Ignorance And Prejudice In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

Inherent to Raymond Carver’s work “Cathedral,” are the themes of ignorance and prejudice as they lead to the confinement and isolation of the narrator. Carver makes these themes apparent to the reader through his distinct plot, point of view, relative tone, and use of dialogue. Carver endures a personal transformation that is demonstrated through the use of irony and symbolism. Through his profound use of symbolism and vivid imagery, Carver exemplifies a dramatic development of character that is central to the narrative as a whole and ultimately gives the narrative an unexpected turn. Carver illustrates how the plot of the narrative gives way to understand how the narrator becomes this ignorant person, expresses his tone to show the way he

uses his ignorance toward others and himself, and includes much imagery along the way in order to identify and resolve the occurring conflict.
Through Carver’s use of plot he demonstrates that ignorance and prejudice lead to isolation. The elements of the plot give a strong understanding of how the narrator comes to be the ignorant and prejudice man that he is during the majority of the story. The entire narrative occurs in one night as the narrator hosts a guest at his house. The narrator explains to his wife that he is not thrilled about this guest; a blind man named Robert who has a history with his wife. The narrator claims he believes “the blind” to be gloomy and miserable, which he bases solely off of movie characters and his imagination, clearly demonstrating his infamous ignorance. This supposition adds a dramatic tone. Additionally, it expresses the first hints of the narrator’s ignorance towards humanity and his limited viewpoints. He says, “A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to” (1.1). The plot begins with the narrator saying, “This blind man, an old friend of my wife’s, he was on his way to spend the night. His wife had died” (). Being that the blind man, Robert, and the narrator’s wife have a past, and have kept in touch via audio tape over the past ten years, there is a sense of jealous portrayed from the narrator, which could play a part in his ignorance and judgment toward not only Robert, but blind people in general. Knowing this, the narrator’s wife tells him, "If you love me, you can do this for me. If you don't love me, okay. But if you had a friend, any friend, and the friend came to visit, I'd make him feel comfortable." (1.7) in hopes that he is welcoming and respectful of their awaited guest. When Robert finally arrives to the house, things start off somewhat awkward and uncomfortable. The night continues and after a few drinks, it becomes more enjoyable and less awkward. As the three of them begin to wind down, they find themselves watching a documentary on cathedrals, and the relationship between the narrator and Robert takes a powerful turn. This point in the novel represents the resolution of the conflict that the narrator faces, ignorance and prejudice, through the vivid imagery and symbolism that Carver expresses.
The foundation of “Cathedral” is reliant on the personal perspective of the narrator, who remains unnamed throughout the story.

The reader is offered a clear vision of the narrator’s ignorance and prejudice by having intimate access to the narrator’s mental process. All the while, the tone expressed gives a major sense of the way he acts out towards others and himself from his ignorant nature. The entire narrative occurs in one night as the narrator hosts a guest at his house. The narrator explains to his wife that he is not thrilled about this guest; a blind man named Robert who has a history with his wife. The narrator claims he believes “the blind” to be gloomy and miserable, which he bases solely off of movie characters and his imagination, clearly demonstrating his infamous ignorance. This supposition adds a dramatic tone. Additionally, it expresses the first hints of the narrator’s ignorance towards humanity and his limited viewpoints. He says, “A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to”

(1.1).
Carver’s use of tone, the speaker’s attitude toward a subject, clearly shows how the narrator uses his ignorance and prejudice in his interaction with others.

He becomes snide and nasty as he communicates with Robert, the audience, and himself. He is bitter about the fact that Robert, unfamiliar company from the outside world, is coming to visit, not to mention he is blind. Blindess is a trait that the narrator clearly puts a bad connotation on, also expressing his hostile tone. When Robert’s wife, who passed away from cancer, is brought up in conversation, the narrator’s wife becomes extremely irritated by his reaction. "I don't have any blind friends," I said. "You don't have any friends," she said. "Period. Besides," she said, "goddamn it, his wife's just died! Don't you understand that? The man's lost his wife!" I didn't answer. She'd told me a little about the blind man's wife. Her name was Beulah. Beulah! That's a name for a colored woman. "Was his wife a Negro?" I

asked.
Confinement plays a great role in elucidating the prejudice and ignorance represented through the depiction of the narrator’s rejection of the outside world. Furthermore, the setting of the narrative illustrates his confined life. The narrator traps himself in his house to shield himself from the outside world. He reaches to alcohol and drugs as that shield, but fails, as those elements only cause him to be more trapped in his life.
Carver illustrates the characters’ developments through the combination of irony and symbolism. The two elements become intertwined to ignite a concrete and unforeseen relationship between the narrator and Robert. As the night dwindles down in the household, the narrator, his wife, and Robert find themselves propped in front of the television watching a documentary on cathedrals. Curious, the narrator questions Robert on whether or not he knows how to accurately describe a cathedral. Unsure, Robert suggests that he draw one in order to aid in his understanding of the cathedral. Robert proceeds to place his hand on the narrator’s, guiding along with the motion of the narrator. “He found my hand, the hand with the pen. He closed his hand over mine” (3.30). With the grasp of a hand, a special bond is formed between the two men. The small gesture leads to the narrator’s epiphany about reality. In this moment, both the narrator and Robert are able to see more clearly. Ironically, although Robert is the blind man out of the two, the narrator finds clarity with his eyes closed during this connection. This moment of clarity frees the narrator of his confinement, ignorance, and prejudice. Through this symbolism, Carver stresses the idea that the human mind is the strongest aspect of sight and clarity. Our judgments are created in our heads through imaginations rather than through reality. The reversal of Robert and the narrator is monumental in expressing how imagination and indirection work together. The blind man is limited to imagination because he cannot see objects for what they truly are, and the narrator is limited to his ignorance towards relationships with others, the outside world, and reality. The narrator’s interaction with Robert opens his eyes to reality and closed them to ignorance. He is finally set free from his own conflict, his ignorance, prejudice. The closing lines read, My eyes were still closed. I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn't feel like I was inside anything. "It's really something" ().