The “Cathedral” (1983) by Raymond Carver takes place in a middle-class home in New York and is a story about a blind man, named Robert, visiting the nameless narrator and his wife. At first, the narrator does not like Robert, but as the night progresses the narrator starts to establish a liking towards Robert. The narrator, who can at times be seen as an antagonist, has many aspects that we as a human race have. For instance, the narrator has a displeasing attitude towards the unknown, has beliefs that are influenced by popular beliefs, and has a comedic behavior in difficult situations. The attitude, the beliefs, and the behavior of the narrator at times represent mankind thus playing a major role in allowing the short story to actually be …show more content…
He even goes as far as thinking, “A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to.” This attitude is actually quite reasonable for Robert coming to visit is forcing him to change his way of life and conform to the unknown. Also this reaction is much similar to how we as humans, in general, would react; for the most part we dislike change and tend to reject it before ever experiencing it. Then much like our attitude towards change, the narrator’s attitude towards Robert begins to alter for, for the narrator begins to bond with Robert by talking, drinking, smoking, and “watching” TV. The biggest difference in attitude is evident at this point: “Then I said, ‘I’m glad for the company.’ And I guess I was.” By saying this, the narrator proves even more to be like mankind, for as time goes on and as we are able to genuinely experience the new change, we adapt and we begin to like the change. This is exactly what happened to the narrator’s attitude towards Robert, in the beginning he disliked Robert for he signified change, but as they spent time together the narrator finally accepted the change that Robert brought …show more content…
You’re my host. But let me ask if you are in any way religious? You don’t mind my asking... I guess I don’t believe in it. In anything. Sometimes it’s hard. This is a representation of how most people, at some point, go through a crisis and simply lose faith. However, those people tend to still identify as a particular religion in order to continue being part of it. Therefore, the narrator reveals the ugly truth about mankind; we base our beliefs off of popular beliefs, and tend to believe in things that others believe in, but why? Well it is because people are simply looking for acceptance from others.
The behavior of the narrator is quite comedic, he always seems to try to make the best out of a difficult situation, which in his case is dealing with Robert. For instance, at one part of the night he simply thinks to himself stating, “A wink is the same as a nod to a blind man.” This then lightens the mood for it is something that the large majority of the world would never say but they would think it. Plus it is extremely comedic and that helps lighten the serious mood of the story. There is another instance that does an even better job of providing a comedic relief to the story; it was when he had realized his wife was in deep
He constantly complains that “a blind man in my house was not something [he looked] forward to” (362). The close friendship between the narrator’s wife and Robert provokes his insecurities. This friendship has lasted for ten years and during those years, they have exchanged countless tapes regarding experiences they have gone through. Because of this, her husband feels “she [has] told him everything or it seems” (363) about their relationship. Upon the arrival of his wife’s friend, the husband is ultimately uncomfortable around Robert because he does not know how to communicate with or act around him.
The close outside friendship between the narrator’s wife and Robert, the blind man, provokes the narrator’s insecurities. This friendship has lasted for ten long years. During those years, they have exchanged countless voice tapes wherein they both tell each other what has happened in their respective lives. Because of this, the narrator feels that his wife has told Robert more than Robert needs to know. The narrator laments, "she told him everything or so it seemed to me" (1054). The narrator’s fear is somehow confirmed when Robert arrives and says that he feels like they have already met (1055). The narrator is left wondering what his wife has disclosed. This murky situation leaves the narrator feeling insecure, especially when he sees the warm interaction between his wife and Robert.
Upon reading Raymond Carver's short story of the Cathedral one will notice the literary devices used in the short story. When analyzing the story completely, one then understands the themes, motifs, metaphors, and the overall point of the piece. This leaves the reader with an appreciation of the story and a feeling of complete satisfaction.
