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Cathedral raymond carver analysis
Cathedral raymond carver analysis
Interpretive problems with cathedral by raymond carver
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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. Prior to Robert’s arrival, the wife tries to instill into her husband the importance of her and …show more content…
She was overly concerned with the possibility of her husband offending Robert or embarrassing himself as a non-contributor to adult conversations thus creating a more stressful environment where regardless of what the husband said or did, he was going to be wrong. His awkward remarks are further confirmation of his discomfort with this reunion and for having to filter every word that he spoke. Perhaps allowing the husband to speak freely would have reduced the amount of tension and allowed Robert to see her husband as he truly is vice a façade fronted until a certain level of comfort was
In Raymond Carver’s story, “Cathedral,” the story tells of how a close outside relationship can threaten a marriage by provoking insecurities, aggravating communication barriers, and creating feelings of invasion of privacy. The husband in the story is given the gift of seeing the cathedral through a blind man’s eyes. Although the title suggests that the story is about a cathedral, it is really about two men who come together and share a vision and realize it is he who is blind. As the story begins, the character of the husband has a negative personality. He lacks compassion, is narrow-minded, and is jealous of his wife’s friendship with a blind man named Robert.
Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral” opens with a narrator whose wife has invited a blind friend to spend the night. The narrator depersonalizes the man right off the bat and repeatedly throughout the story by referring to him, not by name, but as “the blind man” (Carver 513). He admits that hi...
Although many critics have written numerous accounts of Richard Carver’s "Cathedral" as being about revelation and overcoming prejudice, they have overlooked a very significant aspect: the unfolding of marital drama. The story tells of how a close outside friendship can threaten marriage by provoking insecurities, creating feelings of invasion of privacy, and aggravating communication barriers.
Talking about her past, present and her future. At this point the audience knows that Robert is not living. He is just a manifestation Catherine is experiencing. Catherine doesn’t know that her father is not alive. But she deals with it nevertheless. She has a conversation with him as if he were real. She keeps the father-daughter talk real. Although Robert was mentally ill as a result of his mathematic skills, Catherine is wo...
Robert is a very interesting character with strong values, preservation of life being one of them. He goes through an emotional and psychological change throughout the novel. He assigns himself a responsibility of taking care of his sister
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.
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.
Robert initially is very helpful and kind to the married ladys on the island helping them with anything they needed including rounding up the children on page 19 “There was the sound of approaching voices. It was Robert, surrounded by a troop of children, searching for them. The two little Pontelliers were with him, and he carried Madame Ratignolles little girl in his arms.” He however becomes very controlling and manipulative to Edna and her interest by being increasingly friendly, and slowly becoming sensual with Edna. At the end of chapter 10 he sits down to spend time with Edna in the Hammock while her husband is away, even though they sit in silence. He is manipulating Edna because he is aware that her husband doesn’t give her much attention and that because of this Edna would be drawn to him. After they sit down together the author states “No multitude of words could have been more significant than those moments of silence, or more pregnant with the first- felt throbbings of desire.” (pg30)The desire from Robert is only stemming from the fact that her husband does not treat her same and does not give her the same attention. Roberts’s manipulation is also evident on the boat ride in chapter 12 as Robert is made aware by his Spanish friend Mariequita that he should not be going on trips with a married woman saying “ Francisco ran away with Sylvanos wife, who had four children. They took all his money and one of the children and stole his boat.” (pg 34)Yet Robert still pursues Edna asking her “ Let us go to Grand Terre to-morrow ?” (pg 34) to “climb up the hill to the old fort and look at the little wriggling gold snakes, and watch the lizards sun themselves.”(pg 34) , again picking at her weakness of loneliness. Another act of his controlling
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 unnamed narrator of Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” poses as an unreliable narrator for his unaccepting nature towards blind people along with his ignorant perception of many realities in his life that Carver presents for the reader to take into question. The narrator holds prejudice against Robert, a blind man whom the narrator’s wife worked with ten years earlier and eventually befriends. Unperceptive to many of the actualities in his own life, the narrator paints an inaccurate picture of Robert that he will soon find to be far from the truth.
His wife’s old friend, Robert’s, wife had died so he came to stay the night before visiting her relatives. When the narrator’s wife tries explaining Robert’s situation, he say’s things like, “Right then my wife filled me in with more detail than I cared to know.” While his wife is good at communicating, the narrator just doesn’t care. Towards the end of the story, another example of his selfishness is when he says, “My wife opened up her eyes and gazed at us. She sat up on the sofa, her robe hanging open. She said, ‘What are you doing? Tell me, I want to know.’ I didn't answer her.” Subsequently, his comment displays his lack of respect towards her and he literally ignores what she asks him.
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...
Immediately, the narrator stereotypes the couple by saying “they looked unmistakably married” (1). The couple symbolizes a relationship. Because marriage is the deepest human relationship, Brush chose a married couple to underscore her message and strengthen the story. The husband’s words weaken their relationship. When the man rejects his wife’s gift with “punishing…quick, curt, and unkind” (19) words, he is being selfish. Selfishness is a matter of taking, just as love is a matter of giving. He has taken her emotional energy, and she is left “crying quietly and heartbrokenly” (21). Using unkind words, the husband drains his wife of emotional strength and damages their relationship.
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.
In the short story, Cathedral, by Raymond Carver, the author uses imagery, symbolism and narrates the story in first person point of view. The Cathedral’s main theme is being able to identify the difference between being able to look and/or see and it is portrayed through the main characters role in the story. Carver uses a unique style of writing which gives the short story a simple way for the reader to understand the story’s theme.