The most prominent suggestion in Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” is that the narrator is in an intellectual sense, more blind than the visually handicapped character Robert. After being asked by Robert if he believed in any religion, the narrator answered no and explained with “ I guess I don't believe in anything” (364) That idea alone shows the reader that the narrator is blind to the world. Not because he doesn't believe in a form of religion but because he doesn't believe in “anything.” Only a unintelligent, ignorant human being chooses not to believe in anything. Anything is such a bold, broad word to use. It's so interchangeable with the word everything which really makes a good sense of how crazy it is to firmly not believe in anything. …show more content…
Julia Rodas’s academic study on blindness expressed a various amount of common sayings,for me most i can relate to the narrator's lack of emotion. I can relate it to his lack of soul and as Rodas quotes for her study “eye are the window to the soul.”(Rodas 9) With that being said I feel a soul is a form of lifetimes of knowledge and moral sense. Implying the narrator's eyes are dark, or blind with his sense of being soulless . It’s very possible the narrator is suggested to be a young soul instead of an older soul compared to Robert who seemed to be open to knowledge and already has a sense of understanding. The narrator explains his habit, “every night I smoke dope and stay up as long as I could before sleep.” (Carver 362) It is the narrator's choice to live a mindless, blind life of getting stoned and watching television. He is a burn out who mentions “my ideas of blindness came from the movies” (353) He has no real idea of the world around him and he further proves he is uneducated and assumptious with thinking “he didn’t use a cane or wear dark glasses.”(358) He must not get out much because it’s not that uncommon for someone in public to be visually handicapped and not wear the comical dark glasses and walk around tapping a cane with a seeing eye dog. The narrator's reason for why the blind didn't smoke cigarettes was “they couldn't see the smoke they exhale”(358). Which are both more than likely something the narrator saw in one of his movies or television specials while he was mindlessly stoned not interacting with his wife, or anyone for that matter. It could be the alcohol or marijuana interfering with the narrator's sense
These audiotapes represent a distinguished type of communication that requires no visual interaction, but an interface that involves understanding and empathy instead, something the narrator has not yet learned. At this point of the story the narrator believes that Robert could not have possibly fulfilled his now deceased wife’s, Beulah’s, aspirations as seen when he states, “I found myself thinking what a pitiful life this woman must have led,” (37). The narrator bases his reason solely on the fact that the man is blind, so how could he have ever interacted or contributed in their relationship. In reality, though, it is the narrator himself, who has not fully satisfied or even begun to fully appreciate his own wife. The audiotapes symbolize this absence of appreciation and reveals to the reader that the narrator has not even considered this “harmless chitchat,” (36) as he describes it, to be of importance to his own marriage. It is not until the end, when he finishes drawing the cathedral that he is capable of understanding what his wife and Robert share. The cathedral is the other major symbol in this story, since it is the pivotal turning point for when the narrator becomes a dynamic character. Without the cathedral the narrator would not have succumbed to his new acceptance of what it means to actually see someone or something. When the narrator says, “I didn’t feel like I was inside anything,” (46) this is the indication of that epiphany coming to him. Moments before, the narrator had just explained to Robert that he did not “believe in it [religion]. In anything,” (45) however, this insightful moment now contradicts that statement, supporting the notion that the narrator has advanced as a character. Furthermore, a cathedral, which is assumed to bring solace and a new light to those in pursuit of one, offered the
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.
The narrator is not only insensitive, but ignorant as well. His beliefs about the blind are based on only what he has seen in the movies. He believes that the blind are led by seeing eye dogs, wear sunglasses, carry walking sticks, and move very slowly. Robert does none of these things, much to the narrator's surprise. When Robert lights a cigarette, the narrator is surprised.
The significance of the final scene in Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” is important because illustrates how people with a negative demeanor can develop into a person with a positive attitude towards others. In the story, Bub not only falsely assumes bad things about blind people, but also about others as well. For example, he assumes that Roberts wife is a “negro” woman because her name was Beulah. The things that Bub assumes about Robert and Beulah resemble Bub’s negative attitude and personality toward the blind man and Beulah. Towards the end of the story, as Bub and Robert were watching television, the show featured a particular Cathedral. Robert asked Bub to describe the Cathedral when Robert says, “I wish you’d do it. I’d like that. If you
Upon reading Raymond Carver's short story of the Cathedral one will notice the literary devices used in the short story. When analyzing the story completely, one then understands the themes, motifs, metaphors, and the overall point of the piece. This leaves the reader with an appreciation of the story and a feeling of complete satisfaction.
