Many of us are born with the natural ability of sight, yet there lies a key difference between a person's ability to look at something and their ability to see. The ability to see an object requires both focus and engagement on said object while looking at something requires nothing more than the ability of sight. This metaphor plays a key part in Raymond Carver's Cathedral. This story, narrated by the main character Bub, centers around the theme of finally see things and not just brushing over them. The narrator Bub goes through an internal revolution, and learns to open his eyes. Bub is clotted by; ignorance, isolation, jealousy, insecurity, and once he meets the blind man Robert his view starts to change, and he could see things more clearly …show more content…
than before. A big part of this story is Bub’s ignorance and his withdrawn personality. Bub likes to hide behind stereotypes and trust in things that he may think are the norm, which plays a big role when he first meets with bub. Bub states early on in the story that he was not a fan things that he was not already familiar with.“He [Robert] was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me. My idea of blindness came from the movies.. A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to.” (32). From what we had gathered about Bub early on in the story is that he is very introverted when it comes to social interaction. He has his routine set and he does not want anything deviated from the norm. He does not want to meet someone who is blind because it is something he has not experienced before. He takes his perceptions from external sources such as the television and draws biased from there. He may not know from experience on who or what a blind man is like so he jumps to conclusions and prematurely decides he is not a fan of this man because of his physical handicap. Later on he starts to talk about the blind man’s dead wife,“They’d [Robert and his wife Beulah] 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. Hearing this, I felt sorry for the blind man for a little bit. And then I found myself thinking what a pitiful life this woman must have led. Imagine a woman who could never see herself as she was seen in the eyes of her loved one” (35). This shows strong evidence of Bub’s biased and ignorance not only towards Roberts blindness, but also towards the people Robert was affiliated with. It is evident that Bub is a closed minded man because he indirectly compares his love affairs with Roberts, and sees his views are the norm and any deviations as odd. He in a sense does not think a blind man can love the same way that a man with sight can. These all are contributed to his very withdrawn personality. He is a very independent man who in a sense judges others through the way he lives his own life. Which shows why he feels sorry for beulah for being with Robert. Bub is a very closed minded person, and is very to himself, as is wife tells him- he is a couch potato who does not have any friends. Along with his aforementioned characteristics, Bub is also insecurite and shows signs of jealousy. Bub seems to be jealous of the relationship that his wife and Robert have for one another. Bub’s wife as he had mentioned before likes to write poetry about the important things in her life. And he, even when they were still dating showed very little interest in these poems she wrote, espeically those that were about Robert, and him touching Bub’s wifes face. “She showed me the poem. In the poem, she recalled his fingers and the way they had moved around over her face… I can remember I didn’t think much of the poem. Of course, I didn’t tell her that. Maybe I just don’t understand poetry.” (33). He says he does not like poetry, and uses that as an excuse for not really wanting to show how he actually feels about the poem. It is subtly implied that Bub is not a fan of the relationship that his wife and Robert have at this point. This shows his jealousy towards Robert, even though these should not be any. He is insecure about this because his wife and Robert in a sense have a stronger bond that he does with his own wife. And this is the reason why Bub does not like reading his wife's poetry. The insecurities are very obvious, when his wife stops talking to Robert and then looks over at Bub.“My wife finally took her eyes off the blind man and looked at me. I had the feeling she didn’t like what she saw. I shrugged.” (36). He is insecure because Robert shares a stronger connection than he does with his own wife, which against exploits the jealousy he has, This keeps going, and it becomes very evident that he is insecure bit later when His wife and robert have a long talk and catch up. “They talked of things that had happened to them—to them!—these past ten years. I waited in vain to hear my name on my wife’s sweet lips.. but I heard nothing of the sort. More talk of Robert” (37). Bub seems very agitated when they his wife did not bring him into the conversation. As if he was not an important part of her life, which seems to go along with the characteristics of Bub as being a very lazy person, and self centered. The scene leading up to the climax is the most important part of Bubs transformation from being the ignorant man he is into being conscious about the world around him.
When Bub’s wife falls asleep only Bub and Robert are left to make conversation, which starts off poorly since neither of them know what to say. However once the television set starts to talk about cathedrals, the two of them start to spark conversation and Robert asks Bub if he is religious in any fashion. Bub replies,”I guess I don’t believe in it. In anything. Sometimes it’s hard. You know what I’m saying?” (40). This later opens up to Bub asking about what a cathedral looks like, and Bub has a hard time describing it. At this point of the story start to see a transformation in Bubs character, he is speaking to Robert and is making real conversation with him. This all goes on until Robert asks Bub if he will help him draw a cathedral for him; Bub agrees to help him draw one. As they draw the Cathedral Robert asks Bub to close his eyes and help him draw the cathedral, this is the climax of the story. No longer does Bub see Robert as a lesser, but now they are on the same level. They are both drawing together blind, however Bub is helping Robert really understand what a Cathedral looks like. “His fingers rode my fingers as my hand went over the paper. It was like nothing else in my life up to now” (43). At this point the Bub has gained a form of sympathy for Bub, as if he was introduced to the daily life of Roberts. At this point Bubs wife wakes up and starts to question what they are doing, however Bub is not quick to answer, as if he is in somewhat of a zen-like state. The Story finishes off with Bub still keeping his eyes closed and making a remark, “My eyes were still closed. I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything. “It’s really something,” I said.” (44). This is when we know Bub has gone through his transformation from being the ignorant man he was to
becoming more open and understand about what it means to be able to truley see things, not just physically. The Story Cathedral does a really good job in telling the story and the transformation of Bub. Robert being a key contributor to Bub’s ‘awakening’ gives the story a form of irony. As I had said before, one of the biggest themes of the story is the blind leading the blind, and even if we can see, it does not mean we are not still blind. Although Bub had the ability to see and Robert did not, we could tell that Robert had a better understand of the world around him, while Bub was ignorant and very closed off. In an ironical sense, Robert was the one who gave Bub vision. Bub gained a sympathetical view from Roberts perspective and no longer relied on his ignorance and biased to play a part in his irrational thought processes. The Story truly gives the reader a sense of understand of what it means to be able to see, and what if is like to live in a clotted ignorant state.
