The day beckoned, the first yellow streaks peering over the gray of the mountain as the city of Kardem came to life. Outside, from my house’s balcony on the outskirts where I spent many a morning, I could see the streets flooding with swarms of people, each with their own daily agendas in mind.
Each one of these people saw their own schedule as important. The question remained, however, as to whether any of them actually were—a prospect seemingly dubious at best.
Of all of these streams of people roaming the streets, one individual caught my attention. A man dressed in rich, blue finery, bearing the emblem of the mighty State of Laresii on his suitcase—the symbol itself was little more than a fancy “L”, and yet with it was carried the weight of entire nations conquered and brought within its dominion—an agent meant to inspire fear in the State’s enemies. A servant of the State, the man carried himself with an unmatched confidence.
This would not have been the first time such a man appeared at my doorway. It was always a different man. This one had a pointed nose protruding from his otherwise smooth facial features: Straight, pitch black hair and a pair of eyes to match. Even though the men the State sent to claim me from my property were always different, each carried always the same air of prudence between their guise of calm and whatever lay within—a prudence akin to stepping onto a foot-wide bridge extending over a bottomless chasm.
They recognize me from the previous agents’ descriptions; I have become a popular target, it seems, amongst them. I have something they want. A “talent”, they call it.
I disagree. I call it a curse.
I am a messenger. I bring out the weakness in people; I bring them to reality. They seldom like...
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...blind man looks everywhere but sees nothing. His prudence still lay firm like a wall, as if an even deeper emotion hid within.
“And what ‘unique’ nature might that be?” I questioned.
“You know of what I speak,” the agent said patiently. “The same as what every agent before me has asked you about, and you promptly turned away.”
“Ah, that! Why, yes, of course,” I recalled. “Do come in.”
I brought him into my living area and sat him down in my most comfortable chair, even offering him some of my leftover tea. And yet no matter how hospitable or welcoming I was, the sense of uncertainty and prudence never faltered. I could not fathom what lay behind it.
I will crack it this time. I returned his blind stare. He set his suitcase on the table in front of him, opening it and taking out a notebook and pen, a sense of intrigue tingling. He still would not make eye contact.
In the short story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, the narrator, Bub, is as metaphorically blind as his guest, Robert, is literally blind. Bub has many unwarranted misconceptions about life, blind people in particular. He also has many insecurities that prevent him from getting too close to people. Through his interaction with Robert, Bub is able to open his mind and let go of his self-doubt for a moment and see the world in a different light.
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
The narrator’s prejudice makes him emotionally blind. His inability to see past Robert’s disability stops him from seeing the reality of any relationship or person in the story. And while he admits some things are simply beyond his understanding, he is unaware he is so completely blind to the reality of the world.
In the short story Cathedral, by Raymond Carver, there is a direct contrast between a blind man named Robert, and the narrator. The narrator has full use of his senses, and yet he is limited to the way he sees things, and the way he thinks. Robert however, has a very different outlook on life and how he sees things, as well as the use of his senses. At the end of the story, Robert has the narrator close his eyes to try and get him to experience the world the way he does. The narrator ends up being able to not only see the way Robert does, but he also is able to feel the world in a completely different way. The author suggests that the mind is most important in how people view things, and the judgements we make are based on what we see in our heads, instead of what is really there.
Whenever a stranger enters an unfamiliar society, a clash between the outsider’s practices and society’s guidelines undoubtedly occurs. Whether the resulting conflict minimally or powerfully affects the people involved depends on the situation, but usually the results are monumental. In the short stories “The Blue Hotel,” “The Displaced Person,” and “Bernice Bobs her Hair,” and the novel In Dubious Battle, society’s fear of the stranger has severe negative consequences for the newcomer, as the community’s rules prevail over the outsiders in the end.
The coldness felt in the house as the sheriff and court attorney entered the house symbolized the same coldness brought about by Mr. Wright. For the house to be cold and gloomy and everything else outside the total opposite, was much more than just coincidence. It was as if when you entered the house a cadaver, cold and clammy, had embraced you in its arms. “ I don’t think a place’d be any cheerfuller for John Wright’s being in it”, Mrs. Hale told the court attorney (11). Mrs. Hale knew perfectly well what kind of personality Mr. Wright had, which is why she specified that she wished that she had gone to visit Mrs. Wright when only she was there. “There’s a great deal of work to be done on a farm”, says Mrs. Hale, yet they are seen as mere trifles because it is the women who take on these tasks.
The limitations that were holding the narrator back were abolished through a process from which a blind man, in some sense, cured a physically healthy man. The blind man cured the narrator of these limitations, and opened him up to a whole world of new possibilities. Robert enabled the narrator to view the world in a whole new way, a way without the heavy weights of prejudice, jealousy, and insecurity holding him down. The blind man shows the narrator how to see.
...e himself in the blind man's shoes. Just maybe, he could experience things from the blind man perspective. Enduring the blind man's idea of an experiment was the first unselfish thing that he had done the entire night.
...t see or hear or smell the truth of what you see- and you, looking for destiny! It’s classic! And the boy, this automaton, he was made of the very mud of the region and he sees far less than you. Poor stumblers, neither of you can see the other. To you he is a mark on the score-card of your achievement, a thing and not a man; a child, or even less- a black amorphous thing. And you, for all your power, are not a man to him, but a God” (95). Here, the veteran tells them both that they are blind to what is really going on in the current American society. Mr. Norton, or the white man, is like God. And our narrator, the black man, is one of God’s many followers- trying to appease him with everything that they do. Ironically, the mentally handicapped veteran, labeled stupid and insane by society, is the only person to be able to see the truth; he is the only one not blind.
In Raymond Carver’s story “Cathedral” the narrator learns what it means to “see” through someone who cannot. To see is to be able to view the things around us while putting aside preconceived notions or fear about these objects or people. In order for this to occur once must overcome what they feel is out of the ordinary and learn to accept things as they are. At first the narrator is doesn’t accept the man and uncomfortable around Robert. The narrator soon comes to understand this when he puts aside his fears, and judgments that he can see more than what meets the eye, and the freedom that comes along with this seeing.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall likewise undergoes the same process of rejection. After The Tenant’s first release, the political leaders, the think-tanks, the church disciplinarians, and the Law custodians of the era must have spent countless sleepless nights, thinking of how to check the ‘menace’ of an awakening woman.
When defining the word blindness, it can be interpreted in various ways. Either it can be explained as sightless, or it can be carefully deciphered as having a more complex in-depth analysis. In the novel Blindness, Jose Saramago depicts and demonstrates how in an instant your right to see can be taken in an instant. However, in this novel, blindness is metaphorically related to ‘seeing’ the truth beyond our own bias opinions.
Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” is a short story chock-full of irony. The story is presented from the point of view of the narrator, a jealous and somewhat bitter man, who remains nameless throughout. He is a man who has perfect eyesight, yet it is not until he meets a blind man, that he truly learns how to ‘see’.
... the eyes of a blind man, but also to appreciate the world through the eyes of a man of God.
The narrator wrestles with conflicting feelings of responsibility to the old man and feelings of ridding his life of the man's "Evil Eye" (34). Although afflicted with overriding fear and derangement, the narrator still acts with quasi-allegiance toward the old man; however, his kindness may stem more from protecting himself from suspicion of watching the old man every night than from genuine compassion for the old man.