Political Correctness In Raymond Carver's 'Cathedral'

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In Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral”, the husband’s language and behavior are closely monitored and amended by his wife symbolic to the way that I have witnessed political correctness restricting casual communication. The husband, who is the unnamed narrator, is completely put off by the idea of his wife’s very close friend, who happens to be blind, visiting their home from Seattle following the recent death of his wife (par. 1). His discomfort is evident by his thoughts and comments that focus almost singularly on Robert’s handicap. The husband is completely unaware that his remarks and actions might be considered offensive in nature and is continually reminded to be thoughtful by his wife (par. 8). Despite her best efforts, the husband propels recklessly from one potentially offensive situation to the next while his wife does her best to make conversations as gentle as possible to ensure Robert’s comfort. The additional pressure applied to an already uncomfortable situation for the husband, became more of an annoyance than encouraging a delightful reunion of which her husband could enjoy being included. Prior to Robert’s arrival, the wife tries to instill into her husband the importance of her and …show more content…

She was overly concerned with the possibility of her husband offending Robert or embarrassing himself as a non-contributor to adult conversations thus creating a more stressful environment where regardless of what the husband said or did, he was going to be wrong. His awkward remarks are further confirmation of his discomfort with this reunion and for having to filter every word that he spoke. Perhaps allowing the husband to speak freely would have reduced the amount of tension and allowed Robert to see her husband as he truly is vice a façade fronted until a certain level of comfort was

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