Cathedral “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver is a story of man who experiences the gift of insight in an unexpected manner. The narrator is first introduced to the reader as an insensitive and ignorant man, however, after analysing his relationship with his wife and witnessing how he connects with the blind man, our empathy for him is touched. The narrator is not as insensitive as he perceives. He only acts insensitive to cover up how damaged he really is. He is unable to relax because of the company of his manipulative wife. The narrator’s wife acts as the antagonist in the story given how she tries to control the narrator and how she is unable to understand her husband. The narrator’s wife has a very controlling personality, which causes the …show more content…
narrator to feel very uncomfortable around her. At the beginning of the story, there is tension between the narrator and his wife. When the narrator would talk about his wife’s old job, he would belittle her. For example, the narrator says “She’d worked with this blind man all summer. She read stuff to him” (Carver, 123). The narrator is downgrading his wife’s former job by displaying what she was doing as “stuff” - something unimportant. The narrator’s tone makes him look very egoistic and mean, yet he is only acting this way because of how his wife makes him feel. Whenever the narrator would try to make a joke, his wife would put him down. This is affecting the narrators growth because since the wife is always putting the narrator down, she is preventing the narrator from coming out of his shell. By constantly retaliating towards the narrator and shutting him out, she is making the narrator feel more uncomfortable around her than he already is. Before the blind man, Robert, arrived to the narrator’s house, the narrator jokingly says “Maybe I can take him bowling”. Instead of laughing along with her husband, the narrator’s wife gets angry and says “if you love me, you can do this for me.” (Carver, 125). The wife starts threatening their relationship. This denotes the negative relationship they have. Before making this statement, the wife puts a knife down (Carver, 124). This demonstrates how she doesn’t need a weapon to castrate him and strip him from his masculinity because she is doing it verbally. Another example that demonstrates the wife’s controlling personality is when Robert arrives, the narrator’s wife starts pulling Robert by the arm to guide him in the house. “My wife took his arm, shut the door, and, talking all the way, moved him down the drive and then up the steps to the front porch” (Carver, 126). Even though Robert is perfectly capable to walk into the house on his own, the narrator’s wife still holds onto him and pulls him because she needs to have control over every situation. After Robert and the narrator introduce themselves, the narrators wife starts telling Robert about their new couch. The narrator thinks to himself, “I’d liked that old sofa” (Carver, 126). Even thought the narrator liked the old sofa, the wife likes this new sofa so that is the one they will use. Once again, the narrator’s wife wants to be in control. This strongly suggests that the narrator does not have a say about what goes in and out of the house which is causing him to live an environment that he is not completely comfortable in. The narrator feels like an alien in his own home which is prohibiting him from growing. Later on in the night, the group moves to the living room to talk. The narrator did not included himself into the conversation. They were mostly talking about Robert and when Robert asked the narrator questions about himself, the narrator wouldn’t say much (Carver, 128). The narrator was not comfortable talking about himself, especially in front of his wife. When the narrators wife started to get tired, she tried to get Robert go to bed also. “‘Your bed is made up when you feel like going to bed, Robert. I know you must have had a long day. When you’re ready to go to bed, say so.’ She pulled his arm. ‘Robert?’” (Carver, 129). She, once again, tries to control Robert by pulling his arm to make him go to bed so she can tuck him in like a child. Yet, Robert did not want to go to bed so the wife did not either. Instead of going to bed by herself, she sat herself right in between Robert and the narrator and refused to leave them alone. She did not want to leave them alone in fear of loosing control over the situation. Finally, the wife passed out on the couch in between the two men, as if acting as a metaphorical barrier for Robert and the narrator to connect with one another. It was only until the narrators wife was sleeping that the narrator was able to open up to Robert. As Robert started asking the narrator questions, the narrator revealed that he actually enjoys Robert’s company and that he is very lonely and depressed. When the narrator starts drawing out a cathedral with Robert, the wife suddenly wakes up and says “What are you doing? Tell me I want to know” (Carver, 133). This shows her trying to take control of the situation again by forcing the two men to tell her what they are up to. Yet, both Robert and the narrator ignore her. The narrators wife has been shutting the narrator out, putting him down and controlling his environment. It is no surprise that the narrator feels so lonely and depressed. When the wife was asleep, we saw the more sensitive side of the narrator. The lack of communication between the narrator and his wife is causing their marriage to fall apart.
