A Present Cathedral
Cathedral is a short story written by Raymond Carver in 1983, about a prejudiced man who meets a disabled man. Through “Cathedral,” It becomes clear that the visit of the blind man Robert in the narrator’s house may change the narrator from stereotyping to accepting disabled people; this illustrates Carver’s theme which displays human Insensitivity through the narrator’s reluctance because of fear, then acceptance, and finally understanding of Robert.
At the beginning, the narrator was reluctant to allow the blind man to come to his house. The narrator’s perception about the blind man comes from the movie he saw, and this preconception influences the narrator’s consent of the blind man in his house. For instance, through Carver’s story, the narrator said, “I was not enthusiastic about his visit. And his being blind bothered me.” The narrator also reported to the readers that “A blind man in my house was not something I was looking forward to” (78). Those words show that the narrator was not excited about the blind man stopping over. In addition to his unwieldy attitude, he said,
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“Now this same blind man was coming to sleep in my house” (79). With the use of the word “This,” the narrator shows the condescending attitude about Robert. Moreover, through those words, the narrator display his dissatisfaction, for not only does he not know Robert, he is also not excited about him to come to his house, and now this blind man has to spent the night in his house. In fact, the lack of the narrator’s knowledge about blind man might help readers to infer that the narrator’s smug and cruel attitudes about the blind man make clear that much of his reluctance is based on its stereotypes. Although the narrator has a certain contempt before Robert comes in his house, during Robert’s sojourn, living and talking with the blind man allows him to gain a certain acceptance. As a result, it allows him to change the perception he has about the blind man. An unexpected situational Irony is illustrated by the narrator when he expects to see Robert with all that he has in his mind before the narrator meets him. Carver reported through the narrator that “He also had this full beard. But he didn’t use the cane and he didn’t wear dark glasses. I always thought dark glasses were a must for the blind man.” Also, the narrator says, “I remembered having read somewhere that the blind didn’t smoke… I thought I know that much and that much only about the blind man” (82). What he saw does not match his preconceptions. The scenario draw in cathedral deals with issues that are relevant in today’s world. Through the cathedral, the author reveals aspects of human nature such as fear, contempt, insensitivity, rejection and acceptance as well. Finally, His understanding about the blind man changes because he realizes the blind man is not a thing, he is a human, even though he lack eyesight.
In addition, being comprehensive allows the narrator to come out of his narrow-mindedness. The talk Robert and the narrator have is sufficient to see that the narrator accepts Robert, especially when the narrator wife asks Robert if he has a TV, and Robert’s answer is: “I have two TVs. I have a color set and a black-and-white thing, an old relic.”(83) Because of the narrator’s acceptance and appreciation, like a human the protagonist opens himself, and he can express his feelings. For example, at the beginning of the second paragraph, and after the blind man answers the protagonist’s wife, the narrator says, “I didn’t know what to say to that. I had absolutely nothing to say to that. No opinion”
(84)likewise, To sum up Carver’s story Cathedral, we might imply that nature such as the fear of rejection is seen as man’s greatest enemy, and getting acceptance and understanding allows us to acquire knowledge. Finally, when people take a deeper look within themselves, they see that some ills lies within us. Too, drawing Cathedral allows us not only to accept people as they are, but also to gain knowledge.
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.
The speaker's prejudice was nearly overwhelming at the opening of the story. "His being blind bothered me," he said. "A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to." He had never really come in personal contact with anyone before who was blind, and seemed to have no idea of what to expect. He admittedly gathered a stereotypical mind set about blind people from movies, assuming they "moved slowly and never laughed."
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.
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.
Blindness in Raymond Carver's Cathedral Blindness creates a world of obscurity only to be overcome with guidance from someone willing to become intimate with the blind. Equally true, the perceptions of blindness can only be overcome when the blind allow intimacy with the sighted. Raymond Carver, with his short story Cathedral, illustrates this point through the eyes of a man who will be spending an evening with a blind man, Robert, for the first time. Not only does this man not know Robert, but his being blind, "bothered" (Carver 98) him.
Carver’s purpose of having the narrator of the short story use imagery allows for the reader to be able to understand each and every moment he lives while explaining the blind man’s, Robert, visit to his home. In Cathedral, the narrator tells the story very detailed and descriptive. For instance, when the narrator describes his wife’s arrival with Robert, “I saw my wife laughing as she parked the car. I saw her get out of the car and shut the door…She went around to the other side of the car to where the blind man was already starting to get out…he was wearing a full beard!” Here, the author makes the narrator describe the scene and details it as if he is describing it to a blind person. Most of the short story uses imagery which makes clear images in the reader’s mind to unders...
The point of view from the narrators perspective, highlights how self-absorbed and narrow-minded he is. “They’d married, lived and worked together, slept together—had sex, sure—and then the blind man had to bury her. All this without his having ever seen what the goddamned woman looked like. It was beyond my understanding” (Carver...
In the first paragraph, the narrator also reveals his ignorance. He believes that all blind people are based on only what he has seen in movies, "My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they are led by seeing-eye dogs “(104). The narrator was surprised when he noticed Robert was not like this. The narrator is also surprised when Robert lights a cigarette. He believes blind people don’t smoke because “they couldn’t see the smoke they exhaled” (108). The husband starts to feel more comfortable after this. The three of them sit down for dinner and the husbands is impressed with the how Robert is able to locate his food, cut with a knife, and eat properly. This is where the narrator’s outlook starts to undergo change.
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. 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.
Throughout the majority of the story Carver uses a variety of devices to portray the narrator negatively. One reason is that he lacks compassion. At the beginning of the story he says, "I wasn?t enthusiastic about his [the blind man?s] visit. He [the blind man] was no one I knew. And his [the blind man] being blind bothered me."
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 narrator is uneasy with the thought of Robert staying in his house and believes that he is superior to the blind man. Even before an introduction is satisfied between the narrator and Robert, the narrator is a bit disturbed to have Robert staying in his house. Within the first paragraph of the story, the narrator’s agitation towards Robert is made apparent. “I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me” (Carver 33). The narrator assumes from Robert’s blindness that he is going to just be a nuisance to have to host because
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.
The narrator makes his opinions clear from the very beginning. In the first paragraph of the story he states, “A blind man in my house was not something that I looked forward to” (Carver, 34). This opinion continues on throughout almost the entire story. The narrator has no logical reason to explain why the thought of a blind man in his home makes him so uncomfortable either. He states that he has formed his opinion from movies where blind people move very slowly and never laugh. This is the only evidence he uses to defend his opinion, which is a very weak argu...
Respect the blind folks. A person who is blind for the most part of their life has tendencies to dig deeper into people instead of people who can actually see the different appearances of people. People who have vision are usually more focused on the outward appearance other than what is at someone someone’s heart. Blind people tend to have more wisdom and intellectual than a usual person. As Robert being presented as a static character and the antagonist, he plays a huge role throughout the story, “Cathedral.” Throughout Raymond Carver’s, “Cathedral,” Robert, the blind man, with his hectic background, appearance, interaction with others help shape the narrator into opening his eyes to help understand other people that is different from him.