A first-person narration provides an interesting perspective on the main action of a story. A narrator can express his/her own thoughts and feelings, which in turn develops a more personal and relatable story to the reader. Raymond Carver often uses this literary point-of-view tactic in his short stories to reveal the traits of the narrator. In "Cathedral," Carver uses conversational tone and diction to reveal the narrator's character; which is prejudicial at first, but becomes empathic by the end. Knowing this narrator's characteristics facilitates the reader's understanding of major components of the story, such as the narrator's hostility to Robert, his loser-like sociality, and the climax of opening up to Robert.
One way Carver develops the personality of the narrator in "Cathedral," is by his use of conversational tone. It is as if the narrator were simply telling a story to a group of close friends that shared his viewpoints. The style of sentences delivers a tone that is sarcastic, bitter and arrogant. These qualities are developed by the structure of his words, to reflect the mood and attitude of the narrator. Carver uses Hemmingway-like hyphens to deliver sarcastic side comments that stem away from the actual story line, but ad a cynical quality to the narrator. These hyphens are disguised as parenthetical information, but are actually used as an aside for the narrator to introduce unnecessary argumentative comments. As an example, there is a point in the story where the narrator is describing the emotional situation of Beluah's 0 death, with a taste of wicked humor. "After they had been inseparable for eight years--my wife's word, inseparable--Beluah's health went into rapid decline" (Cathedral 213). The ...
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...motional for the narrator. The image depicted here is that the narrator is observing, and trying to understand, his new guest. During the drawing of the Cathedral, the narrator refuses to open his eyes, so that he can better understand the viewpoint of Robert. This empathic characteristic of the narrator was not present in the beginning of the story, and has been developed through his interaction with Robert.
We see the narrator in the beginning as a bitter and jealous man, but as the story unfolds, he changes to become more empathetic and emotional. This change in the personality of the narrator correlates with Carver's use of diction and tone. From conversation to confession, "Cathedral" is a work of art in the first-person narrative. By revealing this character through word choice and tone, the narrator comes alive and the story has more significance.
Carver provides an easy, visual outlook of the protagonist throughout the short story, which helps keep a better understanding during the simple yet intense experience. As the story continues, the protagonist enhances his mood as he aids Robert to visualizing a cathedral. This experience creates an impact on others because it is a great reason why one should never judge someone for something beyond their control. Also, helping someone, as Robert does for Bub, can be a life changing experience. Despite the blind man being physically blind, the husband is the one with the disability to see from someone else’s perspective.
“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.
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.
Carver’s purpose of having the narrator of the short story use imagery allows for the reader to be able to understand each and every moment he lives while explaining the blind man’s, Robert, visit to his home. In Cathedral, the narrator tells the story very detailed and descriptive. For instance, when the narrator describes his wife’s arrival with Robert, “I saw my wife laughing as she parked the car. I saw her get out of the car and shut the door…She went around to the other side of the car to where the blind man was already starting to get out…he was wearing a full beard!” Here, the author makes the narrator describe the scene and details it as if he is describing it to a blind person. Most of the short story uses imagery which makes clear images in the reader’s mind to unders...
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.
The short story “Cathedral” is written with the written technique called “show don’t tell”. The symbol of this way of writing is an iceberg. When it comes to icebergs just 10% is visible the rest are underneath the water and are unseen. The reader is only introduced to a bit of information the remaining 90% the reader has to come up with on his own: ‘’I finished my drink, rinsed the glass, dried my hands. Then I went to the door.’’ If you look deeper than the 10% this quoted passage shows that the narrator is drinking but he does not want his wife to find out about it possibly because he has a drinking problem. The quote furthermore shows that Richard Carver uses minimalism and writes in an everyday language. The narrator comments on almost
As the story progresses, the husband’s attitude towards Robert changes. During dinner, he “watched with admiration as [Robert] used his knife and fork” (366) on a piece of meat. As bedtime draws near, his wife heads upstairs, leaving both men alone. The husband begins to flip through channels and comes across a program about a cathedral. Robert is unaware of what a cathedral is and the husband is attempts to explain, but has a hard time in doing so. To get a better understanding, Robert suggests that he draws a cathedral while he places his hands on top of those of the husband.
...ns up to new possibilities: "Never thought anything like this could happen in your lifetime, did you bub? Well, it's a strange life, we all know that"(P729). This quote shows the narrators limited view on life. By drawing the cathedral with Robert, the narrator's views are expanded and he experiences a revelation. The narrator realizes that he must let go of his insecurity and mental acts of jealousy.
Raymond Carver’s short story, “Cathedral,” portrays a story in which many in today’s society can relate. We are introduced from the first sentence of the story to a man that seems to be perturbed and agitated. As readers, we are initially unsure to the reasoning’s behind the man’s discomfort. The man, who seems to be a direct portrayal of Raymond Carver himself, shows his ignorance by stereotyping a blind man by the name of Robert, who has come to stay with he and his wife. From the very beginning, Carver shows his detest for Robert but over the course of the story eases into comfort with him and in the end is taught a lesson from the very one he despised.
...rs, leaving the narrator and Rob to smoke a joint and watch television. The narrator tells Robert what’s going on in the show and asks him if he knows what a cathedral is, since the show is all about cathedrals. Although the narrator isn’t religious, he draws a cathedral for Robert, allowing his hand to be over his. This would allow him to understand what a cathedral looks like. However, when the wife wakes up and asks what they’re doing, she’s confused when the narrator says they’re drawing a cathedral. Robert asks the narrator to open his eyes, and he never does, claiming he feels weightless, suggesting to himself that he’s reached an epiphany. The narrator’s drawing allows him to see beyond “visibility.” He doesn’t understand exactly what he felt, but he knows it was a meaningful experience. Robert demonstrated that seeing involves a lot more than just looking.
The narrator, his wife, and the blind man spend the evening talking, but eventually the wife falls asleep. The narrator is uncomfortable about being left alone with a blind man. There is something about cathedrals on TV and the blind man asks the narrator to describe what a cathedral looks like. The narrator only describes physical things and so the blind man decides that they should try drawing one instead. As they draw the blind man and the narrator connect and a transformation in the narrator?s character takes place.
...h it emotionally detached without the pleasure of living. In the end, when the narrator has his eyes closed drawing the cathedral, he is the most open he has even been to the world. The narrator’s limited point of view in the story was crucial in showing the reader that what will hold you back the most in life are your biases and judgments. If the story was told in Robert’s point of view, it would have been a joyful story about visiting a long time friend, even with the tragedy of his wife’s death. We would have never known of the prejudices that were held inside the husband, and no true theme would have come from the story. The limited point of view was used in a way that expanded upon the theme even more, and made for a stronger story structure.
Raymond Carver uses strategic dialogue and point-of-view to illuminate the themes of his stories. After reading “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” and “ Cathedral” the reader is able to mend each piece of work together and understand how Carver creates his short stories.