This is affecting the narrator greatly and is causing him to feel more depressed and lonely. A factor that can be responsible for this is how unaware the narrator’s wife is to her husband’s sufferings. For example, the narrator shows that he was not comfortable with “this blind man”, Robert, coming into his home and sleeping over. The narrator saw Robert as a threat since before the narrator and his wife got married, the wife worked for Robert and when she quit, her and Robert shared an intimate moment. The idea of Robert sleeping in the narrators home made the narrator a bit uneasy. Yet, the narrator did not say anything to the wife about how he feels about Robert’s visit. Then, again, if the narrator did, his wife might of just started yelling at him. This shows the lack of communication skills the narrator and his wife have. In addition, the narrator often would tell a few jokes to his wife; mainly about Robert’s arrival. The narrator’s wife did not laugh at any of them. Humour is used in order to release tension. The narrator is very tense, especially since a stranger is about to sleep in his home and also since his wife is very dominant. This is why the narrator makes many childish jokes. Yet, the wife does not respond to his humour with humour; instead, she just yells at him. This shows how the narrator and his wife do not understand each other. The fact that the narrators wife is always upset with the narrator and always puts him down affects the narrator mentally. When the narrator says, “I knew she didn’t like what she saw” (Carver, 126), the narrator is telling us that he is aware that his marriage is failing and he knows his wife doesn’t love him anymore. The narrator states that him and his wife would never even go to bed at the same time; this displays how they would never have sex or any intimate relations, which is an important part to a healthy
relationship. Since the narrator can not talk to his wife about anything without her getting upset and sleep was no escape because he would always have nightmare, he would resort to drinking and smoking marijuana to get away from his problems. When his wife falls asleep on the couch, her robe exposed her thigh and the narrator covered it up (Carver, 129). Yet, when he remembered Robert was blind, he drew her robe open again. This was not only in spite of Robert, but also in spite of his wife. This shows how he is only able to get back at her when she is sleeping and is unable to do anything. This illustrates the lack of respect he has towards his wife. The narrator and his wife know that their marriage is failing. They do not understand each other anymore and are always bickering which is causing the narrator to become more and more depressed. This kind of relationship is not healthy for anyone. All in all, the narrator’s wife is acting like a metaphorical cage for the narrator. Due to her controlling nature she is preventing the narrator to connect with people and to grow. Also, as a result of the lack of communication between the narrator and his wife, the narrator has become very lonely and sad. The narrators willingness to connect with Robert shows how he is capable of growing and opening up to people. Yet, the narrator can not do so if his wife is present. This proves the narrator’s wife’s role as the antagonist in Raymond Carver’s short story.
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
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.
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.
At first glance, one might assume Raymond Carver’s "Cathedral" illustrates the awakening of an insensitive and insulated husband to the world of a blind man. However, this literal awakening does not account for the fact that the husband awakens also to a world of religious insight, of which he has also been blind. The title and story structure are the first indicators of the importance of the religious thesis. It is also revealed when one examines the language and actions of the characters in the story. Finally, Carver’s previous and subsequent writings give an overall background for the argument that "Cathedral" has a significant religious import.
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.
This story is about how the narrator is unable to see what life is really giving him and finds it through a blind man’s eyes, the friend of his wife. Cathedral is a touching story, in my opinion, as it reflects on what many of us, society, take for granted. It shows how important it is to give people a chance and to be able to see the true meaning of what surrounds us even if it is not important to our personal life. Throughout the short story, Carver uses several figurative language to expose the theme of the story.
In Raymond Carver’s story “Cathedral” the narrator learns what it means to “see” through someone who cannot. To see is to be able to view the things around us while putting aside preconceived notions or fear about these objects or people. In order for this to occur once must overcome what they feel is out of the ordinary and learn to accept things as they are. At first the narrator is doesn’t accept the man and uncomfortable around Robert. The narrator soon comes to understand this when he puts aside his fears, and judgments that he can see more than what meets the eye, and the freedom that comes along with this seeing.
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.
Don’t judge a book by its cover. We have all heard this cliché at least once in our lifetime. But how many times have we ever followed through with this expression? The author Raymond Carver writes about an experience where a couple is visited by the wife’s acquaintance Robert, whose wife has recently passed. The fact that Robert is blind belittles him in the eyes of the narrator, causing tension and misjudgment. In “Cathedral”, Carver uses irony, point of view, and symbolism to show the difference between looking and truly seeing.
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 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.
The narrator also feels intimidated by his wife?s relationship with the blind man. When he is telling of her friendship with Robert h...
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.