Blind Faith in Raymond Carver's Cathedral In the story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, the main character, goes through a major personal transformation. At the beginning of the story, his opinions of others are filled with stereotypes, discrimination and prejudice. Through interaction with his wife's blind friend Robert, his attitude and outlook on life changes. Although at first he seemed afraid to associate with a blind man, Robert's outgoing personality left him with virtually no choice. During Robert's visit, he proved to be a normal man, and showed the speaker that by closing his eyes, he could open his mind. The speaker's prejudice was nearly overwhelming at the opening of the story. "His being blind bothered me," he said. "A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to." He had never really come in personal contact with anyone before who was blind, and seemed to have no idea of what to expect. He admittedly gathered a stereotypical mind set about blind people from movies, assuming they "moved slowly and never laughed." The character's prejudice was also evident when he asked about Robert's deceased wife. Upon hearing her name Beulah, he asked, "Was his wife a Negro?" Immediately, his wife seemed offended at the question. The paragraphs that follow are important to the story. The speaker informs the readers that his wife told him the story of Robert and Beulah. H... ... middle of paper ... ...interracial relationships. However because of the way he acts when he hears about the two of them, it is obvious that he has led a sheltered life. But even after his entire life of not understanding what was going on in the world around him, one night with Robert enlightened him and changed his view on people and his surrounding environment. Works Cited and Consulted Bethea, Arthur F. "Carver's Cathedral" The Explicator. Spring 1998: 132-134. Carver, Raymond. "Cathedral." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 1052-1062. Nesset, Kirk. "Insularity and Self-Enlargement in Raymond Carver's 'Cathedral.'" Essays in Literature. March 22, 1994: 116.
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.
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 narrator’s prejudice makes him emotionally blind. His inability to see past Robert’s disability stops him from seeing the reality of any relationship or person in the story. And while he admits some things are simply beyond his understanding, he is unaware he is so completely blind to the reality of the world.
During this story, the storyteller, who is bias, is drastically changed once a blind man Robert opens the narrator's eyes to understanding the deeper that means of the globe around him. The story primarily focuses on the storyteller and there for the approach Robert changes the narrator's perspective about the world and him. At the end of the story, Robert has a friend, no longer a hazard or an opponent. Absorbing that Robert is a good man, and that his spouse and Robert are just friends. It also presents an acquaintance in mutual, which is somewhat they seem absent. Bub might furthermore improvement a better relationship with his wife.
His, "idea of blindness came from the movies", where, "...the blind move slowly and never laughed" (Carver 98). These misconceptions of blindness form barriers between the blind and the sighted. Carver breaks down these barriers as he brings the vastly different lives of these two men together. Those of us with sight find it difficult to identify with the blind. This man, like most of us, can only try to imagine what life is like for Robert.
Reagan said he could not recall whether he knew in advance about the 1985 arms shipments and that he knew nothing about the diversion of funds. Both actions had been carried out by staff of the National Security Council (NSC), a White House intelligence and policy coordinating agency. Marine Lieutenant Colonel Oliver L. North, an NSC aide, was the person most closely involved in the management of the Iran-contra operations.
The husband's view on the world at the start of the story was a narrow one that was based on his ignorance, which prevented him from gaining understanding. His long held misconceptions, especially about blindness, defined his expectations about things he did not understand. For instance, when the husband found out that Robert was coming to stay, he disliked the idea of someone who was blind, let alone someone who he didn't know, coming to visit and the husband's "idea of blindness came from the movies." He saw the blind people as people who "moved slowly and never laughed." This was not the limit of his ignorance as it was further displayed by his constant referral of Robert as "the blind man" and his assumption of Robert's deceased wife being a black person based solely on the name of Beulah. This assumption display his bigotry is not limited to Robert's blindness and that differences that he did not understan...
Carver, Raymond. "Cathedral." The Harper Anthology of Fiction Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1991.
“The Watergate Files”. The Ford Library. 1995. The Gerald Ford Library and Museum. 5 May
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
McGeary, Johanna, et al. "Inside Watergate's Last Chapter." Time 165.24 (2005): 28. History Reference Center. Web. 9 Jan. 2014.
Yet Arnold has gone down in history not as a hero but as a villain, a military traitor who, as commander of the American fort at West Point, New York, in 1780, schemed to hand it over to the British.
Carvers Cathedral Plato’s “Myth of the Cave” and Carver’s Cathedral provide insight into parallel words. The protagonists in each story are trapped in a world of ignorance because each is comfortable in the dark, and fearful of what knowledge a light might bring. They are reluctant to venture into unfamiliar territory. Fortunately the narrator in the Cathedral is forced by circumstances to take a risk. This risk leads him into new world of insight and understanding.
The iran-contra affair was a huge scandal it is also called a Irangate, Contragate or in other words what people would call it would be the Iran Contra scandal. The affair or scandal pedal faster on the second term of Ronald Reagan is the president of the United States of that time. Administration of the CIA of the senior office of the White House had secretly made the sale of weapons to Iran, it was otherwise known as an arms embargo. what an embargo means is to break the band or trade or other commercial activity with another country but that is what officials were trying to successfully do by re securing the release of U.S hostages and to fund the Contras in Nicaragua.
Did you know the name “Benedict Arnold” is often used as a synonym for the word “traitor” ? Benedict Arnold was not the kindest or most honest person when he was alive but he was once a great american hero. Many believe that he was just a cold hearted traitor who betrayed america for money and greed . Maybe that is true but you can not make up assumptions about him before you know anything really about him. In my project I learned many things that surprised me and also changed my perspective on who Benedict Arnold was. After reading my research project maybe you will come to a different view of him as well and if not maybe now you will have evidence as to why you feel that way.