The short story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver is about a woman who has a blind friend who comes to visit her and her husband. Although the husband’s eye sight is normal, he is in the beginning of this story, the one who is "blind." This is shown through the husband’s words and actions, as he is dealing with Robert, the blind man, it is shown that the husband does not understand what Robert’s blindness means or how it affects him as a human being. At first Robert makes the husband very uncomfortable, for the husband does not know what to say or do around the blind visitor. As the story progresses, we can see a change in the husband. Towards the end, the husband, who is also the narrator of the story, seems to be able to see Robert as a person …show more content…
and not just as a blind man. In the beginning of the story, before Robert arrives to meet up with the narrator’s wife, he is shown to be “blind”. This happens as the narrator and his wife talk about Robert, the narrator constantly refers to him as "this blind man", and he never uses Robert’s name or assigns any human attributes to him. This shows that the narrator does not really see Robert as a person, but just as a blind man who is different because he is handicapped. Robert’s wife had just died and was visiting the narrator’s wife who had already been friends before the wife and the narrator were married. The narrator did not know what to do or say when Robert had arrived to their house. He even asked questions that did not make sense, at least to Robert, he had said “Which side of the train did you sit on?” (pg.35). Later, when the narrator, the wife and Robert are having dinner, Robert seems to make the narrator very uncomfortable. During this whole scene, Robert is acting normal and does seem to be affected by his blindness, he seems happy, despite having his wife pass away, this seems to set the narrator off. The narrator finds a lot of value in sight. He feels uncomfortable because he cannot find the happiness that Robert obviously finds. Not only does the narrator have difficulty on how to communicate with Robert, he does not know what actions to take around him either.
A great example of this is shown after dinner, when they all move into the living room to watch television. This is how the narrator acts when after they all move into the living room: "Robert and my wife sat on the sofa. I took the big chair. We had us two or three more drinks while they talked about the major things that had come to pass for them in the past ten years. For the most part, I just listened. Now and then I joined in". The narrator is not able to join in the conversation for a good amount of time because he is too uncomfortable. This is where jealousy may come into play. Robert and the wife had known each other for a long time. This may make the narrator feel like he is not important. The narrator and the wife do not even share a bedroom together. This shows that the wife and the narrator do not have a healthy marriage. The narrator’s discomfort is revealed through his actions. He shows that he does not know how to act around Robert because again he does not see Robert as a person, but only as a blind …show more content…
man. As the story progresses, the narrator’s attitude toward Robert is starting to change. A good example of this is also seen in the dinner scene, when the narrator "watched with admiration as (Robert) used his knife and fork on the meat". The narrator is obviously impressed that Robert can eat like anyone else, and he therefore gives him credit for accomplishing that task that would be rather difficult to do if handicapped from eye sight. This incident is very significant because this is when the narrator first starts to see Robert for who he is inside instead of just seeing his handicap. There is another example that shows this change that the narrator makes. All three of them are sitting on the couch smoking marijuana. When it comes to Robert’s turn to smoke, he inhales and "held the smoke, and then let it go. It was like he’d been doing it since he was nine years old". This also shows that the husband is impressed with Robert’s actions, and it makes the narrator start to view him as Robert the human being, instead of Robert the blind man. In the end of the story, the wife is tired and goes upstairs.
The narrator turns on the television and a cathedral appears on the screen. Robert does not know what a cathedral looks like, so the narrator starts to explain it to him. The narrator is having a hard time explaining what a cathedral looks like, but Robert comes up with an idea. He suggests that the narrator draw one, while Robert has his hands on top of the narrators hands. While they draw the cathedral together, the narrator "rises with the spirit of the blind man as, with eyes closed and pen on paper, he leads the blind man’s hand over what he imagines the contours of a cathedral would be". When they are done, Robert wants the husband to look, but he has his eyes closed because he "thought it was something (the narrator) ought to do". This is when the husband is no longer "blind" because he finally sees that Robert is person with the same thoughts and emotions as
himself. In conclusion, the narrator had changed his attitude and impression of Robert. It was the narrator who was truly blind in the story. This may affect the narrator and make him act differently towards people. It might even fix his relationship with his wife.
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
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 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.
By becoming close with Robert, the man in this story experienced what was necessary to gain an understanding of what life is like for the blind. The man began to draw the cathedral to try and help Robert visualize what one looked like. What he didn't realize at the time was that Robert was helping him to visualize what blindness felt like. Bibliography: Carver, Raymond. "Cathedral".
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.
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.
Raymond Carver’s short story, “Cathedral,” portrays a story in which many in today’s society can relate. We are introduced from the first sentence of the story to a man that seems to be perturbed and agitated. As readers, we are initially unsure to the reasoning’s behind the man’s discomfort. The man, who seems to be a direct portrayal of Raymond Carver himself, shows his ignorance by stereotyping a blind man by the name of Robert, who has come to stay with he and his wife. From the very beginning, Carver shows his detest for Robert but over the course of the story eases into comfort with him and in the end is taught a lesson from the very one he despised.
...rs, leaving the narrator and Rob to smoke a joint and watch television. The narrator tells Robert what’s going on in the show and asks him if he knows what a cathedral is, since the show is all about cathedrals. Although the narrator isn’t religious, he draws a cathedral for Robert, allowing his hand to be over his. This would allow him to understand what a cathedral looks like. However, when the wife wakes up and asks what they’re doing, she’s confused when the narrator says they’re drawing a cathedral. Robert asks the narrator to open his eyes, and he never does, claiming he feels weightless, suggesting to himself that he’s reached an epiphany. The narrator’s drawing allows him to see beyond “visibility.” He doesn’t understand exactly what he felt, but he knows it was a meaningful experience. Robert demonstrated that seeing involves a lot more than just looking.
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 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.
...h it emotionally detached without the pleasure of living. In the end, when the narrator has his eyes closed drawing the cathedral, he is the most open he has even been to the world. The narrator’s limited point of view in the story was crucial in showing the reader that what will hold you back the most in life are your biases and judgments. If the story was told in Robert’s point of view, it would have been a joyful story about visiting a long time friend, even with the tragedy of his wife’s death. We would have never known of the prejudices that were held inside the husband, and no true theme would have come from the story. The limited point of view was used in a way that expanded upon the theme even more, and made for a stronger story structure.