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The relationship between society and literature
The relationship between society and literature
Literature and society
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5“Cathedral” is a short story written by Raymond Carver about a nameless narrator and his wife hosting her old friend who is blind to their home, Robert. The unnamed narrator and Robert spark a surprising and invigorating friendship when they get to know each other more. The story correlates to the idea of “life passages” that is discussed in the classroom. “Life passages” is how we live our lives, overcome our adversities, and how we achieve our goals, which leads to success. Two elements in particular that help to advance the class theme of “life passages” are, the characters of the narrator and Robert, and symbolism of the cathedral. These two elements in particular help the reader to better understand the story by drawing the reader in …show more content…
by painting a picture, which heightens the senses to pull at us emotionally. 5The “Cathedral” starts with an unnamed narrator and his wife who host a blind man, Robert.
Robert is an old friend of the narrator's wife. The narrator is interpreted as an ignorant man with prejudice and is passive aggressive. When the narrator learns more about Robert on a personal level over the course of an evening, including the concept that external sight is not the worst thing an individual can be deficient in. Robert advocates that being able to see something does not mean that you truly see it. Towards the end of the story, The nature and character of the narrator and of Robert, and the narrator and Robert watch television together and come across a program about the Middle Ages on television. Robert asks the narrator about what is going on during the program, but the narrator is unable to express what a cathedral looks like. Robert asks the narrator to draw the cathedral holding the pen together. Robert orders the narrator to close his eyes and keep drawing. The narrator does so, and Robert tells him to open his eyes and see what he has drawn, but the narrator doesn’t open them. He comes to terms that he’s in his own home, but he feels like he’s nowhere. With his eyes still closed, he tells Robert that the drawing is “really something.” Going in depth to the true character of the narrator and Robert, and the progression of their relationship gives a deeper meaning to “life passages.” Their relationship started as being strained and meaningless. Their …show more content…
communication with each other lead to connections and empathy for each other, which progressed their relationship to meaningful and successful. 5The character is a crucial part of literature and in “Cathedral” because it demonstrates the choices, thoughts, words, actions, and consequences that contribute to the development of themes in a literary work and these events all develop the plot.
The narrator and Robert, separately and jointly progress their perspectives on life and their relationship throughout the story. Their advancement connects to “life passages,” on what an individual goes through in their life as they learn from events and other people they encounter. At the beginning of the story, the narrator is perceived as an ignorant and prejudiced individual. This is validated when he states, “And his being blind bothered me. My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind man moved slowly and never laughed.... A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to” (522). This quote explains the prejudiced behavior the narrator exhibits, however, his ignorance overshadows his realization of that. He admits that his only experience with blind people are from what he's seen in movies, and that alters how he observes them. Furthermore, the narrator pitches the adjective “blind” multiple times in this quote and throughout the story, which reflects how the narrator thinks that is Robert’s only quality. This shows how he views Robert as a person, which is nothing more than a blind man. When the narrator and Robert have the opportunity to know each on a personal level by watching
television with one another, it leads them to understand one another. When the narrator draws the cathedral on the piece of paper while he guides Robert holding the pen, the narrator’s perspective on blindness and Robert completely changes. Until this moment, the narrator has been mostly bitter and ignorant, but he has now gained a more in-depth understanding of himself and his life. It leaves him a new world start to crack open, and Robert can now relate to the narrator about how he views his world. Robert can be inferred as being a humble and compassionate individual by treating the narrator with respect, and who accepts his disability of blindness and being alone with his wife died recently. Robert is unique in that he communicates creatively, and has a keen understanding of the world. This enables him to overcome his rocky start to the relationship with the narrator, and they overcome their differences by forming a special connection to the cathedral. This relates to “life passages” because it displays the transition of the characters life and their transition. They both faced challenges of relating with one another, but they become successful by overcoming their adversities, by opening up who they really are. This relates to life in the real world and literature on how the journey of life. 5The use of the symbolism of the cathedral represents true “sight.” The cathedral itself, the description that the narrator attempts and the drawing, are metaphors for the idea that seeing something does not entirely mean that you understand. Robert directs the narrator to draw out a cathedral, and he places his hand on top of the narrator's as he draws, in an effort to comprehend what it looks like. But, the narrator is the one who truly sees. It represents a strong religious feeling. When Robert asks the narrator to describe the appearance of a cathedral, the narrator struggles because of his his inarticulateness. He explains that in "those olden days, when they built cathedrals, men wanted to be close to God" (525). He discusses with Robert that "in those olden days, God was an important part of everyone’s life" (525). These two statements from him, connected with the descriptions of the cathedrals themselves as "built of stone" (525), suggests that the narrator is not only out of touch with what a cathedral looks like, but he believes religion and God to be unimportant to the people of today. He flatly states that he doesn’t "believe in [religion]. In anything" (525). 5When the narrator ends by saying that he isn't inside anything, he has come to the realization that he can see this cathedral better with his eyes closed than with them open. The narrator’s changed perception of the world without sight is proven when he states, “But I had my eyes closed. I thought I’d keep them that way for a little longer. I thought it was something I out to do” (526). This refers to when he was drawing the cathedral, which helps him gain the capability to see beyond the surface of the true meaning that with lies within. The symbolism of the cathedral relates to the concept of “life passages” by showing significant transition and progression in the narrator’s perception of the real world, and life. The narrator’s drawing of the cathedral has open the door for him into a deeper place in his own world, where he can visualize beyond what is immediately visible. This unequivocally correlates to the idea “life passages” because, the narrator became successful by overcoming his adversity of not seeing the whole like other people. This especially relates to other pieces of literature, and in the real world. 5Two elements in particular that help to advance the class theme of “life passages” are, the characters of the narrator and Robert, and symbolism of the cathedral. These two elements in particular help to better understand for the reader how they specifically relate to “life passages” by connect from the reading to the reader. The narrator and Robert both overcome their adversities of not understanding the world from each other’s perspective, but both made that transition towards the end of the story. Also, the cathedral serving as a symbol helps the narrator gains a perspective of seeing the beauty of the world without vision. The only thing more disadvantageous than being blind is having sight, but no vision, which relates to the narrator, Robert, and to others in the real world.
