Compare And Contrast Sonny's Blues And Cathedral

Cathedral Blues

The stories “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, and “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, are similar in a few different aspects. First of all both stories have a first person narrator. Secondly the narrators both overcome ignorance and predisposition toward another character that has some sort of disability. Despite the similarities of these two stories, each author portrays the characters entirely different. In “Cathedral”, Raymond Carver does an excellent job of creating real and believable characters; unlike James Baldwin, who fails to do so, creating mere vessels to portray his views instead of unique and independent characters.
Carver is known for having characters that are blue collar, working class, and down on their luck.

The first character introduced in “Cathedral” is exactly that. The narrator of the story is an older man who is a lonely alcoholic. As he begins to describe his wife’s past, readers start to get an idea of his personality. The narrator is unenthusiastic and uncaring toward the events that have happened in his wife's life, including a divorce and an attempted suicide. He also makes racist and ignorant comments. “Beulah! That’s a name for a colored woman. ‘Was his wife a Negro?’ (Carver 106). Along with a handful or ignorant comments toward blind people, “A beard on a blind man! Too much, I say.” (Carver 106). Although these comments are insensitive they make for a convincing character who has major flaws and a distinct personality. Without an obnoxious attitude the narrator may be bland which could leave the rest of the story uneventful.
Robert, the blind man is a truly authentic character.

The physical description of Robert obviously helps to visualize him and how he might carry himself. “This blind man was late forties, a heavy-set, balding man with stooped shoulders, as if he carried a great weight there. He wore brown slacks, brown shoes, a light-brown shirt, a tie, a sports coat” (Carver 107). Carver also gives us details of Roberts booming voice and friendly demeanor. These descriptions along with certain mannerisms help to create a mental image of the way Robert behaves. “He lifted his beard, sniffed it, and let it fall” (Carver 109). These subtle details makes a huge difference when reading. Just that little mannerism of Robert playing with his beard few times throughout the story better allows the reader to picture how he moves and interacts with the narrator while conversing. The way Robert continues to call the narrator “bub” is another unique detail of his character. Somehow, it fits his big friendly demeanor so well. This seems to be such a simple but effective way to create a unique characteristic for the reader. His calmness and ability to cope with the narrators sarcastic remarks successfully displays Robert as the compassionate and patient man that Carver intended to

create.
Carver is famous for writing in a literary style that is known as minimalism. “Minimalism is a style or technique that is characterized by extreme spareness and simplicity” (Minimalism). Carver seldom includes any unnecessary details or superfluous material. This easily allows the reader to fall into the setting of the story without much unneeded detail. However, David Lipsky has something different to say about Carvers writing style in an essay titled “News From an Unremarked World”, “Carver has been not a minimalist but a precisionist, setting down, as precisely as possible, the exact words for things” (Lipsky). I completely agree with Lipsky. Carver wants the reader to feel as though they are in the situation themselves so he crafts his words and his characters very precisely to make that happen. Critics applaud Carver’s perfection of this technique in the Journal Of Modern Literature, “ to present to the reader the sensations of a character so graphically that the reader would experience the scene directly, participating in the action on the same epistemological plane as the character’ ”(Journal Of Modern Literature). Carver wants the readers to experience the same emotions and feelings as the characters in his stories. To do that he must therefor create strong unique characters.
The barebone minimalistic writing style of Carver reminded me of Villas in Bordighera by Claude Monet. This oil painting is a city scape done in soft pastel colors. It depicts a flourishing garden with agave plants, palm trees, and ferns in the foreground. There are a few Spanish style buildings surrounding the garden, along with hazy green mountains in the background. Everything is a little blurry with no sharp lines or vibrant colors. Monet was famous for this particular style which is known as impressionism. “Impressionist painting seeks to re-create the artist's or viewer's general impression of a scene” (Impressionism). Monet also used a style that focused more on the emotions of the setting rather than particular detail. His paintings are not crisp and the lines are often dull, but the subject of the piece is always very clear. The minimalist writing style of Carver, and Monet’s use of impressionism create simple yet elegant pieces of work that are curiously satisfying.
Unlike “Cathedral”, the characters in “Sonny’s Blues” are inconsistent and erratic. The main problem I have is with the story’s narrator. The narrator is a high school algebra teacher, who was raised in Harlem. The voice of the narrator is very uncharacteristic of what I think a 1950’s Harlem math teacher should be. I would expect him to speak fairly normally, which he does, but it’s only when he is having conversations with others. However, when he is thinking in his head his voice is completely different. The first example is when he explains how he feels after Sonny has been arrested.
“A great block of ice got settled in my belly and kept melting there slowly all day long, while I taught my classes algebra. It was a special kind of ice. It kept melting, sending trickles of ice water all up and down my veins, but it never got less. Sometimes it hardened and seemed to expand until I felt my guts were going to come spilling out or that I was going to choke or scream. (Baldwin 56)
This passage to me just seems so far fetched. For him to elaborate his feelings that elegantly doesn't fit his character. Although it may portray how the narrator actually feels, I don’t think it matches his voice throughout the story. Baldwin creates a flaw in his character, making him seem “unreal” by using such rich language. This happens continually throughout the story. Another instance is when the narrator is looking out his window into the park. He describes the church gathering that is taking place in way that is poetic and out of place. The language that he uses just doesn't make sense coming from his character. An essay titled Blues for “Mr.Baldwin” by Joseph Featherstone, also critiques the author for using his own voice too often.
The only serious defect in this story is the old defect that the characters are often too merely Mr. Baldwin’s mouthpieces … There is a curious ventriloquism in these reported speeches: we see Isabel making the gestures but, but what we hear is the old preacher- prompter, sounding off. (Featherstone 7)
Critics seem to agree that Baldwins characters are weekend by his tendencies to include his own voice into his stories.
Throughout the entire story I really enjoyed Sonny as a character. His descriptive and detailed speech didn't off put me in the same way as the narrator; simply because Sonny is musical and more artistic in nature. When he describes things they seems to flow more naturally from his character without being forced by Baldwin. When Sonny and his brother are talking in the kitchen I was impressed by Baldwin’s ability to portray the feelings of Sonny, “I was all by myself at the bottom of something, stinking and sweating and crying and shaking, and I smelled it, you know? my stink, and I thought I'd die if I couldn't get away from it and yet, all the same” (Baldwin 73). Sonny has been through so much it makes sense that his emotions are raw and intense. Baldwin did a nice job of describing the feelings that a recovering drug addict may have. This perspective was very impressive and it solidified Sonny as strong and believable character.
However, my belief in Sonny as a plausible person was lost at the end of the story. As the narrator is watching the band on stage Baldwin transforms Sonny into a personification of redemption and forgiveness instead of a struggling drug addict. “Then he put it back on top of the piano. For me, then, as they began to play again, it glowed and shook above my brother's head like the very cup of trembling”(Baldwin 76). After just one solo Sonny transforms into a beacon of hope for the reader. Even though just minutes before the show Sonny was still worried that he would continue to use heroin. The idea that heroin addiction can be cured by one piano solo is preposterous to me and that detail in itself makes Sonny’s character become much less plausible.
“Sonny’s Blues” may have a more meaningful and ultimately triumphant ending, but Baldwin fails to create totally realistic and believable characters. Baldwin’s own voice in the narrator, and untimely use of symbolism with Sonny, destroys any plausibility for his characters to resemble an actual person. On the other hand, both Monet and Carver use simple yet effective styles to create pieces that are uncomplicated yet totally satisfying. It is this style that allows Cathedral to have characters that are completely plausible while being totally unique from the author himself.