. However, as the story progresses, the husband, through interaction and observation, begins to dispel his fears and misconceptions of Robert and his blindness. With the help of Robert, the husband gains a revelation that changed his view and opened his eyes to the world.
...l of open-mindedness. “Cathedral” concerns the change in one man’s understanding of himself and the world. From the start of the story the narrator is restricted in his understanding to accept the blind man just as his wife has. He cannot fully wrap around the idea of what makes Robert so special. Until, that is, that the narrator starts drawing the cathedral which starts off as a house almost, and expands into something grander. This short story allows us to realize that the world is greater and further detailed than what we consider it in our confined minds. And that in fact we should never assume that there is nothing more to what the eye can see. It simply states that we shouldn’t form an opinion on someone or something based only on what you see on the exterior, because usually after taking the time to explore, the person or thing will not be what you expected.
...ns up to new possibilities: "Never thought anything like this could happen in your lifetime, did you bub? Well, it's a strange life, we all know that"(P729). This quote shows the narrators limited view on life. By drawing the cathedral with Robert, the narrator's views are expanded and he experiences a revelation. The narrator realizes that he must let go of his insecurity and mental acts of jealousy.
Raymond Carver utilizes his character of the husband, who is also the narrator, in his short story "Cathedral." From the beginning of the story the narrator has a negative personality. He lacks compassion, has a narrow mind, is detached emotionally from others, and is jealous of his wife's friendship with a blind man named Robert. He never connects with anyone emotionally until the end of this story.
The narrator explains how it is hard for him to describe more of them, because he isn’t religious, so how can someone describe something with embellishment if you don’t believe in it? Robert then asked the narrator if he would like to draw one together. The narrator agrees, when he brings the paper bag to draw on, he describes how Robert is touching the paper, the edges, and the corners. When they both begin to draw, Robert places his hand over the narrator’s and follows, the narrator is in disbelief on what is happening because he never thought anything like this was ever going to happen to him. Robert comes off as a very encouraging man who unconsciously is helping Robert believe in himself by trying something that he’s never been used to doing. The positivity, patience, and great words Robert used towards the narrators’ effort in drawing the cathedral made him want to keep going and he didn’t know exactly why, all he knew was that he couldn’t stop. After a while the narrator closed his eyes and continued to draw, then he opened his eyes to tell Robert how the drawing came out. Surprisingly, the narrator kept his eyes closed and he mentions that although he knew he was home he felt like he was in anything. While remaining with his eyes closed and answering Robert on how the drawing looked like, he then said “It’s really something.” (Carver, 1983). I
In the beginning of the story, the narrator feels very uncomfortable knowing that he will
The husband in Raymond Carvers “Cathedral” wasn’t enthusiastic about his wife’s old friend, whom was a blind man coming over to spend the night with them. His wife had kept in touch with the blind man since she worked for him in Seattle years ago. He didn’t know the blind man; he only heard tapes and stories about him. The man being blind bothered him, “My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they were led by seeing-eye dogs. A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to. (Carver 137)” The husband doesn’t suspect his ideas of blind people to be anything else. The husband is already judging what the blind man will be like without even getting to actually know him. It seems he has judged too soon as his ideas of the blind man change and he gets a better understanding of not only the blind man, but his self as well.
...h it emotionally detached without the pleasure of living. In the end, when the narrator has his eyes closed drawing the cathedral, he is the most open he has even been to the world. The narrator’s limited point of view in the story was crucial in showing the reader that what will hold you back the most in life are your biases and judgments. If the story was told in Robert’s point of view, it would have been a joyful story about visiting a long time friend, even with the tragedy of his wife’s death. We would have never known of the prejudices that were held inside the husband, and no true theme would have come from the story. The limited point of view was used in a way that expanded upon the theme even more, and made for a stronger story structure.