My own high school experience brought me one of my best friends who I hadn’t paid much attention to because she was in a different clique. I wouldn’t have even considered starting a friendship with her if I hadn’t gotten past my prejudiced ways and opened my mind. The story of “Cathedral” provides a very optimistic ending, which wouldn’t have been possible without the narrator’s initial negative traits. The blind man’s likeable character eventually helps the narrator to have a sort of epiphany in which he appears to leave behind his
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.
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
The short story, “Cathedral,” by Raymond Carver, is about a blind man who changes the way the narrator views life by giving him some insight on how he sees things. The characters in this short story are constantly developing into better versions of themselves by sharing their insights with one another.
The narrator's insensitivity reveals itself early in the story when his wife's blind friend, Robert, comes for a visit after the death of his wife. Almost immediately in the beginning of the story the narrator admits "A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to." [Carver 2368] He even goes so far as to suggest to his wife that he take the man bowling. He hears the story of Robert's dead wife and can not even imagine " what a pitiful life this woman must have led." [Carver 2370] The narrator is superficial, only recognizing the external part of people and not recognizing the value of a person on the inside.
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 speaker's prejudice was nearly overwhelming at the opening of the story. "His being blind bothered me," he said. "A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to." He had never really come in personal contact with anyone before who was blind, and seemed to have no idea of what to expect. He admittedly gathered a stereotypical mind set about blind people from movies, assuming they "moved slowly and never laughed."
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.
The usage of first person point of view traps the reader within the mind of a character who is closed off and narrow-minded for the duration of the story in such a way that it “tell 's nothing, but shows everything (Messer)” at the same time. In this way, the reader goes through the series of realizations with the narrator which convey the message of blindness in correlation with true sight and a spiritual awakening. For instance, the narrator can only feel pity for Robert’s wife, Beulah, because he was never able to see her. He imagined that Robert 's wife “could, if she wanted, wear green eye-shadow around one eye, a straight pin in her nostril, yellow slacks, and purple shoes” (Mays). However, none of this really matted to Robert, and the narrator finds it utterly pathetic. Yet, the narrator never really understands the fact that he does not really know his own wife, regardless of the fact that he can physically see her. Additionally, within the first paragraph, Carver uses demonstratives and possessives to draw the reader close to the Narrator of the story while also constructing a psychological distance between the narrator and other characters in the story (Peterson). In this paragraph, Carver uses the demonstrative “this” as a word to indicate distance, metaphorically, between the narrator and Robert (Peterson). In particular the sentence, “This blind man, an old friend of my wife 's, he was on his way to spend the night (Mays 33)” demonstrates the use of this as a specific person while showing the distance and dislike the narrator has of Robert. As a result, the narrators prejudice is presented to the reader in a way that shows his blindness as
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".
...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.
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.
Many people view blindness as a disability, but could these people be blind to their surroundings? Even though the narrator can perfectly see with his eyes, he lacks in understanding awareness. The narrator blindness isn 't physical, like many vision impaired people. His blindness is psychological, and his blindness causes him to become jealous. His blindness blocks his perception of viewing the world in a different way. This only causes him to see the physical attributes of humans, and thus shut off his mindfulness of viewing human personalities. As a result of a closed mind, the narrator doesn 't understand how Robert was able to live with the fact that he was never able to see his wife in the flesh, but the narrator fails to see that Robert vision of his wife was intimate. On the other hand, Robert blindness is physical. This causes Robert to experience the world in a unique manner. Without Robert eyesight, he is able to have a glimpse of a human personality. He uses his disability to paint pictures in his head to experience the world. By putting his psychological blindness aside, the narrator is able to bond with Robert, and he grasps the understanding of opening his eyes for the first time, and this forms a new beginning of a
...d the blind experience and it was like Robert was no longer the blind person in the house (Caldwell 3). As a result, this shows him the way to gaining a better understanding of his own self worth and heal from pass hurts by experiencing the transcendent of nature of life.