Perception of the Unknown Should Be Sympathetically Good

926 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Abnormal perceptions

Everyone has a different perception than another, such a different perception that should be taken into account by other people. Whether people are blind or crazy, some people of this world are impaired so their lives are limited. The unknown can be very mind-boggling to these impaired people. Though at the same time there is a strong possibility that there are also even more unknown things to unimpaired people. Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” and “Seeing” by Annie Dillard suggest that knowledge and reality are both a matter of perception based on experiences; and as such, great care should be taken by anyone who attempts to redefine the perceptions of another. Just as everyone’s perception differs their comfort zone also differs. People are born and adapt to the surrounding physical world but if it is limited that does not mean these people are bound to be uncomfortable. In “Seeing Annie Dillard shows, “a twenty-one-year-old girl, the doctor relates, ‘Her unfortunate father, who had hoped for so much from this operation, wrote that his daughter carefully shuts her eyes whenever she wishes to go about the house, especially when she comes to a staircase, and that she is never happier or more at ease than when, by closing her eyelids, she relapses into her former state of total blindness ‘“ (414). The girl was only familiar with her blindness and not aware of her new sight, so she preferred to close her eyes in peace. Dillard describes in her book, patients recovering from cataracts surgery and being given sight. Some patients cherish their sight, thinking it is an absolute miracle, but others hate their sight because it is so unknown to them. Dillard then tries not to take her sight for granted but cannot see as the newly sighte... ... middle of paper ... ...physical world and knowledge. If someone is comfortable or maybe trapped in a world of confusion, madness or blindness then they need help, love, and care is all. Dillard putting herself in the shoes of cataract surgery patients is caring. Socrates and Plato realizing that people see things differently because of the lives they lead are insightful. King creating horror stories and telling his readers why they love them is entertaining. So a good perception is key to staying sane and discovering the unknown in the safest way. Works Cited Neilub, Janice, Kathleen Shine Cain, and Stephen Ruffus, eds. English Mercury Reader. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2013. Print. Dillard, Annie. “Seeing.” Neilub, Cain, and Ruffus 414. King, Stephen. “Why We Crave Horror Stories.” Neilub, Cain, and Ruffus 522. Plato. “The Allegory of the Cave.” Neilub, Cain, and Ruffus 300.

Show More
Related

  • Decisions: Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    Students with Readings. 7th Ed. Roger Davis, Laura K. Davis, Kay L. Stewart and Chris J. Bullock. Toronto: Pearson, 2013. 234-236. Print.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of Oliver Sacks's 'To See And Not See'

    841 Words  | 2 Pages

    Within Oliver Sacks, “To See and Not See”, the reader is introduced to Virgil, a blind man who gains the ability to see, but then decides to go back to being blind. Within this story Sacks considers Virgil fortunate due to him being able to go back to the life he once lived. This is contrasted by Dr. P, in “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for A Hat”, Sacks states that his condition is “tragic” (Sacks, “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for A Hat (13) due to the fact that his life will be forever altered by his condition. This thought process can be contributed to the ideas that: it is difficult to link physical objects and conceptualized meanings without prior experience, the cultures surrounding both individuals are different, and how they will carry on with their lives.

    Read More

  • Blind Faith in Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, the main character, goes through a major personal transformation.  At the beginning of the story, his opinions of others are filled with stereotypes, discrimination and prejudice.  Through interaction with his wife's blind friend Robert, his attitude and outlook on life changes.  Although at first he seemed afraid to associate with a blind man, Robert's outgoing personality left him with virtually no choice.  During Robert's visit, he proved to be a normal man, and showed the speaker that by closing his eyes, he could open his mind.

    Read More

  • Characterism In Carver's The Cathedral By Raymond Carver

    1534 Words  | 4 Pages

    Raymond Carver’s “The Cathedral” is a simple short story, which expresses to the reader that not all who are physically blind cannot truly see. There are many cases in this story where Robert, the blind man shows how the husband, who is also the narrator, a new way of appreciating life. The narrator is not only being superficial and ignorant, but not being able to see what is beyond the physical eye. Mr. Carver writes the story in the first person point of view, allowing the reader to see from the narrator perspective on life, and comes across as a self-absorb man, who has a negative attitude. We do not know if this ignorance is because he has a closed mind, or if he is in fact, a part of his personality, because he applies his logic of thinking

    Read More

  • Cathedral by Raymond Carver

    803 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Raymond Carver?s ?Cathedral?, the conventional ideas often associated with blindness and sight are challenged. By juxtaposing his two male characters, Carver is able to effectively explore sight and its seemingly simplistic relationship with learning and knowledge. As well, he addresses the barriers imposed by the human tendency to rely on vision as the sole means of experiencing the world.

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King Comparison to Hamlet

    1469 Words  | 3 Pages

    Writing. By X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 12th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. 860-870. Print.

