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Raymond Carver, renowned short story author and poet of the 1980 's, specialized in showing the distance between human beings, which even in a society as connected as today’s, remains a relevant topic of discussion. As Kirk Nesset explains, “Carver 's figures seal themselves off from their worlds...retreating destructively into the claustrophobic inner enclosures of self” (116). This concept of retreating into oneself is most evident in Carver 's famous short story Cathedral. While each of Carver 's three characters in Cathedral suffer from self imposed isolation in his or her own unique way, none feel the repercussions of their actions quite so strongly as the narrator 's wife. Throughout the short story, it is the wife 's own actions that …show more content…
Despite having settled with a second husband, the wife continues her regular correspondence with the blind man, distancing her second husband in the same way she had distanced her first. Her husband’s agitation at this constant correspondence is evident when he states, “She and I began going out, and of course she told her blind man about it. She told him everything, or so it seemed to me” (185). From the onset of the story, the wife 's actions cause the husband to feel alienated. Additionally, she fails repeatedly to confide in her husband. A study on the functions of communication in marriage reveals that, “Quality communication depends equally on the capacity of a spouse to both send and receive communicational cues,” neither of which the wife seems capable of employing (Montgomery 22). What few words she does speak to her husband are harsh, rude, and antagonistic; she is constantly either questioning her husband or shouting at him: “[The blind man 's] wife’s just died! Don’t you understand that? The man’s lost his wife!,” and later, “Are you crazy? … Have you just flipped or something? … What’s wrong with you? … Are you drunk?” (Carver 185). Although her husband acts in a less than plausible manner, the wife 's continuous stream of insults and criticism suggest that she is …show more content…
Without realizing it, she has created a struggle between a friend in whom she can confide but cannot love like a husband and a husband whom she can love as such, but in whom she cannot confide. The saddest part of the story, and the part which finally shows the consequences of the wife 's ineptitude, is the final scene. Upon awakening from a stoned slumber, she finds her blindman, her confidant, sharing a close conversation with her husband, her greatest desire, as they draw a picture of a Cathedral together. Her makes her jealousy evident when she exclaims, “What are you doing? Tell me, I want to know...What 's going on?” like a child shouting to be heard (Carver 193). Her desperate tone stems form the fact that she must observe her heart 's greatest desire occur before her eyes, but from the side lines. She so desperately desires to become a part of the relationship forming between her husband and the blind man, but she cannot. Once again she falls behind, this time spiritually as her husband experiences a revelation, while she remains in the dark. The husband realizes the importance letting people “in” ones life at the blind man 's words, “Put some people in there now. What 's a Cathedral without people,” but the wife does not (193). Obsessed with becoming a part of their conversation, she completely overlooks the relevance of the
Although many critics have written numerous accounts of Richard Carver’s "Cathedral" as being about revelation and overcoming prejudice, they have overlooked a very significant aspect: the unfolding of marital drama. The story tells of how a close outside friendship can threaten marriage by provoking insecurities, creating feelings of invasion of privacy, and aggravating communication barriers.
“Cathedral” consists of three individuals. The narrator is the main character, which the story revolves around. The wife of the narrator is the second character, who is the least relevant. The third character is the blind man, named Robert, who is a friend of the wife.
A metamorphosis is an act of change or a transformation from one thing to another. Most associate a metamorphosis with the process in which a caterpillar turns into a beautiful butterfly. However, metamorphoses occur in humans as well. Cathedral is a story of man, the narrator, who experiences a life changing metamorphosis in an unexpected manner. The narrator is first introduced to the reader as an insensitive and ignorant man, and he reveals these characteristics in many ways throughout the majority of the story. However, interaction with a blind man not only exploits the narrator's character flaws, but is ultimately the catalyst for his metamorphosis.
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.
Nesset, Kirk. "Insularity and Self-Enlargement in Raymond Carver's 'Cathedral.'" Essays in Literature. March 22, 1994: 116.
Nesset, Kirk. "Insularity and Self-Enlargement in Raymond Carver’s ‘Cathedral.’" Essays in Literature. March 22, 1994: 116.
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.
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.
As the story begins, the character of the husband has a negative personality. He lacks compassion, is narrow-minded, and is jealous of his wife’s friendship with a blind man named Robert. His constantly complains that “a blind man in my house was not something [he looked] forward to” (362). The close outside 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 so it seemed” (363) about their relationship.
In Raymond Carver's Cathedral “appear...extreme versions of insularity,from a husband's self-imposed confinement to a living room in 'Preservation' to another's pathetic reluctance to leave an attic garret in 'Careful'” (Meyer). One of Carver's chief goals in cathedral is to criticize people who fail, in one way or another, to communicate with society. In almost every short story, the main character suffers from insularity due to a horrible event in his or her life, alcoholism, or a failure to consider others' thoughts and feelings. The stories, “Careful,” “Preservation,” “Cathedral,” and “The Compartment” easily represent the entire novel's theme of the inability to relate with others. Each of these stories shows a slightly different degree of affliction, circumstance, and character types making the entire novel effective to a broad audience. Carver wants people to stop thinking that “[the loss of the ability to interact with others] is something that happens to other people” (Carver 25)
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 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.
What makes a brotherhood, and how does the short story "Cathedral” relates to brotherhood? In the “Cathedral”, Robert and the Narrator connect over a drawing. The drawing help changes the outcome of the Narrator thoughts of blind people. "Cathedral" helps us understand brotherhood and how you don 't have to be blood-related to join a brotherhood. In the "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, you can experience a newly form brotherhood by two completely opposite characters who are able to form an alliance. The Narrator lacks awareness of others, but with Robert’s help, the Narrator is able to finally see the world in from a different point of view, and this opens him up to create a bond with Robert. In "Cathedral", you see the unity between two men,