The Change Of The Narrator In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

In “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, the narrator’s thoughts and opinions change throughout the story. The narrator in the story is the husband of the woman who is friends with the blind person, Robert. In the beginning, the narrator appears to be jealous of Robert, and he does not understand the troubles that a blind person runs into throughout their lifetime. Although the narrator appears to hold back from talking to Robert, he eventually begins to talk more and begins to understand the troubles that Robert faces. To the placate pleasure of the narrator's wife, Robert and the narrator develop a relationship, and they begin to understand each other. Despite the fact that the narrator is not friendly in the beginning, he eventually understands what Robert was going through and tries to help him.

From the beginning of the story, the narrator does not appear to be happy with the situation that his wife has put him in. The narrator states in the first paragraph, “I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I

knew. And his being blind bothered me”. This shows how the narrator was going to struggle with the fact that he would have to adjust to the changing conditions. Although the narrator was struggling to adapt and understand how being blind would affect someone, he tried to embrace the changes and eventually figured out how to work with Robert.
Despite the fact that the narrator was trying to please his wife, he found that it was going to be a massive struggle to accept Robert. It is stated in paragraph 19, “I saw my wife laughing as she parked the car” showing that he was going to struggle with the fact that his wife was happy with someone else. Although the narrator might have been upset with the fact that his wife was extremely happy, he eventually looked at it as a positive and began to embrace how his wife was having fun again. Despite the rough conditions that the narrator faced, he discovered how to please his wife and guest.
As the story continued, the narrator still appeared to struggle with the fact that Robert was going to stay for a while. Carver writes, “‘Did you have a good train ride?’ I said. ‘Which side of the train did you sit on, by the way?’” which highlights the fact that the narrator was just trying to hold a little bit of a conversation with Robert. This statement also shows how the narrator would just question parts of Robert's life. Even though he struggled to carry on a conversation, the narrator was able to build the foundation of their future relationship.
As the story continues, Carver allows the narrator to change his stubborn personality in the beginning of the story.

Carver was able to manipulate the narrator’s thoughts of Robert and allowed them to eventually begin to understand each other. It is stated in paragraph 61, “Then I asked if he wanted to smoke some dope with me” which provides the beginnings of the change in how the narrator looks at Robert. This statement allows the story to develop and change to allow the narrator to understand Robert.

As the narrator and Robert begin to develop their relationship, they begin to watch images of cathedrals from all over the world on the TV. Robert asked, “[b]ut maybe you could describe one to me?” which shows how the narrator is beginning to understand what it is like to be blind. This line proves that the narrator was able to change and adapt to the conditions that faced him, and he was able to develop the feeling of how the blind man understood

things.
As the narrator and Robert continue watch TV, Robert thought of an idea that would allow the narrator to have a better understanding of the issues that he faces. In paragraph 110 it says, “ We’ll draw one together” which proves that the narrator was trying to understand how Robert's mind worked and was trying to understand the problems he faced both sides of the issue. This created the atmosphere that allowed them to understand how the other one thinks, and it allows them to begin to build trust with each other. In paragraph 135, Carver writes “ It’s really something”. This quote is proving how in the end they each understood how they functioned and pictured different things, and the narrator understood how hard it is for Robert to live a normal life.
Throughout Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral”, the narrator’s character changes as they begin to understand how they each understand different issues. In the end of the story, the narrator completely understands Robert’s mind. Although the story ends this way, it took many different tasks for each of them to trust and understand the situation. The narrator’s wife was the one who brought Robert home and when she did it shocked the narrator. Although it took a while for the narrator and Robert to fix their issues, the end of the story shows that it only takes time for a relationship to develop and end in a good way.