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The Lesson Learned in Cathedral
Oftentimes individuals demonstrate ignorance to the world around them. Their lack of experience and their own personal struggles skew the way they interpret the lives of others. Within Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral”, readers are introduced to a flawed narrator who is married. His wife introduces him to a blind man that sheds light on the narrator’s flawed views. The narrator learns to become more open-minded about the world around him.
One aspect where the narrator opens his mind is through the Blind man Robert. This can be shown through the changes in the way the narrator views Robert’s disability. At the start of the narrative, the narrator tells readers that he is bothered by Robert’s blindness
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and that his current views of the condition stem from what he has seen in movies. However, during the conclusion the narrator refuses to open his eyes and regain his normal sight when prompted. The narrator learned that being blind is not necessarily a disability for Robert. In keeping his eyes closed, the narrator was able to open up his mind and see beyond what was directly presented to him. Robert also enables the narrator to open up his mind as he proves that he is a worthy friend. The narrator initially expressed no empathy or respect towards the blind man as he tell readers that he was not looking forward to the visit. Despite his expectations however, the two characters interacted quite well by the end of the work, as the narrator offered Robert a variety of delicacies and paid close attention to his wellbeing. In treating the narrator with his presence, Robert ultimately enabled the narrator to think twice about making personal assumptions and to view others with a more open mind. Through both his disability and his company, Robert allowed the narrator to make less assumptions about individuals and to view blindness in a more open-minded manner. The love expressed between the narrator and his wife also opened the narrator’s mind.
This is evident within the trust issues that the narrator overcame during the story. The narrator tells readers about a poem his wife wrote where she describes the experience of Robert touching her nose and lips. Furthermore, the narrator states that he didn’t think much of the poem. This shows that the narrator is in essence, jealous of Robert’s interaction with her, as Robert was able to connect to her in a way that the narrator failed to comprehend initially. In drawing the cathedral, the narrator could finally understand the knowledge that his wife had attained many years before him and understood what it was that had drawn his wife to the blind man, thus removing any insecurities he may have had. In addition, the narrator’s wife also opened the narrator’s mind through her demonstration of trust. The narrator’s wife says to the narrator, “If you love me, you can do this for me. If you don't love me, okay. But if you had a friend, any friend, and the friend came to visit, I'd make him feel comfortable" (carver, 3). In expressing this statement, the narrator’s wife shows that she does indeed love the narrator and is trying to prove this to him. It also demonstrates that the narrator himself is being reluctant in allowing the blind man into his home due to a lack of trust towards his wife. As Robert turns out to be an exceptional character to the narrator, he inevitably learns to trust his
wife and thus take a more open minded approach. Finally, the narrator’s shift on attitude in life also enabled him to think more open-mindedly. This can be outlined through the narrator’s acquisition of faith. The narrator tells Robert that he doesn’t believe in anything as it is hard for him to do so. However, within mere minutes of this statement, the narrator was unable to be talked out of drawing the cathedral. The significance of these two events is that the narrator was able to transition from believing in nothing to placing his faith into Robert by viewing the world through his eyes. Additionally, the narrator shifts his attitude on life by escaping from his quantitative viewpoint. When Robert asks the narrator to describe to him a cathedral, the narrator offers only measurable characteristics such as size. By the end of the work however, the narrator drew a cathedral that displayed beyond the basic measurable quantities by incorporating people and meaning within it. Through this experience, the narrator learned to view constructs such as a cathedral from a more open minded perspective. The narrator from Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” learned to be more open minded in regards to his many life experiences. Not only was he able to overcome his dispassionate tendencies towards his life views and wife, the narrator learned to look at blind individuals in a new way and learned to disregard any assumptions towards Robert. It is with this lesson that individuals such as the narrator can learn to appreciate life in all of its glory and look past what is directly presented to them.
The blind man is appealing to readers because of the fact that he proves to be a good friend and listener to the narrator’s wife. The wife and blind man have kept in touch by exchanging audio tapes over the years. The wife feels comfortable sharing all aspects of her life with him. The husband expands on this by saying “She and I began going out, and of course she told her blind man about it” (5). This quote proves that the blind man provides a sense of comfort to the wife who cannot find the same sense of security in her own husband. The blind man is friendly and makes an attempt to befriend the husband even though he is consistently rude to him. The blind man tells the narrator he will stay up with him to talk even after his wife has gone to sleep. He says he feels “like me and her monopolized the evening” (83). The blind man respectfully says to the narrator “[y]ou’re my host” and wants to be fair and make sure the husband doesn’t feel left out during his visit (102). He is also very understanding and patient with the husband. This characteristic is especially proven when the narrator tries, but fails at explaining the appearance of a cathedral to the blind man. He apologizes for not doing a good job. The blind man understands and reassures him by saying “I get it, bub. It’s okay. It happens. Don’t worry about it” (110). He is aware that his
Carver provides an easy, visual outlook of the protagonist throughout the short story, which helps keep a better understanding during the simple yet intense experience. As the story continues, the protagonist enhances his mood as he aids Robert to visualizing a cathedral. This experience creates an impact on others because it is a great reason to why one should never judge someone of something beyond their controls. Also, helping someone, as Robert does for Bub can be a life changing experience. Despite the blind man being physically blind, the husband is the one with the disability to see from someone else’s perspective. This is proven through his epiphany during his portrayal of being blind. Although Bub is not physically blind, he interprets a shortage of observations. This shows that in many ways he is blinder than Robert. Robert is more open minded and willing to experience things, in contrast to Bub, who is narrow minded and has problems opening up his mind throughout the short story. Because the protagonist does not fully try to understand his wife, it makes him look like the blind person ironically though he can visually recognize her, proving that he does not truly know her inside and out. Knowing her personally is more of reality and the husband is blind to reality. Carver definitely analyzes the protagonist’s emotions through diction and visual aid throughout the story, providing great understanding of the meaning as a
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.
