The Role Of The Husband In Flannery O Connor's Cathedral

Back in the when segregation was the norm, many people were extremely closed minded. Many lived their lives with their preconceived ideas of the environment around them, judgment was spoken aloud, and equality did not exist. Many people refused to be around individuals that they found to be different and/or did not fit society’s standards of what the norms were. For instance, the characters that will be compared have a very close minded view of others and were quick to assume that w. The purpose of this paper is to compare the character known as the husband in the “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver to Julian’s mother in “Everything That Rises Must Converge” by Flannery O’Connor.
To start off, “Everything That Rises Must Converge" and "Cathedral"

are similar social change concepts. In the Cathedral, the husband was stereotyping Robert and blind people in general before even meeting him. The husband exemplifies this when he states, “But he didn’t use a cane and he didn’t wear dark glass. I’d always thought dark glasses were a must for the blind. The fact was, I wished he had a pair” (Carver 459). When he initially meets Robert he was surprised to see that Robert was breaking all the typical stereotypes that were made for blind people. After spending time with Robert he slowly starts to notice that his preconceived ideas of what being blind entailed were completely wrong. Robert’s presence was thought by the husband to be weird. The husband shocked when he finds out Robert had a wife who passed away whom Robert has never seen. The husband goes on about this by saying Robert’s presence was thought to be weird for instance when the husband says, “A woman whose husband could never read the expression on her face, be it misery or something better. Someone who could wear makeup or not—what difference to him” (Carver 458)? Another similarity between these two characters is the fact that they were clearly both uneducated with regards to things outside of what they found comfortable. It is evident that they had not tried to educate themselves beyond what they assume to know about cultural differences. It is easy to want to be upset with these characters because of their ignorance and uneducated view on other, we should also see that part of the reason they probably are the way they are is due to fear. An unconscious fear of the unknown. When faced with new situations, some can easily adapt, but for some, it is much harder, so the easiest thing to do is to ignore it and chose to not integrate it into your life. This is something that may seem malicious but is done unknowingly by many.
Therefore, Robert initially had an extremely close minded perspective, but ironically he ended up enjoying the company of the blind man.

The climax occurs when the story moves a confrontation between the narrator and the blind man and begins when the wife goes to sleep and the two men drink and smoke marijuana together. In the end of the story the husband finally understands Robert and relates to him, he exemplifies that by saying, “My eyes were still closed. I was in my house. I know that. But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything. “It’s really something,” I said” (Carver 465). In "Cathedral", the husband has an epiphany, when he and Robert were drawing a cathedral with their eyes closed together. The reasoning for the husband keeping his eyes closed was because he finally comprehends Robert being blind. This is shocking because initially he could not fathom a blind person. The difference being the "Cathedral" the protagonist’s epiphany led to a friendship and understanding. As stated by Beattie, “the blind man eventually provokes an ability to imagine in our main character, and the host does become more enthusiastic and more interested in the evening. What is a cathedral? Both seem to end up fulfilled, at story's end, in their various, odd ways, even though we continue to squirm. This is a much too quick paraphrase and does not begin to describe this weirder-than-life-because-it-is-life story” (57). The narrator not only shares his vision with the blind Robert, but he

simultaneously shares Robert’s inner vision. Through this spiritual contact with the blind man, the narrator discovers unsuspected artistic gifts. The narrator sheds his inhibitions and sketches an elaborate cathedral with spires, buttresses, massive doorways, gargoyles, and a throng of worshippers. It is a unique and memorable experience that forms the story’s climax. At the same time, both share the spiritual vision of men who lived centuries earlier and collaborated to build the beautiful, mystery-laden Gothic cathedrals of Europe.
In similarity, Julian’s mother has the same mindset, though more so about equality and race.

Julian’s mother is hard to argue with, much less able to convince. She completely isolates herself to new ideas or arguments. Her hate for integration is characterized by, “It’s ridiculous. It’s simply not realistic. They should rise, yes, but on their own side of the fence. The one I feel sorry for, are the ones that are half white. They’re tragic” (O’Connor 214). Though Julian tries to make his mother see the social change that was happing, she could not get out of her old ways. Julian and his mother have entirely different social ideas. Julian is more accepting of the social change, however, his mother is still stuck in the past. For example, in the story, Julian’s mother said, “I see we have the bus to ourselves” (O’Connor 216). Referring to being excited about the fact that the bus was only whites. Boudreaux describes this by explaining O’ Connor’s writing format stating, “At first glance, the two are remarkably similar: both stories center on the journey of an old woman and at least one member of her family; each of the old women is of the Old South and holds its values, and each woman finds herself the victim of seemingly random violence”

(150).
In connection, Julian and his mother’s generation gap interfered with their relationship in the sense that Julian’s mother absolutely does not understand integration. Even with a son who understands change, she cannot fathom integration regardless. With that being said Julian does not like his mother's view of African-Americans. This causes Julian to always wanting to anger his mother by sitting near an African American person on their way to the Y. According to Nadal, Marita, in the article "The Shadows Of Time” going to the Y foreshadows O’Connor’s own real life disease as Nadal states, “Surprisingly, Folks analyzes O’Connor’s tales in the light of her essays and letters, always foregrounding her chronic disease-O’Connor suffered from lupus erythematosus and her progressive disability” (PLL 279). He would also just contemplate different scenarios that would agitate his mother or think about befriending a Negro. Such as "he bringing home a beautiful suspiciously Negro to women. Prepare yourself, he said. There is nothing you can do about it. This is the woman I've chosen. She is intelligent, dignified, even good, and she's suffered and she hasn't thought it fun"(O’Connor 219). Although he wants to anger his mother he never actually acts upon his thoughts.
Although these two characters evoke similar characteristic in their personalities as well as their prejudices and also having loved ones who put up with them regardless. The biggest sign of similarity between these characters is exemplified when the husband criticizes the blind man’s wife’s name, “Her name is Beulah. Beulah! That’s the name of a colored woman. “Was his wife a Negro?” I asked” (Carver 457). They differ from each other significantly in the fact that the husband was able to overcome his prejudices by putting himself in Robert’s shoes. Julian’s mother, on the other hand, was unable to overcome her prejudice prior to her death. In Cathedral, the husband’s gets a clear understanding of the blind man and understands that he underestimated Robert. His epiphany occurs when drawing simultaneously by Robert and closed eyes to comprehend and be on the same playing field as Robert. The article by Peterson, Polly Rose also talks about how the throughout the story are shifted in order to create psychological distance between the narrator and the other characters and closeness of readers to the narrator in the context of his realization in the end. Exemplifying this when saying, “By situating readers in a close, direct relationship with the narrator and forcing them to view the world from the narrator’s perspective, reader’s progress through a series of epiphanies” (167). Whereas Julian’s mother in Every Thing That Rises Must Converge dies without learning a moral or becoming, at least, a decent person.