Raymond Carver Cathedral

1733 Words4 Pages

An Everlasting Epiphany Sparked by a Blind Man: Analysis of the Narrator in “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver
Often, there is an expectation in stories that there should always be an underlying main purpose or theme. It has become more relevant for stories today to have a character who ultimately learns a lesson that changes their outlook on life. In discussing Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” many people believe that the narrator’s experience with the blind man has a temporary effect. This effect arises from his lifelong misunderstanding of people with disabilities, as well as the discomfort he has for his wife having a friendly relationship with a blind man named Robert. Some believe that the narrator will revert to his old ways of life even after …show more content…

Robert’s character in the story could be thought of as a Godly figure that helps guide the narrator to his religious epiphany. Much like a religious figure in Christianity or other religions, they are used to guide people to see the Word of God and his power. The important factor that leads one to believe that the narrator has had a life-changing experience is his hesitation to realize his own reality. The author hesitates to come back to reality during his experience with Robert when stating “But I had my eyes closed. I thought I’d keep them that way for a little longer. I thought it was something I ought to do” (42) as Robert tells him to open his eyes and look at what he has drawn. At this moment, the narrator has become in touch with his religious views after first stating that he did not have any. Robert knows that he transformed the narrator when assisting him drawing the cathedral because he continually encouraged him to keep going although he felt he couldn’t. After they had finished, the blind man stated “I think that’s it. I think you got it. (42) as the narrator encounters his moment of religious transformation. Robert insisted that he find his way to completing the cathedral that he knew was deep inside of him all along. The narrator sat in silence and peace after his epiphany to reminisce with the bliss he was experiencing that would last

