More handpicked essays just for you.
Literary Analysis of Cathedral by Raymond Carver
analysis of the cathedral by raymond carver
analysis of the cathedral by raymond carver
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Literary Analysis of Cathedral by Raymond Carver
People in similar situations may respond differently, resulting in different outcomes and realizations. The story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver is about a married couples experience with the wife’s friend, a blind man, named Robert. Throughout the visit, the husband is forced to be with Robert and he inevitably learns that they actually have a lot in common. By the end of the story, the husbands’ initial view of Robert, changes when they both draw a Cathedral, together, hand in hand. The story “Cat in the Rain” by Ernest Hemingway is about a couple on vacation in Italy. The wife sees a cat outside under a table in the rain. After convincing her husband to let her go, she sees that the cat is gone. The innkeeper helps her find the cat, and shows her the attention and care she has long yearned from husband. She then realizes how unhappy she is and that she is like the “poor little kitty in the rain” (Hemingway). Although the husband in Carver’s “The Cathedral” and the woman in Hemingway’s “Cat in the Rain”, came to different realizations about their life and gained a newfound perspecti...
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
In “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, a blind man named Robert help Bub, a person unable to understand or place the feelings of others in front of his own , open his eyes and realize how to consider others feelings. In the story, Robert comes to to visit Bub’s wife after his wife passes away. Bub is not looking forward to his encounter with Robert. As the story progresses, Bub is forced to interact with Robert in ways that seem foreign to him. Bub’s difference interactions with Robert builds up to the both of them drawing a cathedral together, which leads to Bub being changed and him placing Roberts points of view ahead of his own. Bub believes the world revolves around himself and lacks the ability to consider others feeling ahead of his own,
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.
The story “Cathedral” only took place in a family house with only the husband, wife who can be qualified as a static character tried to kill herself in the past, and finally the blind man. Unlike in the short story “A&P” the event took place in a grocery store with Sammy, the three girls and finally the manager who is also a static character, nothing special with him, just the typical manager the “man”. The short story “Cathedral” is protagonist is a married man who have difficulties making connections with people and even his wife, and he seems to have problems maybe a little jealous of the connection his wife is able to make with other people. “A&P” is protagonist is Sammy, an eighteen years old boy who works in a grocery store, and he hates his job. The two stories do not express the same stereotype values, the husband in “Cathedral” is being stereotype against the blinds, and he seems to have his mind made about how all blind people are, so in the short story “Cathedral” the blinds represent the stereotype. In “A&P”, for Sammy it is the young girls. The catalyst change in both stories is unexpected and it is a disturbance of the characters everyday routine. When the girls in bathing suits entered in the store, Sammy was really surprised at the girls’ careless dresscode or behavior: “You know, it’s one thing to have a girl in a bathing suit down on the beach . . . but anot...
The authors John Steinbeck and Robert Burns approach their ideas in very different ways, while having the same themes the reader comprehends key concepts in a different light. Throughout the short story “Of Mice and Men” and the poem “To a Mouse” the theme of hope is a key concept, even though while in both stories their hope did not bring them their happiness, friendship brought them together. Correspondingly while having similar themes of friendship, loneliness, and hope, this all takes place in different settings with different characters.
While reading different stories, you can find many similarities between the texts. For example, Romeo and Juliet and Pyramus and Thisbe are two stories that have many similarities. Throughout the story, the characters have many of the same traits. Similar events take place in the two stories. All these events lead both stories to a tragic ending. Stories can be similar in many ways. The characters, the setting, and the story line itself. Stories can also be very different. One may talk about an event that will break your heart, while another might bring a smile to your face. The two stories The Man to Send Rain Clouds and Old Man at the Temple have many similarities and differences in their settings due to the place, time, and culture.
Both “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor’s main characters come to a point of self-reflection. Both stories leave the imagination, about whether the characters have changed their perspectives on their surroundings or not, up to the reader. Although their realization at the end are the same, both stories differ in events that led up to the ending. In O’Connor’s short story, the main character is a religious and judgmental Catholic woman that led her family to their deaths. But in Carver’s short story, the main character is a stubborn, non-religious judgmental man that sees with his eyes and not his heart, meaning that he sees and accepts things as they are. Carver demonstrates vision more effectively
In this world where people can acquire anything they need or want, we have to wonder, “Is the government controlling us?” Both the governments in A Brave New World and in the United States of America offer birth control pills and have abortion clinics that are available for everyone, thus making birth control pills and abortion operations very easy to acquire. Although both governments offer birth control pills and abortion clinics, A Brave New World’s government requires everyone to take the pills and immediately get an abortion when pregnant. This in turn shows us that A Brave New World’s government is controlling the population and the development of children. China is one of the few countries that currently have control of the development of children. In controlling the development of its children, China is also controlling the population levels. In any country, controlling the amount of children a single family can have can dramatically decrease the population levels. Just by having birth control pills and abortion clinics there for anybody to take advantage of shows that the involvement of either government is already too high.
