Literary Analysis On Cathedral

Amber LaCourt
ENG 0201
Professor Baker
6/2/18
Paper #1

In “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, showcases the narrator's reflection and insight within himself by gaining a perspective through the eyes of Robert. In a variety of ways this story reads as a communion. Communions are usually about forgiveness and coming clean with your sins that you might of made within your past. The unnamed narrator within the story is constantly searching for forgiveness within himself. At first the narrator is a little bit wary of Robert the Blind man coming to visit his wife. The narrator is initially fearful of meeting him due to the lack of experience with blind people. He mentions that his idea of blind people has come from “movies” that he has seen

in the past (Carver 105). Prior to meeting Robert, the unnamed narrator and his wife get into an argument about Robert. The narrator comes off as close minded by saying “I don’t have any bling friends” which causes the wife to lash back by saying “You don’t have any friends” (Carver 107). This argument initially shows the tensions and differences between the two characters. When both Robert and the unnamed narrator meet at first he seems fairly hesitant and wary of asking Robert things such as his train ride and even making comments about the old couch in the corner of his living room. After dinner, both Robert and the wife make small talk and the narrator observes their conversation. He goes on to say “we had us two or three more drinks while they talked about major things that had come to pass them for in the past ten years. For the most part I listened” (Carver 110). As the narrator is watching Robert and his wife interacting with one another. In some ways it feels as if he’s craving that sort of connection with his wife. Both Robert and the narrator’s wife have a bond that has been established over ten years of communication through tapes. The unnamed narrator expresses that both Robert and his wife share a deep connection that he could never understand. In the midst of conversation Robert mentions “This beats the tapes, doesn’t it ?” (Carver 111). In that moment showcases how special and intimate these tapes are between the wife and Robert. As the story goes on, the narrator and Robert seem to get more comfortable with each other by sharing drinks and smoking together. After the narrator's sports program ends and a program about catholic cathedrals comes on. The narrator tries to change the program but Robert refuses to change it by saying “It’s fine with me. Whatever you watch is okay. I’m always learning something. Learning never ends. It won’t hurt me to learn something tonight. I got ears”(Carver 112). In this moment the narrator realizes that Robert enjoys the simple things regardless of being able to see or not. As the program of the cathedrals is playing, Robert insists that the narrator gets a pen and some form of paper so that they can draw one together. After getting the supplies needed, the narrator sits next to Robert and they begin to draw the cathedral. While drawing the cathedral the unnamed narrator does his best to describe what it looks like to Robert. The narrator initially realized by describing what the cathedral looks like shows the ability to see beyond the surface. In the ways of how he sees the world vs. how Robert interprets the world. While drawing, the narrator takes time to describe the details to Robert to gain a better understanding of what a cathedral is. Robert instructs the narrator to close his eyes and try to describe it now. In that moment the narrator notices a change within himself while having his eyes closed. He begins to open himself up and take in Robert for who is his, his close mindedness that was within himself diminishes away. Initially Robert wants the narrator to feel how he feels by being blind. Referencing back to the idea of communion, when Robert and the narrator are drawing the cathedral. The narrators eyes are closed while drawing which expresses these intimate feelings and thoughts on a spiritual level which take place during a communion. This opens up a sense of connection within the narrator's inner self and to gain a relationship with Robert. After drawing the cathedral, the narrator feels as if those that are blind are not blinded by there limitations in the physical world. In other words, Robert is interested in learning and traveling, with creating new relationships and a way of connecting with others. What Robert is trying to teach the narrator is see beyond reality and depth that confuses him. Even before they draw the cathedral Robert has an effect on the narrator. He realizes that he actually enjoys his company and wants to explore the limits of Roberts sight by helping him visualize what a cathedral is. The narrator is creating something solely out of words, the narrator is putting the trust in Roberts hands to draw this cathedral. The narrator is consistently stumbling over his words to express what it looks like to Robert but gets frustrated because he can’t find the right words. But Robert guides him which causes him to calm down and focus on the drawing. The narrator also gains from this inmate experience a sense of communication and connectedness which is displaying through the narrator's relationship with his wife. He begins to look back and reflection on the wrongs within his relationship, for example ignoring his wife excitement of her poetry. We learn that Robert has the ability to bring and connect those with damaged relationships. As the story ends the narrator keeps his eyes closed and this in some ways is symbolic. This is a symbolic representation of the transformation that the narrator does towards the end. Specifically, the narrator stays silent and takes in the experience of feeling what Robert feels by being blind. He rethinks all of the misconceptions of blind people he presented towards his wife.

Robert is able to help visualize the cathedral in his mind while then narrator is able to visualize it through his eyes. The narrator goes on to say “It was like nothing else in my life up to now. My eyes still closed” (Carver 112). The narrator recognizes that his eyes are still closed as if he were bling like Robert. In that moment he is able to describe in detail what a cathedral looks like. In many ways the reader is left wondering what happened after the cathedral was drawn. The reader is left to wonder if the narrator ended up opening up his eyes to see what the cathedral looked like. We are left to wonder if Robert and the narrator ended being friends or creating a friendship. Carver left the ending suspenseful to get the reader to wonder what happened after the narrator had opened his eyes. We are left wondering if the narrator changed his ways of being close minded and creating a connection with Robert and his wife. Drawing the cathedral enlightened the narrator in a spiritual way, it allowed him to open his mind to all of these things he was afraid of in his life. In many ways this showed the narrator what is like and to be a blind person. This was to develop a sense of minimalism with in

Robert and the things that he experiences throughout his life. The narrator experiences that idea of minimalism by drawing the cathedral. By listening to the program and drawing the details allowed the narrator to open up and allow him to experience something that he hasn’t experienced before. This allowed Robert and the narrator to understand their versions of the world and how they perceive things such as cathedrals.

Work Cited

Carver , Raymond. “Cathedral .” The Story and It's Writer: Introduction to Short Fiction , Ninth Edition ed., p. 105.

Carver , Raymond. “Cathedral .” The Story and It's Writer: Introduction to Short Fiction , Ninth Edition ed., p. 107.

Carver , Raymond. “Cathedral .” The Story and It's Writer: Introduction to Short Fiction , Ninth Edition ed., p. 110.

Carver , Raymond. “Cathedral .” The Story and It's Writer: Introduction to Short Fiction , Ninth Edition ed., p. 111.

Carver , Raymond. “Cathedral .” The Story and It's Writer: Introduction to Short Fiction , Ninth Edition ed., p. 112.