Carver provides an easy, visual outlook of the protagonist throughout the short story, which helps keep a better understanding during the simple yet intense experience. As the story continues, the protagonist enhances his mood as he aids Robert to visualizing a cathedral. This experience creates an impact on others because it is a great reason to why one should never judge someone of something beyond their controls. Also, helping someone, as Robert does for Bub can be a life changing experience. Despite the blind man being physically blind, the husband is the one with the disability to see from someone else’s perspective. This is proven through his epiphany during his portrayal of being blind. Although Bub is not physically blind, he interprets a shortage of observations. This shows that in many ways he is blinder than Robert. Robert is more open minded and willing to experience things, in contrast to Bub, who is narrow minded and has problems opening up his mind throughout the short story. Because the protagonist does not fully try to understand his wife, it makes him look like the blind person ironically though he can visually recognize her, proving that he does not truly know her inside and out. Knowing her personally is more of reality and the husband is blind to reality. Carver definitely analyzes the protagonist’s emotions through diction and visual aid throughout the story, providing great understanding of the meaning as a
These audiotapes represent a distinguished type of communication that requires no visual interaction, but an interface that involves understanding and empathy instead, something the narrator has not yet learned. At this point of the story the narrator believes that Robert could not have possibly fulfilled his now deceased wife’s, Beulah’s, aspirations as seen when he states, “I found myself thinking what a pitiful life this woman must have led,” (37). The narrator bases his reason solely on the fact that the man is blind, so how could he have ever interacted or contributed in their relationship. In reality, though, it is the narrator himself, who has not fully satisfied or even begun to fully appreciate his own wife. The audiotapes symbolize this absence of appreciation and reveals to the reader that the narrator has not even considered this “harmless chitchat,” (36) as he describes it, to be of importance to his own marriage. It is not until the end, when he finishes drawing the cathedral that he is capable of understanding what his wife and Robert share. The cathedral is the other major symbol in this story, since it is the pivotal turning point for when the narrator becomes a dynamic character. Without the cathedral the narrator would not have succumbed to his new acceptance of what it means to actually see someone or something. When the narrator says, “I didn’t feel like I was inside anything,” (46) this is the indication of that epiphany coming to him. Moments before, the narrator had just explained to Robert that he did not “believe in it [religion]. In anything,” (45) however, this insightful moment now contradicts that statement, supporting the notion that the narrator has advanced as a character. Furthermore, a cathedral, which is assumed to bring solace and a new light to those in pursuit of one, offered the
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.
As Bub begins to describe the cathedrals on the television for Robert, he gets frustrated, feeling as if he is not doing enough. Here his self-doubt begins to resurface as he feels inadequate at yet another thing in his life. Robert, being the optimist, does not allow Bub to give up and instead encourages him. Encouragement from Robert seems to push Bub further out of his comfort zone.
The significance of the final scene in Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” is important because illustrates how people with a negative demeanor can develop into a person with a positive attitude towards others. In the story, Bub not only falsely assumes bad things about blind people, but also about others as well. For example, he assumes that Roberts wife is a “negro” woman because her name was Beulah. The things that Bub assumes about Robert and Beulah resemble Bub’s negative attitude and personality toward the blind man and Beulah. Towards the end of the story, as Bub and Robert were watching television, the show featured a particular Cathedral. Robert asked Bub to describe the Cathedral when Robert says, “I wish you’d do it. I’d like that. If you
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.
Don’t judge a book by its cover. We have all heard this cliché at least once in our lifetime. But how many times have we ever followed through with this expression? The author Raymond Carver writes about an experience where a couple is visited by the wife’s acquaintance Robert, whose wife has recently passed. The fact that Robert is blind belittles him in the eyes of the narrator, causing tension and misjudgment. In “Cathedral”, Carver uses irony, point of view, and symbolism to show the difference between looking and truly seeing.
...ns up to new possibilities: "Never thought anything like this could happen in your lifetime, did you bub? Well, it's a strange life, we all know that"(P729). This quote shows the narrators limited view on life. By drawing the cathedral with Robert, the narrator's views are expanded and he experiences a revelation. The narrator realizes that he must let go of his insecurity and mental acts of jealousy.
Robert tells the narrator to find some heavy paper and pencils so they can draw a cathedral together. As they drew Robert tells the narrator to close his eyes. There was a connection made between Robert and the narrator and he says, "it was like nothing else in my life up to now." Robert tells him to open his eyes, but he doesn?t because he doesn?t want the experience to end.
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.