In the beginning of the story, the narrator feels very uncomfortable knowing that he will
soon have to accommodate a visitor, But not just any Visitor, Robert her blind friend. The Narrator and his wife were discussing the fact that she had invited Robert to visit. She worked for Robert ten years ago. Although, the Narrator agreed to the visit, he still expressed how it felt to know that his wife had shared intimate details about herself and the people in her life. These facts made the narrator jealous, considering the fact that she had maintained contact with Robert through two marriages. (94). The Narrator continues to speak in a possessive nature, stressing the fact that she is now his wife, when he speaks of her officer to be and Robert. The Narrator places Robert on the same level as her first husband, who just so happened to be her high school sweetheart (94, 95). On the outside looking in, the reader of this short story would probably say Robert is: insensitive, jealous, affectless, and blunt.
Unfortunately, these terms describe the narrator very accurately, but what we don't know is, why does he act this way with his wife, when it concerns Robert? It is the opinion of the writer of this essay, that the Narrator is only insecure. The relationship that his wife shares with another man is uncommon, regardless of whether or not he is blind. Although, the wife sees her communication with Robert as being harmless, and a means of expressing herself. However, on the other hand, the Narrator sees, hears and understand, that his wife has an intimate relationship with Robert. Although she will never admit it.
It was obvious in the story; the Narrator had already been drinking (96). Even t...
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...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.
Although, in the beginning of the story the Narrator was a little jealous of Robert. The relationship that the Narrators' wife shared with Robert was one that he had always longed for.
Although, it is obvious throughout the story, that the Narrators views of blind people has changed, -
from one of which he learned from television, to that of being; one of which he has learned from
experience, with help from Robert. - yet, the story never says if the way that the narrator feels,- ( as it pertains to the relationship his wife, and their guest share) -ever changes. Maybe, there is hope for the Narrator yet .
When Robert and Bub’s wife first arrive and begin speaking to one another, Bub only focuses on how his wife is paying more attention to Robert than himself. Bub thinks to himself, “My wife finally took her eyes off the blind man and looked at me”(Carver 38). Bub exposes one of his character traits when he narrates this potion of the story ,becauses of his attitude and word choice. Bub believes that his wife’s focus should be more on him than Robert, because Robert is blind and Bub is not. Bub learned Roberts name earlier in the story, but continues to refer to him as “ the blind man.” Robert is placed on a subcategory of human by Bub, which lead him to believe that he should be the center of attention and not Robert. While Robert and Bub’s wife are talking about their lives, Bub listens to their conversation. While listening, Bub, “waited to hear my [his] name on his wife’s sweet lips”(Carver 39). Bub is hoping his wife will talk about him when Robert and her are talking. The reseason Bub is hoping that his name will be brought up into the conversation is so that he will become the center of attention in the conversation. Bub believes that the world has to revolve around himself and wants to be the center of attention, which makes him
She was unhappy with her life and tried to commit suicide by swallowing pills. She would keep in touch with the blind man by sending him tapes and the suicide attempt was one of them. He has a jealous tone towards this, he says, “She told him everything, or so it seemed to me” (201). He recalls the time his wife asked him to listen to the latest tape a year ago before this time. He didn’t seem happy to hear his name from the blind man as he said “I heard my own name in the mouth of this stranger” (201). A knock on the door interrupts the couple from the tape, he suggests taking the narrator bowling. She reminds him that his wife, Beulah had just died, he replies by saying “Was his wife Negro?”(202). The narrator’s wife tells him about the blind man’s wife how she was the blind man’s reader after the narrator’s wife stopped working for him, and they eventually got married. After eight years, however, Beulah died from cancer. He felt sorry for Robert for a bit, but then thought about how awful it must have been for Beulah to know that her husband could never even know what she looked like. After staring at Robert’s face analyzing what he
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.