Communication In Raymond Carver's Cathedral
1009 Words | 3 Pages
In Cathedral by Raymond Carver, the narrator faces the conflicts of only being able to look from a standard physical viewpoint versus seeing on a deeper more involved emotional level. The story reaches a crisis when the narrator closes his eyes and begins to draw a cathedral, relying only on his imagination to fill in the details, and letting himself be guided by Robert, a blind man. This causes him to see clearly for the first time in his life on a more profound scale, even though in reality he is not actually visibly seeing anything. Therefore, the overall work argues that the narrator succeeds at meeting his challenge. He becomes more complete as a human being, since he realizes that in order to understand and view the world, one does not
Read More
The Role Of The Narrator In Raymond Carver's Cathedral
570 Words | 2 Pages
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.
Read More
The Character Of Bub In Raymond Carver's Cathedral
950 Words | 2 Pages
Bub’s misconceptions are now completely flipped as Robert is helping Bub with something Bub does not understand at all. It is as if Bub is the incapable one and Robert is his guide. By the time Bub and Robert are holding hands and drawing a picture together, Bub has released all his previous misconceptions and some of his insecurities. This is when Bub really begins to see the side of Robert that perhaps is why his wife loves him so much.
Read More
Raymond Carver Cathedral Summary
957 Words | 2 Pages
In “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, a blind man named Robert help Bub, a person unable to understand or place the feelings of others in front of his own , open his eyes and realize how to consider others feelings. In the story, Robert comes to to visit Bub’s wife after his wife passes away. Bub is not looking forward to his encounter with Robert. As the story progresses, Bub is forced to interact with Robert in ways that seem foreign to him. Bub’s difference interactions with Robert builds up to the both of them drawing a cathedral together, which leads to Bub being changed and him placing Roberts points of view ahead of his own.
Read More
Blind Faith in Raymond Carver's Cathedral
914 Words | 2 Pages
...interracial relationships. However because of the way he acts when he hears about the two of them, it is obvious that he has led a sheltered life. But even after his entire life of not understanding what was going on in the world around him, one night with Robert enlightened him and changed his view on people and his surrounding environment.
Read More
Lack of Vision in Carver's Cathedral
1250 Words | 3 Pages
The narrator’s prejudice makes him emotionally blind. His inability to see past Robert’s disability stops him from seeing the reality of any relationship or person in the story. And while he admits some things are simply beyond his understanding, he is unaware he is so completely blind to the reality of the world.
Read More
Blindness in Raymond Carver's Cathedral
888 Words | 2 Pages
Blindness in Raymond Carver's Cathedral Blindness creates a world of obscurity only to be overcome with guidance from someone willing to become intimate with the blind. Equally true, the perceptions of blindness can only be overcome when the blind allow intimacy with the sighted. Raymond Carver, with his short story Cathedral, illustrates this point through the eyes of a man who will be spending an evening with a blind man, Robert, for the first time. Not only does this man not know Robert, but his being blind, "bothered" (Carver 98) him.
Read More
Raymond Carver Cathedral Essay
911 Words | 2 Pages
The narrator has a negative view of himself and it rubs off on him before his initial meeting with Robert. The narrator clearly is was passionately in love with his wife early in their relationship and she clearly loved him. The narrator is very protective of her and no
Read More
Analysis of the Relationship of the Blind Man and the Husband
941 Words | 2 Pages
Raymond Carver's "Cathedral" depicted the interaction between a narrow minded husband, with a limited understanding of the world around him, and a blind visitor, named Robert, that proved to be the catalyst that dramatically changed the husband's view on the world, while they went from being strangers to becoming friends. In the beginning of the story, the husband disliked the concept of his wife bringing her blind friend over to stay since he never had met a blind person before and did not understand it. However, as the story progresses, the husband, through interaction and observation, begins to dispel his fears and misconceptions of Robert and his blindness. With the help of Robert, the husband gains a revelation that changed his view and opened his eyes to the world.
Read More
Symbolism In Raymond Carver's 'Cathedral'
634 Words | 2 Pages
The irony between Robert and the narrator is that even though Robert is blind, he pays attention to detail without the need of physical vision. Roberts’s relationship with the narrator’s wife is much deeper than what the narrator can understand. Robert takes the time to truly listen to her. “Over the years, she put all kinds of stuff on tapes and sent the tapes off lickety-split. [...] She told him everything, or so it seemed to me” (Carver 124). This demonstrates that the narrator is in fact somewhat jealous of how his wife confides in Robert, but still overlooks the fact that he doesn’t make the slightest effort to pay attention to her. Also the narrator is not precisely blind, but shows a lack of perception and sensitivity that, in many ways, makes him blinder than Robert. Therefore, he has difficulty understanding people’s views and feelings that lie beneath the surface.
Read More
Raymond Carver's Cathedral
834 Words | 2 Pages
The narrator in Raymond Carver's "Cathedral" has two fully functional eyes, in which he chooses never to use to their full potential. The eyes of the narrator are biased, insecure, jealous, and very limited in what they choose to see. This inability to see is made apparent when he is forced to meet and converse with a blind man. The narrator's perception of the world around him, and blurred vision, is resolved by a great irony in the story when Roger helps the narrator see past his prejudice outlook on life. The blind man teaches the narrator how to see.
Read More
Raymond Carver's Cathedral
1088 Words | 3 Pages
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.
Read More
Analysis Of Raymond Carver's Cathedral
904 Words | 2 Pages
Robert changed the narrator’s thoughts about blind people after he showed the narrator that he was like him. I relate to him because after I was in sports, although some teachers were still judgmental. The students treated me like one of them and looked over my “label” disability. My peers never thought of me as the EI student anymore, they saw me as an Athlete. Back to my thesis, Disability should not be looked at in one classification; it should be base on the individual student. My disability, which was later removed by the State of Michigan, was a blessing to me. My hard work paid off and I’m looking forward to what life begins to me in the next four to five years getting my Bachelors in Special Education, English Education, and Physical
Read More
Raymond Carver's Cathedral
1050 Words | 3 Pages
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.
Read More
Raymond Carver Cathedral
493 Words | 1 Pages
After Robert arrives at his home the narrator is enveloped in an extremely
Read More

Open Document

Wait a second!

Raymond Carver Cathedral

Communication In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

The Role Of The Narrator In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

The Character Of Bub In Raymond Carver's Cathedral