Theme
One conceivable theme for the story "Cathedral" may be in spite of the fact that you are blind you may see clearer than any other person. I think the blind man was the person who instructed and influenced the spouse. Blind individuals are not totally blind; they can "see" things.
While drawing a cathedral, Robert puts his hand over the husband's, who is drawing the cathedral.
You don't know how things are until the point that you see it through another person's eyes. Bub gets the opportunity to perceive what the blind man sees. When the blind man has him close his eyes and helped him follow an illustration of a cathedral. One's view may perhaps change as they acquire learning. In the story, "Bub" was an exceptionally stereotyping jerk
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who had numerous thoughts of how the blind man would be. As he invests energy with him, Robert breaks a large number of battles of self-centeredness versus sympathetic actions. Don't generally judge a book from its cover. The spouse's eyes are opened to an alternate side of what a blind man should look or do. Symbolism: Cathedral The cathedral that the narrator draws with Robert speaks to genuine sight, the capacity to see past the surface to the genuine implying that exists in.
Prior to the narrator drawing the cathedral, his reality is straightforward: he can see, and Robert can't. Be that as it may, when he endeavors to depict the cathedral that is appeared on TV, he understands he doesn't have the words to do as such. More imperative, he chooses that the reason he can't find those words is that the cathedral has no importance or meaning to him and discloses to Robert that he doesn't put stock in anything. Be that as it may, when he sets aside the opportunity to draw the cathedral—to truly consider it and see it in his inner being's—he gets himself pulled in, adding points of interest and individuals to make the photo finish and not withstanding drawing some of it with his eyes shut. At the point when the illustration is done, the narrator keeps his eyes close, yet what he sees is more noteworthy than anything he's at any point seen with his eyes open. Carver isn't particular about precisely what the narrator acknowledges, however the narrator says he "didn't feel like he was inside anything"— he has a weightless, place less feeling that recommends he's achieved an epiphany. Similarly as a cathedral offers a place for the religious to love and discover comfort, the narrator's illustration of a cathedral has opened an entryway for him into a more profound place in his own particular world, where he
can see past what is quickly unmistakable. Imagery: Audiotapes The audiotapes that Robert and the narrator's wife send forward and backward to each other speak to the sort of comprehension and compassion that has nothing to do with locate. The narrator trusts that Robert's wife, Beulah, more likely than not endured on the grounds that Robert would never observe her, however in his own particular manner; the narrator has never genuinely observed his own particular wife. Robert's association with the narrator's wife is considerably more profound than anything the narrator can get it. When he hears a touch of Robert's tape, he says it sounds just like "innocuous babble," not understanding that this kind of private correspondence is precisely what his own marriage needs. Just when the narrator shuts his eyes to wrap up the cathedral does he realize the level of understanding that his wife and Robert have accomplished through their taped correspondence.
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 story is about a blind man who visits a married couple. He is an old friend of the wife, but the husband does not look forward to see the blind man (called Robert) because he does not know what to expect. He has never known any blind persons and his picture of these is based on a very little foundation. He has a lot of prejudices against Robert, but during his visit he changes his opinion about him. While watching TV together they get each other to know better and the husband finds out that he actually likes his company. They watch a program about cathedrals and while talking about cathedrals, Robert says that he does not even know how a cathedral looks like. The husband tries to explain what a cathedral is and how it is built, but Robert does not understand it. Therefore he suggests that they can draw one together. In that way Robert gets a picture of a cathedral in his mind and even though it is not as good as seeing it with his own eyes, it is good enough to give him an idea of what a cathedral is.
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
In the short story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, the narrator, Bub, is as metaphorically blind as his guest, Robert, is literally blind. Bub has many unwarranted misconceptions about life, blind people in particular. He also has many insecurities that prevent him from getting too close to people. Through his interaction with Robert, Bub is able to open his mind and let go of his self-doubt for a moment and see the world in a different light.
“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.
The narrator is biased against the blind from the beginning. For instance, he stereotypes all blind people thinking they ...
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.
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".
Throughout the text the narrator is either jealous or scared and has some idea of what a blind person should look or be like. “I have never met, or known anyone personally who was blind.” (pg.347) The narrator feels uncomfortable about having a blind man in the house because he doesn’t know how to be around blind people in general. He doesn’t feel comfortable with making someone else comfortable when he doesn’t know how to react. “A blind man in my house was not so...
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 Raymond Carver’s story, “Cathedral,” the story tells of how a close outside relationship can threaten a marriage by provoking insecurities, aggravating communication barriers, and creating feelings of invasion of privacy. The husband in the story is given the gift of seeing the cathedral through a blind man’s eyes. Although the title suggests that the story is about a cathedral, it is really about two men who come together and share a vision and realize it is he who is blind.
With this in mind, “Cathedral” is a story about a blind man who visits a married couple for the first time in ten years. Carver introduces the blind man’s name as Robert. He has formed a great relationship with the husband’s wife by passionately communicating with her through mailing letters and tapes. Unfortunately, these actions force the husband to become extremely paranoid of Robert coming to visit his wife. These events can infer that their marriage is unstable and the wife is potentially attempting to seek attention or a stronger e...
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 has, technically, normal vision he is in the beginning of this story the one who is "blind." Through the husband’s words and actions when he is dealing with Robert, the blind man, we can see that the husband does not "see" or understand what Robert’s blindness means or how it changes or does not change 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; he seems to be able to see Robert as a person and not just as a blind man.
The reason behind my inspiration with this piece of literature was because in the cathedral, the narrator and the blind man bonded over a social interaction. During the interaction they had, the narrator overcame the idea that blind people are dull. He used movie made impressions to assume how the blind man would be. The experience they shared reminded me of the lectures I had last semester in my general psychology class, of how certain experiences can lead to categorizing thoughts about genders, occupations, and ethnicities. Furthermore, the environment you grow up in has a lot to do with how you approach situations. They led me to the idea of nature versus nurture is whether human behavior is dependent on genetics or influenced by an