The story introduced us to the narrator with him discussing how a blind man was coming to visit him and his wife. His wife and this blind man seemed to have a strong relationship considering they would send tapes back and forth to one another to keep in touch. The narrator was not keen on the idea of this blind man being company. “I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit,” he states. In his defense, this reaction would seem normal coming from a husband whose wife is friendly with another man. Facknitz defends my statement by bringing up the time when the narrator’s wife had worked for the blind man and he let her touch his face (par. 17). The wife talking to the narrator says, “She told me he ran his fingers over every part of her face, her nose-even her neck! She never forgot it. She even tried to write a poem about it.” Facknitz mentions, “Clearly he is jealous, and so emphasizes the eroticism of the blind man’s touch,” (par. 18). Even though the narrator may not have many feelings toward people in his life, he suitably is upset with the extent of his wife and the blind man’s relationsh...
As the story begins, the narrator's compliance with her role as a submissive woman is easily seen. She states, "John laughs at me, but one expects that in marriage" (Gilman 577). These words clearly illustrate the male's position of power in a marriage t...
The character's prejudice was also evident when he asked about Robert's deceased wife. Upon hearing her name Beulah, he asked, "Was his wife a Negro?" Immediately, his wife seemed offended at the question. The paragraphs that follow are important to the story. The speaker informs the readers that his wife told him the story of Robert and Beulah. H...
The theme in the story of being able to see without sight is revealed through the characters in the story "Cathedral." The husband is very judgmental, self-centered and shows a lack of knowledge about blind people. This is obvious when he states, "My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind move slowly and never laugh (1152). The husband is so quick to judge and thinks he already knows everything about blind people and how they are, so he makes it clear he was not looking forward to the blind man being in his house ...
This is demonstrated by the way the husband refers to Robert as “This blind man” (Carver) and “his being blind bothers me” (Carver). The thought of a blind man staying in his house made him uncomfortable. The husband uses sarcasm towards Robert is another clear indication of how he feels towards this blind man. He demonstrates no respect to the fact that Robert is blind and gives Robert little value. He said “maybe I’ll take him bowling” (Carver) just to bother his wife and make her feel bad. The similarity with the story “A&P” by John Updike is that Sammy, the main character, is that he believes he has the girls all figured out and that they are all just a piece of meat and he thinks that he can choose which ever one he wants, much like the husband thinks that he is above the blind man and that the blind man is nothing but a nuisance. Sammy also uses sarcasm to depreciate the girl’s worth as he refers to the one who he dubs as the leader of the girls as “queenie” (Updike and Delessert). Both characters show a sort of disrespect towards the other characters in the
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...
Not only does the husband not know how to communicate with Robert, he does not how to act around him either. A good example of this, shown after dinner, is when all three of them go into the living room. This is how the husband portrays what happens when they first enter the room: "Robert and my wife sat on the sofa.
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.
Many people view blindness as a disability, but could these people be blind to their surroundings? Even though the narrator can perfectly see with his eyes, he lacks in understanding awareness. The narrator blindness isn 't physical, like many vision impaired people. His blindness is psychological, and his blindness causes him to become jealous. His blindness blocks his perception of viewing the world in a different way. This only causes him to see the physical attributes of humans, and thus shut off his mindfulness of viewing human personalities. As a result of a closed mind, the narrator doesn 't understand how Robert was able to live with the fact that he was never able to see his wife in the flesh, but the narrator fails to see that Robert vision of his wife was intimate. On the other hand, Robert blindness is physical. This causes Robert to experience the world in a unique manner. Without Robert eyesight, he is able to have a glimpse of a human personality. He uses his disability to paint pictures in his head to experience the world. By putting his psychological blindness aside, the narrator is able to bond with Robert, and he grasps the understanding of opening his eyes for the first time, and this forms a new beginning of a
The narrator, although insensitive, is actually quite polite. He tries to engage in small talk when Robert arrives but shows his insensitivity once again when he asks him which side of the train he sat on during his trip. He clearly does not know how to communicate with Robert, and it appears that he does not want to learn. Robert makes him uncomfortable, and the narrator does not know how to handle this. The narrator, in an effort to relieve his discomfort with the situation, offers Robert an alcoholic drink, and pours the first of many drinks to come.
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