From the beginning of the story, and throughout most of it until the end, the narrator makes comments about his dislike for blind people. He is unwilling to meet Robert, his wife’s friend of 10 years because he can’t see. The narrator is so fixed on his physical handicap that it makes him unable to try and get to know Robert’s character at all. His
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.
The narrator in Raymond Carver’s "Cathedral" is not a particularly sensitive man. I might describe him as self-centered, superficial, and egotistical. And while his actions certainly speak to these points, it is his misunderstanding of the people and the relationships presented to him in this story which show most clearly his tragic flaw: while Robert is physically blind, it is the narrator who cannot clearly see the world around him.
“Cathedral,” a short story written by Raymond Carver, presents an intriguing story of an ignorant man 's lesson. During this story, Carver 's working class characters are crushed by broken marriages, financial issues, and fulfilling jobs, but they are frequently unable to understand or communicate their own sufferings. However, the main story consists of the narrator, known as “Bub,” facing an internal conflict about a blind man named Robert staying the night in his home. Regardless of the fact that this blind man is his wife 's long time friend, the narrator cannot find himself comfortable with such an idea because of his extreme prejudices. Although, despite the narrator’s conflict he finds himself connecting to Robert on a more personal
In Raymond Carver's "Cathedral," the husband's view of blind men is changed when he encounters his wife's long time friend, Robert. His narrow minded views and prejudice thoughts of one stereotype are altered by a single experience he has with Robert. The husband is changed when he thinks he personally sees the blind man's world. Somehow, the blind man breaks through all of the husband's jealousy, incompetence for discernment, and prejudgments in a single moment of understanding.
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.
...l of open-mindedness. “Cathedral” concerns the change in one man’s understanding of himself and the world. From the start of the story the narrator is restricted in his understanding to accept the blind man just as his wife has. He cannot fully wrap around the idea of what makes Robert so special. Until, that is, that the narrator starts drawing the cathedral which starts off as a house almost, and expands into something grander. This short story allows us to realize that the world is greater and further detailed than what we consider it in our confined minds. And that in fact we should never assume that there is nothing more to what the eye can see. It simply states that we shouldn’t form an opinion on someone or something based only on what you see on the exterior, because usually after taking the time to explore, the person or thing will not be what you expected.
In the story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, it tells of how a blind man is open to new experiences and how he views the world compared to the husband (narrator) who is blinded by the material things of life. The husband is given the gift of sight but the true gift comes from seeing the cathedral. At the beginning of the story, the husband’s outlook on others is filled with stereotypes, discrimination, insecurities and prejudice. After interacting with Robert, his wife's friend, his outlook begins to change significantly.
The unnamed narrator of Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” poses as an unreliable narrator for his unaccepting nature towards blind people along with his ignorant perception of many realities in his life that Carver presents for the reader to take into question. The narrator holds prejudice against Robert, a blind man whom the narrator’s wife worked with ten years earlier and eventually befriends. Unperceptive to many of the actualities in his own life, the narrator paints an inaccurate picture of Robert that he will soon find to be far from the truth.
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.
Raymond Carver, in his short story Cathedral uses a first-person narrator, whose point of view is very much limited and flawed. The narrator in Cathedral has full use of all his senses, unlike the blind man, Robert, who is introduced very early in the story. When comparing the two again, however, Robert is the character that is open to new ideas and willing to experience the joys of life, while the narrator limits himself due to his close-minded thinking. It brings up the question, who is truly blind in the story? Is it a physical ailment or a mental block? The narrator is never given a name in the story, making him the most impersonal character in the story. This also adds to the fact that the narrator is highly ignorant about his surroundings and has a one-sided, self-absorbed view of the world. The perception of the narrator leaves much to be inferred in many points in the story, and at first, it seems pointless to have such a closed off character and the one telling his point of view. I would like to hear the story from the wife’s point of view or Robert’s. Ultimately, however, the limited point of view of the narrator shows where the true ignorance in the world lies.
Many people are quick to judge others simply by appearance. People do not always understand others nor do people take the time or have the knowledge to get to know someone for who they are. Despite the flaws in physical appearance, people in the world are destined to see beyond their disability. Through the dynamic character in “Cathedral”, Raymond Carver demonstrates how the act of looking indeed requires physical vision but the act of being able to see requires deeper level of engagement. Carver justifies his point that having the power to see is a gift and he illustrates this point by showing how the narrator evolves during a special visit from a dear friend. The narrator comes to realize that there is a difference between being able to see and being able to understand deep meanings which is proven when the main character experiences an epiphany and changes his beliefs.