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Patience over Prejudice: Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral”
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines a “bigot” as “a person who strongly and unfairly dislikes other people, ideas, etc.” or “[one who] refuses to accept the members of a particular group”. The unnamed, male narrator of Raymond Carver’s short story, “Cathedral”, fits these definitions with near-perfect accuracy—at the start of the story, at least. Initially, the narrator is upset because his wife invites over an old friend as a new houseguest: an elderly Englishman named Robert, a former employer of hers. The story-teller is not upset because Robert is English, though. Instead, he is upset because Robert is blind, and—more specifically—because he doesn’t know any other blind people or
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The blind man, however, greets these preconceptions with patience and equanimity, and the end result is a profound realization for the story’s narrator. Throughout “Cathedral”, Raymond Carver employs characterization and purposeful diction to juxtapose the bigoted narrator against the wise blind man in order to advance the underlying theme of the story: persistent empathy and understanding are the forces to end prejudice.
Carver is able to establish this theme of empathy versus ignorance by creating two starkly different personalities. The narrator’s character is initially clueless; he is emotionally detached from his wife and friends, he asks absurd and impertinent questions of the visitor, and—worst of all—he is completely unaware of his ignorance. This last trait, the inability to so much as acknowledge an unfair predisposition, is the foundation of bigotry. Upon
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Even after the wife, Robert’s pen pal, goes to sleep, Robert offers to the narrator that “I'll stay up with you, bub. If that's all right. I'll stay up until you're ready to turn in” (9). Robert keeps making himself available to the narrator, extending proverbial olive branch by sharing of scotch and cannabis—the narrator’s pastimes—late into the night. Gradually but effectively, Robert’s way of thinking influences the narrator, culminating in a transformation of perspective for the protagonist. While there is some foreshadowing of the narrator’s empathetic development when he “[feels] sorry for the blind man a little bit” and “[watches] with admiration as [Robert] used his knife and fork” (3, 6), the narrator’s real breakthrough comes when the pair begin to watch a television program about cathedrals. Coming to a spontaneous—and empathetic—realization, the narrator asks of Robert: “Something has occurred to me. Do you have any idea what a cathedral is? What they look like, that is? ... If somebody says cathedral to you, do you have any notion what they're talking about?” (10). It occurs to the narrator that if he had no vision himself (like Robert), then he may not know what a cathedral looked like. This is the first moment where the narrator empathizes with Robert in a meaningful way, when he imagines himself in Robert’s shoes. Soon after, the two share an
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 why one should never judge someone for something beyond their control. 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.
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.
In the story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, the main character, goes through a major personal transformation. At the beginning of the story, his opinions of others are filled with stereotypes, discrimination and prejudice. Through interaction with his wife's blind friend Robert, his attitude and outlook on life changes. Although at first he seemed afraid to associate with a blind man, Robert's outgoing personality left him with virtually no choice. During Robert's visit, he proved to be a normal man, and showed the speaker that by closing his eyes, he could open his mind.
The narrator in Raymond Carver’s "Cathedral" is not a particularly sensitive man. I might describe him as self-centered, superficial, and egotistical. And while his actions certainly speak to these points, it is his misunderstanding of the people and the relationships presented to him in this story which show most clearly his tragic flaw: while Robert is physically blind, it is the narrator who cannot clearly see the world around him.
Blindness in Raymond Carver's Cathedral Blindness creates a world of obscurity only to be overcome with guidance from someone willing to become intimate with the blind. Equally true, the perceptions of blindness can only be overcome when the blind allow intimacy with the sighted. Raymond Carver, with his short story Cathedral, illustrates this point through the eyes of a man who will be spending an evening with a blind man, Robert, for the first time. Not only does this man not know Robert, but his being blind, "bothered" (Carver 98) him.
