In the short story, “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, our gloomy and negative narrator has been stuck in a rut for a while, but his wife’s blind friend is about to put a spark back in our narrator. Robert, the blind man, recently lost his wife. This helped form a great friendship and sometimes intimate relationship with him and the narrator’s wife. This makes the narrator irritated, jealous, and unhappy. The narrator’s wife invites Robert over for dinner and this is where the narrator undergoes his change. In “Cathedral”, the trapped, disapproving, and depressed narrator changes into an inspired and hopeful fellow when Robert teaches him how to see. The narrator is extremely judgmental towards the blind and this creates negative preconceived notions about Robert. First, his idea of a blind man comes from movies he has watched and describes that the blind, “moved slowly and never laughed” (Par. 1). The narrator has a horrible attitude towards the blind and because of this he sees himself higher than any blind person. Second, he believes that when Robert’s wife was alive they both had no capability of loving each other solely because of Robert’s blindness. He thinks Robert cannot love because he had never “seen what the goddamned woman looked like” (Par. 16). The narrator then thinks Robert’s wife could not love him because she could “never see herself as she was seen in the eyes of her loved one” (Par. 16). This kind of harsh thinking that the narrator has towards Robert is detrimental to himself as well as those surrounding him. The narrator is trapped with judgmental thinking, making him hard to be around and cooperate with. The narrator feels trapped with the current life he lives and this makes him depressed. When Robert is over... ... middle of paper ... ...e not left with much of an ending, but we can only hope as readers that this will progress the narrator forward in his life. In “Cathedral”, we see a trapped narrator undergo a small venture that has the possibility to make his life turn for the absolute better. Something as slight as a blind man coming over for dinner one night has the power to change the narrator’s entire perspective. This story is captivating and meaningful because it reminds us of the tiny experiences in our own lives that were monumental and moved us greatly despite how minuscule it may seem to the outside world. As we look back at our lives, we slowly come to the realization that our small experiences are in fact actually the biggest. Works Cited Carver, Raymond. “Cathedral.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Kelly J. Mays. Portable 11th ed. New York: Norton, 2014. 34-46. Print.
My own high school experience brought me one of my best friends who I hadn’t paid much attention to because she was in a different clique. I wouldn’t have even considered starting a friendship with her if I hadn’t gotten past my prejudiced ways and opened my mind. The story of “Cathedral” provides a very optimistic ending, which wouldn’t have been possible without the narrator’s initial negative traits. The blind man’s likeable character eventually helps the narrator to have a sort of epiphany in which he appears to leave behind his
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's insensitivity reveals itself early in the story when his wife's blind friend, Robert, comes for a visit after the death of his wife. Almost immediately in the beginning of the story the narrator admits "A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to." [Carver 2368] He even goes so far as to suggest to his wife that he take the man bowling. He hears the story of Robert's dead wife and can not even imagine " what a pitiful life this woman must have led." [Carver 2370] The narrator is superficial, only recognizing the external part of people and not recognizing the value of a person on the inside.
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.
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.
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, his wife, and the blind man spend the evening talking, but eventually the wife falls asleep. The narrator is uncomfortable about being left alone with a blind man. There is something about cathedrals on TV and the blind man asks the narrator to describe what a cathedral looks like. The narrator only describes physical things and so the blind man decides that they should try drawing one instead. As they draw the blind man and the narrator connect and a transformation in the narrator?s character takes place.
The narrator is jealous of their 10-year-old connection and isn’t hesitant to share it with reader, it becomes clear that one of key differences among these relationship is simply appreciation. The wife plays such an important role in the life of the blind man and feels acknowledged and regarded by him. On the other side, the narrator appears to have a lack of appropriate recognition for his spouse. When the storyteller shares his thoughts about the poem written by his wife, he states, “I didn’t think much of the poem” (Carver 34). Ultimately, while he shows no support to his significant other, the blind man fills in that emotional void with much needed gratefulness. I agree with KEEPING THE READER when he writes, “His [narrator] problem is that he does not ‘see’ his wife in the sense that he does not seek to understand who she is. The apparent difference between the men is that Robert, despite his physical lack of vision, is open to new experiences. (Clark 108). Clearly, the storyteller keeps himself emotionally disconnected from his wife and speaks of her past experiences, “He talks about her suicide attempt and previous marriage in a coldly analytical way, as if he can barely believe that it truly happened” (Clark 109). In addition, the narrator’s tone seems tense while describing the physical occurrence between his wife and Robert, “she told me he touched his fingers to every part of her face, her nose – even her neck! She never forgot it. She even tried to write a poem about it” (Carver 34). This kind of memory wouldn’t set well with no man, especially the storyteller. I see eye to eye with Mark Facknitz when he writes, “Robert sexually threatens the narrator, with his blindness, and by virtue of being a representative of a past that is meaningful to the wife” (Facknitz 293). The narrator can’t embrace the fact that the past can
“Cathedral” by Raymond Carver is a story narrorated by a man whose wife invites an old friend (Robert) over for a visit after recently losing his wife of eight years. This old friend is blind, which greatly troubles the nameless man. This is because he already has a preconceived idea of what blind people are like without ever having met one. As the story progresses and soon ends, this unnamed man learns of his misconceptions and the true meaning of life after spending time with his blind house guest. This is accomplished as Carver uses irony to accentuate the difference between physically looking versus internally seeing. Symbolism is also used as literary device to point out that empathy and viewpoint is the only way to truly understand profound emotion.
Raymond Carver’s, “The Cathedral” is a short story told by the narrator, whose actual identity remains unknown. The narrator tells of an evening where his wife invites an old friend and former patient, by the name of Robert, over to spend the night. The only thing that differentiates Robert from the rest of the group is the simple fact that he is blind. The narrative is seemingly flat and uneventful upon initial observation. Although this may be true, it is blatantly apparent that the narrator or bud, a nicknamed coined by Robert, is close-minded and quick to make preconceived notions and assumptions about circumstances that he is unfamiliar with, especially Robert’s inability to see. Upon deeper analysis it is discovered that Bud, the narrator,
Why Robert does not use the cane and wear sunglasses? This idea bothers the narrator. He think that the blind should appear with that for purpose although he does not has any clues to acclaim that should be. He thinks Robert is abnormal toward his appearance and action. The prejudice on Robert and the lacking knowledge of the disability accidentally confuse him. Robert acts like a normal people. He appears as a visibility of disability. Physically his eyes tell that he is blind but his action is not. His disability seems to be forgotten in him. His bright mind opens the valuable affection on his interests
We follow the turning points of a man’s life when he steps into the shoes of someone less fortunate than him and learns the true meaning of being able to see. In “Cathedral”, Raymond Carver uses characterization, irony and symbolism to show the realization of a world beyond what the human eye can perceive. Carver uses characterization to display the contrasting state of mind between the main characters, the narrator and Robert. “My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind move slowly and never laugh.