Communication In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

In Cathedral by Raymond Carver, the narrator faces the conflicts of only being able to look from a standard physical viewpoint versus seeing on a deeper more involved emotional level. The story reaches a crisis when the narrator closes his eyes and begins to draw a cathedral, relying only on his imagination to fill in the details, and letting himself be guided by Robert, a blind man. This causes him to see clearly for the first time in his life on a more profound scale, even though in reality he is not actually visibly seeing anything. Therefore, the overall work argues that the narrator succeeds at meeting his challenge. He becomes more complete as a human being, since he realizes that in order to understand and view the world, one does not

essentially need eyes, however one only needs to have the ability to feel from within. This character development is shown through various symbols, the absent-minded tone, and the theme of looking versus seeing, however the actual character growth is not perceived until the very end of the story when the narrator chooses not to open his eyes.
The narrator’s wife communicates with her blind friend Robert through audiotapes, which they have consistently sent back and forth over the years.

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

narrator a new world where he can see beyond what is immediately visible, justifying just how powerful and essential this symbol was to the narrator’s character.
Through a lack of description and the obscured view on the characters’ lives, the story seems to carry a distant and hazy tone. The narrator never depicts his past life before marrying his wife, and although he does portray his wife’s life before she met him, his careless attitude and at some points unwilling to give details contributes to this unclear tone. For instance, when the narrator says, “So okay. I’m saying that at the end of the summer she let the blind man run his hands over her face, said goodbye to him, married her childhood etc.,” (35) this feels rushed as if he does not want to take the time or does not seem to be concerned about his wife’s past. At one point of the story, it seems as if the reader is about to be given an insight to the narrator’s character when he and his wife are listening to one of Robert’s tapes. However, as soon as Robert says, “From what you’ve said about him [the narrator], I can only conclude,” (36) the scene is cut from a knock at the front door, never going back to determine what Robert’s true thoughts were about the narrator. Therefore, with his character still remaining a mystery, it intensifies the level of discreteness in the tone of the story. However, it is not only the narrator’s lack of effort to describe his wife’s story and his enigmatic character that generates this tone, but the noticeable pattern of the use of alcohol that initiates almost every scene contributes as well. It first becomes apparent when the wife in her first marriage tries to commit suicide only before downing a bottle of gin, then before listening to Robert’s tape, as mentioned before, the narration makes up drinks for him and his wife. It continues on, when he is waiting for his wife to pick up Robert from the train station and throughout the evening the three drink as well as smoke cigarettes and marijuana taking the direction of the story to dreamy and foggy tone. Nonetheless, the reason for this withdrawn tone, and the insufficient explanations the reader acquires about the narrator, becomes apparent when the narrator experiences his epiphany at the end. By creating a distant and vague tone it presents the character development of the narrator in a more drastic and prominent way, conveying all the focus towards the character’s revelation. If the reader were to have every detail about the narrator before this scene took place, then the significance of the narrator’s enlightenment would not have been as powerful. Carver seemingly wanted to veer the concentration of the reader to that particular event of the narrator’s life, since, as it would seem, that is the most imperative occurrence of his life.