In fact, Hemingway takes this so far as to continually ironically describe Mr. and Mrs. Elliot as “very happy” in their story, though they are unable to have a child, Mrs. Elliot cries excessively, and they are all but separated (Hemingway 88). The husband and wife in “Cat in the Rain,” also do not have a good relationship. They are beyond distant from each other. The husband largely ignores his wife and prefers her boyish haircut. She, on the other hand, wishes to grow her hair out and have children. He doesn’t even seem to care very much about her - when tries to make an effort of keeping up conversation with her husband, going so far as to share her dreams and desires, he suggests she “get something to read,” (Hemingway 94). The implication is that the two are so at odds that it would be better had they married other people. This is further cemented with the character of the hotel-keeper. Where her husband ignores her, the hotel-keeper pays attention to the woman. He sends out a maid with an umbrella to help the woman look for the cat in the rain, and when she fails to do so, somehow locates the cat and sends it up to her room. Many couples get a pet as a stepping-stone to having a child, or even in place of one, and I believe this is what the cat is meant to symbolize. Though the husband is interested in neither a child or a cat like his wife is, the
Point of view is an essential element to a reader's comprehension of a story. The point of view shows how the narrator thinks, speaks, and feels about any particular situation. In Toni Cade Bambara's "The Lesson," the events are told through the eyes of a young, mischievous girl named Sylvia who lives in a lower class neighborhood. The reader gets a limited point of view of view because the events are told strictly by Sylvia. This fact can influence the reader to see things just as she does. The strong language gives an unfamiliar reader an illustration of how people in the city speak. Bambara does this to show the reader that kids from lower class neighborhoods are affected by their environment due to lack of education and discipline, that how different one part of society is from another, and that kids learn from experience. We also get an insight of Sylvia’s feisty, rebellious nature and her lack of respect towards people with an education.
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.
Raymond Carver uses strategic dialogue and point of view to articulate themes in his short stories. Another tactic Carver uses in his writing is analyzing basic human skills such as the ability to define love through intimate relations between characters that reveal deeper meaning. In the short stories “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” and “Cathedral,” he investigates relationships and how the characters develop the true meaning of love. While reading these two short stories the reader is able to comprehend the similarities that draw Carver’s works together. Through these stories the reader is also able to understand his outlook on love and human kinship. Carver uses certain strategies and techniques that allow him to bring a parallel between his different stories, but there are also definite things that set each story apart.
The first framework that would be beneficial when working with this population is the Dual Perspective Framework. The Dual Perspective Framework is a model that charges the social worker with assessing and understanding the client’s world. While doing so, one must take into account the client’s relationship to not only their immediate family and community, but also to the larger societal system while considering and comparing values, attitudes, and behaviors (Prigoff, 2003, p. 80). Another way to explain the Dual Perspective was presented by Dr. Nimmagadda as part of the diversity section of this course (2015). The contrasting views are also known as the “Nurturing Environment” versus the “Sustaining Environment.” The “Nurturing Environment” can be identified as the individual’s family or immediate extended family, while the “Sustaining Environment” can be identified as how an individual feels other’s view them in the social environment (Nimmagadda, 2015). An individual can evolve and change according to their experiences and interactions in both environments.
The Black Cat, by Edgar Allen Poe, is a story about a man whose love for animals is overcome by an extreme hatred toward the creatures. What goes around comes around is a saying that would most effectively convey the message of this story because Poe implies that people will inevitably suffer the consequences of their actions. Through the careful construction of plot, the ongoing use of irony, and the rapid development of character, Poe captures the reader’s undivided attention and evokes a wide variety of emotions through this short story
Ernest Hemingway was an intricate and dedicated writer who devoted a significant portion of his life to writing multiple genres of stories. Throughout his stories, the similarities in his style and technique are easily noted and identified. Two of the short stories he wrote contain themes and motifs that specifically explain the plotline. The first story, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” sets its scene in the depths of a desolate area in Africa, where the main characters, Harry and his wife, decide to make their home. After living there for a few years, Harry ventures out and falls into a thorn bush, thus infecting his leg with gangrene. A few weeks later, he finds himself on the brink between life and death, unable to treat such a severe infection. Throughout the whole story, his life is flashing before his eyes as he recalls all of the major events that occurred in his past. By nightfall, Harry is acting unusual, and he begins to feel as if life is not worth living anymore. After he drifts off to sleep that evening, his wife goes to check on him and discovers that her husband has passed away (Hemingway 52-77). The second great work of Hemingway, “The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” is also set in a deserted section of Africa. Francis and his wife, Margot, are on a safari adventure along with their tour guide named Wilson. The way these three characters interact with each other creates tension and provides an adequate plot for the story. The trip begins with the couple intending on hunting big game. At first they track down a lion that continuously roars throughout the night, and later decide to chase after buffalos. To add to the complications of the trip, Margot has an intimate relationship with their tour guide. The story c...