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Raymond carvers cathedral literary elements
Interpretation of cathedral by raymond carver
Interpretation of cathedral by raymond carver
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Analyzing Raymond Carver’s short story, “Cathedral,” his writing is considered to be minimalistic, and the story contains themes of prejudice and religion. Since Hemingway was an influence on Carver, minimalism has shown up in his work as well. As for the themes, Carver uses his characters to come to overcome a prejudice of blindness and end with an epiphany through religion while drawing a cathedral hand over hand. By analyzing Carver’s short story, I will be able to discover how “Cathedral” was developed.
Carver’s writing in “Cathedral” is minimalistic because the story was written in few words, and the narrator was very direct with his emotions. As Clark points out, “Carver’s tendency to place narrow epistemic parameters upon his characters is a technique he likely learns from Chekhov and Hemingway, both of whom he openly acknowledges as influences.” Minimalist writers such as Carver, Hemingway, and other American writers, all seem to create characters that ““…express themselves mainly through obscure gesture and berserk display (Broyard)” (Howe).” When the narrator is explaining the situation going on with the blind man and his wife, he uses multiple short sentences to describe the tapes being sent back and forth. For example, “She wanted to talk. They talked. He asked her to send him a tape and tell him about her life. She did this. She sent the tape (Carver).” The way that Carver has the narrator tell the story shows that the narrator is unhappy and not enthusiastic about his wife’s relationship with the blind man. The short sentences make it easy for the reader to assume and understand the narrator’s emotions. Though the narrator is jealous of the blind man’s relationship with his wife, he also reveals his prejudice toward...
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...to the point sentences, it was easier to see how the narrator was feeling and how he was affected by religion when drawing a cathedral.
Works Cited
Carver, Raymond. "Cathedral." 40 Short Stories: A Portable Anthology. By Beverly Lawn. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2001. 355-68. Print.
Clark, Robert C. "Keeping the Reader in the House: American Minimalism, Literary Impressionism, and Raymond Carver's "Cathedral"" Ebscohost. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.
Howe, Irving. "Stories of Our Loneliness." The New York Times On The Web. The New York Times Company, 11 Sept. 1983. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
Jones, Jeff. "Religious Revelation In Carver’s "Cathedral"" N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. .
"Raymond Carver." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.
Carver, Raymond. “Cathedral.” Reading Literature and Writing Argument. Ed. Missy James and Alan Merickel. Fourth ed. Boston: Longman, 2011. 513-23. Print.
Carver, Raymond. "Cathedral." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 1052-1062.
“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.
Carver, Raymond. "Cathedral." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 1052-1062.
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.
...nd optimistic" (Watson 114). The few critics who have written specifically about "Cathedral" tend concentrate on that optimism, seen at the end of the story with the narrator’s "esthetic experience [and] realization" (Robinson 35). In concentrating on the final "realization" experienced by the narrator, the literary community has overlooked his deep-rooted misunderstanding of everything consequential in life.
In Raymond Carver’s story “Cathedral” the narrator learns what it means to “see” through someone who cannot. To see is to be able to view the things around us while putting aside preconceived notions or fear about these objects or people. In order for this to occur once must overcome what they feel is out of the ordinary and learn to accept things as they are. At first the narrator is doesn’t accept the man and uncomfortable around Robert. The narrator soon comes to understand this when he puts aside his fears, and judgments that he can see more than what meets the eye, and the freedom that comes along with this seeing.
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.
In the story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, it tells of how a blind man is open to new experiences and how he views the world compared to the husband (narrator) who is blinded by the material things of life. The husband is given the gift of sight but the true gift comes from seeing the cathedral. At the beginning of the story, the husband’s outlook on others is filled with stereotypes, discrimination, insecurities and prejudice. After interacting with Robert, his wife's friend, his outlook begins to change significantly.
One of the most eye-catching architectural feats in the town of Helena, Montana is St. Helena’s Cathedral. A cathedral is a church where people gather to pray and worship under the leadership of a bishop(“Montanakids”). The word cathedral in actuality means chair. So a cathedral is simply the church where a bishop presides because it holds within it the bishops special
Caldwell, Tracey. "Raymond Carver's 'Cathedral'." Literary Contents in Short Stories (2006): 1-8. Literary Reference Center. Web. 5 Nov. 2010
Raymond Carver uses strategic dialogue and point of view to articulate themes in his short stories. Another tactic Carver uses in his writing is analyzing basic human skills such as the ability to define love through intimate relations between characters that reveal deeper meaning. In the short stories “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” and “Cathedral,” he investigates relationships and how the characters develop the true meaning of love. While reading these two short stories the reader is able to comprehend the similarities that draw Carver’s works together. Through these stories the reader is also able to understand his outlook on love and human kinship. Carver uses certain strategies and techniques that allow him to bring a parallel between his different stories, but there are also definite things that set each story apart.
First of all, it was an incredibly impressive video and topic for me. In the medieval times, colossal cathedrals were built to represent of faith and a display of originality within the middle ages society in Europe. Cathedrals in the middle ages were typically big churches and were considered the center church of the patriarch’s throne. Though cathedral building was driven by religious figures or establishments, it was often a community effort. From the mid-twelfth century, the church started allow tolerances to those who would help to build a church or cathedral, and therefore, rather than going on crusades, which had been a general means of clearing sins in the late eleventh century,