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.
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.
He didn’t like the fact that his wife had a new friend that was going to stay with them and he felt threatened by their closeness. He selfishly says, “ I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me” (Cathedral 86). He clearly didn’t have compassion for that fact that Robert was disabled and that his wife had just died. All he cared about was his own feelings and his own relationship with his wife. He also had the nerve to go on and say, “ My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Some times they were led by Seeing Eye dogs. A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to” (Cathedral 86). He was clearly uninformed and biases when it came to people with disabilities or people that were different from him. He didn’t look at the situation as an opportunity to get to see something different and learn but to complain for pretty much the entire short
He constantly complains that “a blind man in my house was not something [he looked] forward to” (362). The close friendship between the narrator’s wife and Robert provokes his insecurities. This friendship has lasted for ten years and during those years, they have exchanged countless tapes regarding experiences they have gone through. Because of this, her husband feels “she [has] told him everything or it seems” (363) about their relationship. Upon the arrival of his wife’s friend, the husband is ultimately uncomfortable around Robert because he does not know how to communicate with or act around him.
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.
Raymond Carver utilizes his character of the husband, who is also the narrator, in his short story "Cathedral." From the beginning of the story the narrator has a negative personality. He lacks compassion, has a narrow mind, is detached emotionally from others, and is jealous of his wife's friendship with a blind man named Robert. He never connects with anyone emotionally until the end of this story.
The narrator explains how it is hard for him to describe more of them, because he isn’t religious, so how can someone describe something with embellishment if you don’t believe in it? Robert then asked the narrator if he would like to draw one together. The narrator agrees, when he brings the paper bag to draw on, he describes how Robert is touching the paper, the edges, and the corners. When they both begin to draw, Robert places his hand over the narrator’s and follows, the narrator is in disbelief on what is happening because he never thought anything like this was ever going to happen to him. Robert comes off as a very encouraging man who unconsciously is helping Robert believe in himself by trying something that he’s never been used to doing. The positivity, patience, and great words Robert used towards the narrators’ effort in drawing the cathedral made him want to keep going and he didn’t know exactly why, all he knew was that he couldn’t stop. After a while the narrator closed his eyes and continued to draw, then he opened his eyes to tell Robert how the drawing came out. Surprisingly, the narrator kept his eyes closed and he mentions that although he knew he was home he felt like he was in anything. While remaining with his eyes closed and answering Robert on how the drawing looked like, he then said “It’s really something.” (Carver, 1983). I
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.
Many people view blindness as a disability, but could these people be blind to their surroundings? Even though the narrator can perfectly see with his eyes, he lacks in understanding awareness. The narrator blindness isn 't physical, like many vision impaired people. His blindness is psychological, and his blindness causes him to become jealous. His blindness blocks his perception of viewing the world in a different way. This only causes him to see the physical attributes of humans, and thus shut off his mindfulness of viewing human personalities. As a result of a closed mind, the narrator doesn 't understand how Robert was able to live with the fact that he was never able to see his wife in the flesh, but the narrator fails to see that Robert vision of his wife was intimate. On the other hand, Robert blindness is physical. This causes Robert to experience the world in a unique manner. Without Robert eyesight, he is able to have a glimpse of a human personality. He uses his disability to paint pictures in his head to experience the world. By putting his psychological blindness aside, the narrator is able to bond with Robert, and he grasps the understanding of opening his eyes for the first time, and this forms a new beginning of a
Raymond Carver’s The Cathedral is narrated by a man formed by his society who has a lesson to learn after meeting his wife’s long lost friend Robert, who is blind. In the beginning of our story our narrator is a close minded and judgmental man, his ill-minded opinions include prejudices against the blind. He assumes that he would have nothing in common with Robert due to the aforementioned prejudice based off of information gathered from movies (Carver 86). The narrator’s routine lifestyle has left him with quite a substance abuse problem whether he acknowles it or not. Every night the narrator comes home, drinks as much scotch as he can, and after his wife goes to sleep he smokes weed for a few hours until heading to bed (Carver 93). When