Raymond Carver’s “The Cathedral” is a simple short story, which expresses to the reader that not all who are physically blind cannot truly see. There are many cases in this story where Robert, the blind man shows how the husband, who is also the narrator, a new way of appreciating life. The narrator is not only being superficial and ignorant, but not being able to see what is beyond the physical eye. Mr. Carver writes the story in the first person point of view, allowing the reader to see from the narrator perspective on life, and comes across as a self-absorb man, who has a negative attitude. We do not know if this ignorance is because he has a closed mind, or if he is in fact, a part of his personality, because he applies his logic of thinking …show more content…
When Robert asked if the narrator was religious, he confirmed that he was not “I guess I don’t believe in it. In anything. Sometimes it’s hard. You know what I am saying?” (Carver, XXX) It is then that Robert asked the narrator if he could draw a cathedral for him. With the guidance of Roberts hand and encouragement “terrific, you’re doing fine”, he begins. It starts off as a simple box, but the more the narrator draws, the more it begins to look like his own house. The reader can start to sense there is a change beginning to take place “Never thought anything like this could happen in your lifetime, did you bub? Well, it’s a strange life, we all know that. Go on now. Keep it up” (Carver, XXX). He was so overcome with emotion, that when he wife awoke and asked what was going on, he was not able to answer her. He continued to draw, with the encouragement of Robert. At the end of the drawing he was truly amazed at what he drew. When Robert asked him if he seen what he drew, he said “It’s really something”. (Carver, XXX) For the first time, the narrator was able to see with his eyes still closed, what he had in live, as if he had a coming to Christ moment, with him sitting in his cathedral, which was used to be closer to God. It was a freeing moment “But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything”. (Carver,
In the short story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, the narrator, Bub, is as metaphorically blind as his guest, Robert, is literally blind. Bub has many unwarranted misconceptions about life, blind people in particular. He also has many insecurities that prevent him from getting too close to people. Through his interaction with Robert, Bub is able to open his mind and let go of his self-doubt for a moment and see the world in a different light.
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.
Adding to the obvious structural references to cathedrals and religion, the language and character actions present further evidence of an epiphany of divine proportions. The television program which the characters watch together deals entirely with cathedrals. This spurs the first real conversation between the narrator and the blind man. This presents religion as some form of common ground, on which one could stand, even without sight. When first asked by Robert, the blind man, if he was "in any way religious," the narrator asserts that he is not, and goes on to explain how cathedrals and religion "don’t mean any...
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.
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.
By becoming close with Robert, the man in this story experienced what was necessary to gain an understanding of what life is like for the blind. The man began to draw the cathedral to try and help Robert visualize what one looked like. What he didn't realize at the time was that Robert was helping him to visualize what blindness felt like. Bibliography: Carver, Raymond. "Cathedral".
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.
Robert tells the narrator to find some heavy paper and pencils so they can draw a cathedral together. As they drew Robert tells the narrator to close his eyes. There was a connection made between Robert and the narrator and he says, "it was like nothing else in my life up to now." Robert tells him to open his eyes, but he doesn?t because he doesn?t want the experience to end.
Overall, the cathedral that the narrator draws with Robert represents true sight, the ability to see beyond the surface to the true meaning that lies within. The husband’s insecurities makes him emotionally blind. His inability to see past Robert’s disability ultimately prevents him from seeing the reality of any relationship or person in the story. The husband becomes more sensitive and accepts the moment of being blind has allowed him to become a better man. Finally, the cathedral drawing ironically reveals blindness to be an important factor. As a result, Carver gives interesting lessons to powerfully assess how we can find beauty and free ourselves from prejudgments and see the real world with our minds, not only our eyes.
The unnamed narrator of Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” poses as an unreliable narrator for his unaccepting nature towards blind people along with his ignorant perception of many realities in his life that Carver presents for the reader to take into question. The narrator holds prejudice against Robert, a blind man whom the narrator’s wife worked with ten years earlier and eventually befriends. Unperceptive to many of the actualities in his own life, the narrator paints an inaccurate picture of Robert that he will soon find to be far from the truth.
The short story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver is about a woman who has a blind friend who comes to visit her and her husband. Although the husband has, technically, normal vision he is in the beginning of this story the one who is "blind." Through the husband’s words and actions when he is dealing with Robert, the blind man, we can see that the husband does not "see" or understand what Robert’s blindness means or how it changes or does not change him as a human being. At first Robert makes the husband very uncomfortable, for the husband does not know what to say or do around the blind visitor. As the story progresses, we can see a change in the husband; he seems to be able to see Robert as a person and not just as a blind man.
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.
Raymond Carver, in his short story Cathedral uses a first-person narrator, whose point of view is very much limited and flawed. The narrator in Cathedral has full use of all his senses, unlike the blind man, Robert, who is introduced very early in the story. When comparing the two again, however, Robert is the character that is open to new ideas and willing to experience the joys of life, while the narrator limits himself due to his close-minded thinking. It brings up the question, who is truly blind in the story? Is it a physical ailment or a mental block? The narrator is never given a name in the story, making him the most impersonal character in the story. This also adds to the fact that the narrator is highly ignorant about his surroundings and has a one-sided, self-absorbed view of the world. The perception of the narrator leaves much to be inferred in many points in the story, and at first, it seems pointless to have such a closed off character and the one telling his point of view. I would like to hear the story from the wife’s point of view or Robert’s. Ultimately, however, the limited point of view of the narrator shows where the true ignorance in the world lies.
While the two are inebriated, watching a documentary on cathedrals, our narrator attempts to describe it to Robert when the people on the show stop talking (Carver 95). The narrator comes to a sudden realization that there is a solid chance Robert has no idea what a cathedral looks like, “Something has occurred to me. Do you have any idea what a cathedral is? What they look like, that is? (Carver 94)” Robert explains that all he knows about cathedrals is what the tv show is saying. He asks the narrator if he could describe it to him. The narrator attempts to explain, though all he can come up with is “They’re really big (Carver 95)”. Although that statement is not descriptive, Robert continues to listen to him regardless. Robert suggests the narrator attempt to draw a cathedral while he follows along as that would give an overall idea (Carver 96). The two become friends over the experience. One can infer that the narrator will grow from this and become a slightly less awful man living his life with one less