“Cathedral,” a short story written by Raymond Carver, presents an intriguing story of an ignorant man 's lesson. During this story, Carver 's working class characters are crushed by broken marriages, financial issues, and fulfilling jobs, but they are frequently unable to understand or communicate their own sufferings. However, the main story consists of the narrator, known as “Bub,” facing an internal conflict about a blind man named Robert staying the night in his home. Regardless of the fact that this blind man is his wife 's long time friend, the narrator cannot find himself comfortable with such an idea because of his extreme prejudices. Although, despite the narrator’s conflict he finds himself connecting to Robert on a more personal
The narrator in Raymond Carver's "Cathedral" has two fully functional eyes, in which he chooses never to use to their full potential. The eyes of the narrator are biased, insecure, jealous, and very limited in what they choose to see. This inability to see is made apparent when he is forced to meet and converse with a blind man. The narrator's perception of the world around him, and blurred vision, is resolved by a great irony in the story when Roger helps the narrator see past his prejudice outlook on life. The blind man teaches the narrator how to see.
The short story of the “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver shows the narrator as the main character of the story whose name is never mentioned. The narrator’s wife’s name is never mentioned as well, and her friend who is a blind man is coming to visit after losing his wife whose name is Robert. In the beginning of the story, the narrator shows that he is an excessive drinker and feels emotionally disconnected from his wife and his wife is excited about her friends visit, Robert. This kind of emotion makes him uneasy but doesn’t know why and because he knows that Robert is blind, he feels like he is better than him. Imagine having to meet a long time old friend of your spouse of the opposite sex who they a special friendship with and whom you haven’t
Throughout the majority of the story Carver uses a variety of devices to portray the narrator negatively. One reason is that he lacks compassion. At the beginning of the story he says, "I wasn?t enthusiastic about his [the blind man?s] visit. He [the blind man] was no one I knew. And his [the blind man] being blind bothered me."
In Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral”, the husband’s language and behavior are closely monitored and amended by his wife symbolic to the way that I have witnessed political correctness restricting casual communication. The husband, who is the unnamed narrator, is completely put off by the idea of his wife’s very close friend, who happens to be blind, visiting their home from Seattle following the recent death of his wife (par. 1). His discomfort is evident by his thoughts and comments that focus almost singularly on Robert’s handicap. The husband is completely unaware that his remarks and actions might be considered offensive in nature and is continually reminded to be thoughtful by his wife (par. 8). Despite her best efforts, the husband propels recklessly from one potentially offensive situation to the next while his wife does her best to make conversations as gentle as possible to ensure Robert’s comfort. The additional pressure applied to an already uncomfortable situation for the husband, became more of an annoyance than encouraging a delightful reunion of which her husband could enjoy being included.
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.
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.
An old saying is that actions speak louder than words and this seems to be true for the character of “Cathedral”. Although the narrator is a little awkward around Robert he does genuinely try to help him, and make sure that he is comfortable. He pours Robert drinks, he butters Robert’s bread for him at dinner, he shares his pot with Robert, and he tries to draw a cathedral for him. The narrator’s actions prove that although he cannot properly communicate his feelings and thoughts, he truly does not mean any harm towards Robert, he is just ignorant of what to do in the situation that he finds himself in. The narrator seems to fear anything which is different from him thus he fears what to do in the situation he is put in, he had never had any experiences with a bling man before thus Robert’s becomes an unknown variable to the narrator. The narrator’s lack of knowledge is made clear to him when he first sees Robert It shatters all of his previous misconceptions, making him unprepared and unable to properly speak with Robert. He does not understand how to talk with a blind man, the narrator even states “I didn’t know what else to say.”(Carver 38), he repeats this sentiment at least three times. Thus the narrator’s action should communicate that on a subconscious level he does want to get to know Robert he just does not know what would be appropriate or what would
The narrator's insensitivity reveals itself early in the story when his wife's blind friend, Robert, comes for a visit after the death of his wife. Almost immediately in the beginning of the story the narrator admits "A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to." [Carver 2368] He even goes so far as to suggest to his wife that he take the man bowling. He hears the story of Robert's dead wife and can not even imagine " what a pitiful life this woman must have led." [Carver 2370] The narrator is superficial, only recognizing the external part of people and not recognizing the value of a person on the inside.
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.