He didn’t like the fact that his wife had a new friend that was going to stay with them and he felt threatened by their closeness. He selfishly says, “ I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me” (Cathedral 86). He clearly didn’t have compassion for that fact that Robert was disabled and that his wife had just died. All he cared about was his own feelings and his own relationship with his wife. He also had the nerve to go on and say, “ My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Some times they were led by Seeing Eye dogs. A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to” (Cathedral 86). He was clearly uninformed and biases when it came to people with disabilities or people that were different from him. He didn’t look at the situation as an opportunity to get to see something different and learn but to complain for pretty much the entire short
The narrator also feels intimidated by his wife?s relationship with the blind man. When he is telling of her friendship with Robert h...
The physical description of Robert obviously helps to visualize him and how he might carry himself. “This blind man was late forties, a heavy-set, balding man with stooped shoulders, as if he carried a great weight there. He wore brown slacks, brown shoes, a light-brown shirt, a tie, a sports coat” (Carver 107). Carver also gives us details of Roberts booming voice and friendly demeanor. These descriptions along with certain mannerisms help to create a mental image of the way Robert behaves. “He lifted his beard, sniffed it, and let it fall” (Carver 109). These subtle details makes a huge difference when reading. Just that little mannerism of Robert playing with his beard few times throughout the story better allows the reader to picture how he moves and interacts with the narrator while conversing. The way Robert continues to call the narrator “bub” is another unique detail of his character. Somehow, it fits his big friendly demeanor so well. This seems to be such a simple but effective way to create a unique characteristic for the reader. His calmness and ability to cope with the narrators sarcastic remarks successfully displays Robert as the compassionate and patient man that Carver intended to
The two pictures, both mentioned together at the end of the novel, but taken at different points of Robert's life, display the extreme transformation that has taken place in his life. It makes you look back over all that has happened to Robert and determine what took place for him to have gone through such a change.
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
“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.
Edna and Robert are at the beach enjoying each others company at first. They quickly return to the cottage where Leonce is and he talks to them. They have had a good time down by the water and Leonce, being the proper business like man that he is does not understand why Robert would rather spend his time chatting with his wife than attending to other things. It is obvious to the reader that Edna and Robert have a connection and are amused with what the other has to say. Leonce shrugs this off as nothing and leaves for the hotel where many of the men chat and drink in the evenings. Edna and Robert talk some more and eventually part. These are the first signs of something special between them.
Her tone is so happy through out the whole story because she is so happy to go to China to meet her new family members and also rekindle with old family members. “And I can’t help myself. I also have misty eyes, as if I had seen this a long, long time ago, and had almost forgotten.” (264) She said that as she was arriving to China, showing how happy she was. On the other hand, the main character who is nameless in Cathedral is so bitter through out the whole story. His wife even mentions that he doesn’t have any friends. The only time he didn’t seem like he was in a bad mood was at the end of the story, when drew a cathedral with the blind man, so that the blind man could “see” what a cathedral looked like. Robert tells the man to draw with his eyes closed, then when he was done, he told him to open his eyes and tell him out the picture looked, but he didn’t. “My eyes were still closed. I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything” (42) He was different now and had a better attitude towards blind
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.
This story is about how the narrator is unable to see what life is really giving him and finds it through a blind man’s eyes, the friend of his wife. Cathedral is a touching story, in my opinion, as it reflects on what many of us, society, take for granted. It shows how important it is to give people a chance and to be able to see the true meaning of what surrounds us even if it is not important to our personal life. Throughout the short story, Carver uses several figurative language to expose the theme of the story.
The husband's view on the world at the start of the story was a narrow one that was based on his ignorance, which prevented him from gaining understanding. His long held misconceptions, especially about blindness, defined his expectations about things he did not understand. For instance, when the husband found out that Robert was coming to stay, he disliked the idea of someone who was blind, let alone someone who he didn't know, coming to visit and the husband's "idea of blindness came from the movies." He saw the blind people as people who "moved slowly and never laughed." This was not the limit of his ignorance as it was further displayed by his constant referral of Robert as "the blind man" and his assumption of Robert's deceased wife being a black person based solely on the name of Beulah. This assumption display his bigotry is not limited to Robert's blindness and that differences that he did not understan...
Having been a first-hand observer of Robert for a long time I’ve seen other desirable virtues begin to emerge in him. He’s become quite entrepreneurial, and as a close friend of his I’ve been drawn into many of his wild schemes as an unwilling ally.