Raymond Carver Cathedral Essay

Isolation of the human heart results in the inability to connect and take part in a greater existence, whereas blindness of the human eye gives way to the truth and tenderness of humanity found in the wonders of this world. In Raymond Carver’s short story, “Cathedral”, the nameless narrator seems to exhibit behavioral patterns of an addict, tending to detach himself from the plot and all relationships that he continuously fails to confront throughout life. The central figure, who abhors the blind, is ignorant to his own constraints, which prevent him from recognizing the traces of transcendency in humanity that lies beyond the temptation of physical pleasure. Through the utilization of the communion model, by way of first-person narration,

characterization, and extended metaphors, Carver reveals the main character’s journey of rapport, which is indicative of a human’s limited sight of truth and understanding, leading one to search outside the scope of curiosity for a more fulfilling life.
One may begin to apprehend Carver’s true message throughout “Cathedral” by first considering the significant role that the first person perspective of the main character plays in the basic plot scheme. Carver utilizes this first person point of view to reveal particular qualities about the narrator along with his myriad insecurities, which are key to disclaiming his detachment from the world he lives in and better yet from life itself. For instance, in the exposition, he began sharing stories of his wife’s past time with the reader, and without caring to pay much attention to detail, the reader witnesses the construction of his subjective presumptions of this blind man, Robert, which happen to be built upon pure jealousy. This creates an emotional barrier between the characters, which gives insight to the reasons of the husband’s absence of social engagement. Time and time again, the narrator voiced the disconnect between himself and Robert by admitting “a blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to”, and “‘I don’t have any blind friends,’” justifies his feelings of loneliness that he tries mend with the acts of coming together as identified by the communion model in the world of literature.
In a fictitious world where the central figure believes that looks are everything, the husband struggles to acknowledge the parts of life that lie beyond what the eye can see and can only be found in the heart.

When it comes to the sexual facet of his wife, he is protective of her even when sitting with a man with is incapable of valuing her physical appeal. For instance, when his wife fell asleep on the sofa, “she’d turn so that the robe had slipped away from her legs, exposing a juicy thigh. He reached to draw her robe back over her, and it was then he glanced at the blind man… he flipped the robe open again.” One may note that through these actions, the possessive side of that narrator is revealed only when his wife is physically vulnerable, though when it comes to her sincere intuition expressed through her passion of poetry, the blind man values her feelings that are exposed through the meaning of the text unlike her husband, who “doesn’t think much of the poem” or any poem because he does not recognize the worth of any mental object, such as thought, only the benefitiful physical ones. Through the use of an extended metaphor, Carver explains that “he just doesn’t understand poetry” much like he doesn’t understand the blind man, who does not gather wisdom by visually perceiving the world around him. The main character’s reliance on an ocular reality is further exemplified when he attempts to “imagine a woman who could never see herself as she was seen in the eyes of her

loved one”, and he thought what a “pitiful life” she must have lived because little does he realize that human can be loved by a “stranger” without the cognizant security of physical acceptance. With visually seeing less, there are more significant mental objects to be found. Carver demonstrates that the narrator’s astute knowledge of the blind will lead him to discover and be exposed to another world of transcendency, where one must realize that things exist beyond the physicalities of life, and only then will the sense of isolation be overcome by the power of communion.
Carver proffers a hand of advice to all generations of readers through his intricate use of extended metaphors and symbols found within the text.

From the tapes to the cathedral, each element of this plot has an intended purpose in the mind of this profound author. Scaling from one end of the spectrum to another, whether the object is five inches tall or hundreds of feet tall, the tapes and the cathedral represent the husband’s insecurities of which he has spent his entire life avoiding to confront. To be more specific, after sharing a meal and his wife dozing off, the husband was asked “if he was religious in any way”, and he blatantly answered the blind man’s question with this response: “I guess I don’t believe in it. In anything.” This statement alone affirms the reader’s inference of relational disunion between the main character and the other static characters; he has nothing more significant to want in life because he simply does not see anything greater that life has to offer with his one dimensional mindset. Though being destined by Carver to pursue the role a dynamic character in the plot, the husband begins to embrace these acts of communion between him and Robert. He is now “glad for the company” of Robert, a significant figure who speaks the underlying mind of Carver. Word by word, the husband begins to adopt Robert’s wisdom. For example, Robert briefly mentioned, “the men who began their life’s work on them, they never lived to see the completion of their

work,” and in hindsight, the life of a cathedral worker is a parallel to the narrator’s life. Not just as a husband but as a human being, he must continue to want more than what meets the eye; the inclination of wanting more will create a life where effusive optimism encompasses his well being, allowing him to break free from the constraints of isolation that has chained him to a stationary concrete wall that acts as a barrier between him and the opportunities that lie ahead. As part of human condition, a human could never stop wanting more as long as life allows it. Even though he may never witness or see the completion of his work, just like the cathedral workers, who “are the same as the rest of us”, he has the chance to experience the thrill of desire and want in this realm of humanity people refer to as the world. Robert presumes to identify the cathedral workers’ intention by mentioning, “put some people in there now. What is a cathedral without people?” In a similar way, what is life without believing, having purpose, or sharing a bona fide connection with those who one composes their life of? Originally, the husband, who felt trapped by the limitations of his own body and failed to condone the physical differences of others, did not want this blind man to even arrive at his house, but ironically enough, Robert arrived with a sense of direction and clear opportunity. It was through the acts of communion that husband was able to acknowledge this sensation of true freedom flooding his heart, and he was for the first time able to admit, “I was inside my house. I knew that. But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything.”
Through the utilization of the communion model, Carver strategically articulated “Cathedral” in such a way that it effectively conveys the result of a human’s ignorance to the truth, which life withholds all from. Not to mention, Carver demonstrates through literary evidence of the narrator that humans tend to not have any connection greater or smaller than themselves, leaving humanity to believe in the existence beyond the hindrance of life’s compass. Therefore, humans must prevail on hope, tolerate failure, and transcend the limits of reality in order to attain the liberation of all’s mentality in the human race.