    Read More

  • The Blind Man In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    712 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Raymond Carvers “Cathedral” the narrator and Robert, the blind man, have no connections at all in the beginning. The narrator even thinks that he is better than Robert because Robert is blind, the narrator is also jealous of Robert’s relationship with the narrator’s wife. Although we can gather these things from the short story the actual message that I am going to discuss in this paper is the importance of not physical seeing but emotionally and mentally seeing. Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral” explains the importance of transcendence, looking beyond what you can physically see and opening yourself up for greatness and opportunity in life.

    Read More

  • Blindness In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    648 Words  | 2 Pages

    On the surface, blindness gets treated just like any other major disability in our culture. However, the absence of the common ability to see can be exceptionally polarizing for both the blind and the sighted person involved. Eyesight is an exceedingly fundamental and uniting gift that has drastically shaped the way humans perceive the world and continually shape their every thought. Regrettably, this can sometimes characterize blind people as being somewhat alien to some people. They lack one of the most basic forms of common ground on which to relate. For some people, this can be an uncomfortable barrier, while others will immediately accept and cherish their company without a second thought. These are precisely the two contrasted reactions depicted in Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral”.

    Read More

  • Fontenelle Critical Thinking

    471 Words  | 1 Pages

    The behavior of people is strongly influenced by the effect of society. Starting from a young age, education systems limit children’s knowledge by educating them out of their creative capacity which enables to, let alone use their imagination, but from even learning about imagination. However, to curious people it has slowly become human nature to “’want to know more than we can see’” (Fontenelle 11), which concept has risen because of the idea of existence beyond planet earth. Fontenelle uses imagination as a tool to visualize the unknown; he speculates that there is life in all the other planets surrounding the planet earth. He himself does not believe what he is imaging but continues to describe the world by looking beyond what it portrays, leaving place for the mind to wonder. Even more, imagination and proof couple together as tightly as mind and body. In other words, just like the human body needs

    Read More

  • Seeing Can Make You Blind In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    409 Words  | 1 Pages

    Being confronted to the unknown can be challenging and unpleasant. In his short story entitled “Cathedral” Raymond Carver portrays the journey of a man’s personal thought and understanding about life. Blindness is unfamiliar for the narrator, but when his wife decides to invite the blind man she has been corresponding with for several years to their house, he has no choice but being confronted with it. The journey of the main character in this short story reveals the difference between seeing and understanding.

    Read More

  • The Fragility Of Masada Analysis

    663 Words  | 2 Pages

    What holds true to your own belief and your outlook on life is “invisible to the eye.” Revka makes several references to signs of bad omen that were rendered transparent under her judgment because her eyes had merely observed and failed to divine. Unfortunately in her situation, what appeared to be a place of safety had instead generated possibly the most danger. However, the contrary also holds true, adversities can also be of positive value; an ordeal can become a lesson, a spark for growth, an experience that shapes the person for the better. The outcome is dependent on the perception of the situation, one must be able to see in a new light to turn a bad into good, and, likewise, be able to extract the bad from the good. Revka’s statement can also be found in other literature such as the short story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, where ironically a blind man was able to understand the true value in others better than those who were not visually impaired. Perhaps the loss of his visual was not a half-empty cup but rather a half-full one because he is able to visualize ideas beyond the surface and truly see the important details “invisible to the

    Read More

  • The Comparison Of Mind: The Five Senses Of The Mind

    1025 Words  | 3 Pages

    Human beings depend on their senses to tell them what is there and what is not. Some believe only what their eyes show

    Read More

  • The Common Sense: The Five Sense Of Perception

    1835 Words  | 4 Pages

    Perception is defined as the awareness of the world through the use of the five senses, but the concept of perception is often used to isolate one person’s point of view, so how reliable can perception be if no one person’s is exactly the same? The word perception itself is riddled with different, well, perceptions of its meaning. When some hear the word they might automatically think of it as something innately flawed, that can easily be fooled by illusions, while others may think of its usefulness when avoiding scalding a hand on a hot stove. I am here to agree with both and to argue that perception is something necessary and helpful, and something that should be scrutinized for its flaws. By looking at perception as a way of knowing in the

    Read More

  • Visualization

    1854 Words  | 4 Pages

    When we are born, we can see but we cannot put anything into words. When we’re older we visualize. Visualization is the way we interact with the world. Dillard discusses how some people who have corrected and restored their sight from blindness are delighted with their sight. They see things as they really are in a way that those who always see things cannot. Like an object is seen in shape and color rather than in its name and purposes. Those that have not seen never take the beauty of sight for granted. Both Annie Dillard and John Berger agree that we cannot see clearly. Berger thinks it is because of external influences while Dillard thinks because nature and ignorance won’t let us.

    Read More

  • The Simple Model Of Reading Analysis

    1609 Words  | 4 Pages

    Downing, J., & Brown, A. L. (Eds.). (1967). The Second International Reading Symposium. London: Cassell

    Read More

More about Perception of the Unknown Should Be Sympathetically Good

Open Document