When first reading the title of the short story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver you would believe that it is nothing more than just that, a religious building built many years ago. As you go about reading this story it starts off with a man and his wife (that the writer never discloses their names) and the wife has and old friend that is going to be stopping by to stay with them for a night. The man just happens to be blind and the husband takes great offense to that. He is unable to understand her relationship with the blind man and does not want him in his house at all. In the first half of the story the husband is very uncomfortable with him there and for the longest time does not speak at all while his wife and the blind man talk. The husband …show more content…
Before the cathedral come on the television the husband sat very quiet and allowed his wife and the blind man to talk, “For the most part, I just listened. Now and then I joined in.” (pg 40) He felt as if he did not fit into the conversation with his wife and the blind man because he was not a part of their life many years ago. As the night goes on they smoke some cannabis and sip on Scotch and the wife falls asleep on the couch in between them. At this, the husband is unhappy about and he says, “I wish my wife hadn’t pooped out.” (pg 42) The reason he wishes his wife was still awake was because he did not especially want to talk to the blind man. He tries to come up with something to talk about so he starts telling the old man about what is on the television, “There were times when the Englishman who was telling the thing would shut up, would simply let the camera move around over the cathedrals.” (pg 43) At that point, he tries to explain to the blind man what a cathedral is and does so unsuccessfully and gets very flustered. He finally says that, “The truth is, cathedrals don’t mean anything special to me. Nothing. Cathedrals. They’re something to look at on late-night TV. That’s all they are.” (pg 45) That is when the blind man asks a very odd question to the husband but that question leads to one of the most meaningful events in the husband’s …show more content…
He realizes that blind man is trying to show him the depth of reality that can be achieved if worked at hard enough. The blind man asks the husband to keep drawing and he does but when the blind man tells him to open his eyes he says that he does but he does not really open them. He sits there wit his eyes closed and tells the blind man that he sees what he has drawn and that it is magnificent. What the husband really means when he says this is that what the blind man has emotionally done for him is great. He feels no need to judge the blind man any more or anyone else for that matter as well as men from his wife’s past that is brought up early on in the short
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.
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
...l of open-mindedness. “Cathedral” concerns the change in one man’s understanding of himself and the world. From the start of the story the narrator is restricted in his understanding to accept the blind man just as his wife has. He cannot fully wrap around the idea of what makes Robert so special. Until, that is, that the narrator starts drawing the cathedral which starts off as a house almost, and expands into something grander. This short story allows us to realize that the world is greater and further detailed than what we consider it in our confined minds. And that in fact we should never assume that there is nothing more to what the eye can see. It simply states that we shouldn’t form an opinion on someone or something based only on what you see on the exterior, because usually after taking the time to explore, the person or thing will not be what you expected.
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.
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
The narrator, his wife, and the blind man spend the evening talking, but eventually the wife falls asleep. The narrator is uncomfortable about being left alone with a blind man. There is something about cathedrals on TV and the blind man asks the narrator to describe what a cathedral looks like. The narrator only describes physical things and so the blind man decides that they should try drawing one instead. As they draw the blind man and the narrator connect and a transformation in the narrator?s character takes place.
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.
... on his interaction and communication with others. In terms of the tone of the story, it seemingly conveys the positive messages. In Cathedral, instead of monologue as in A Clean Well-lighted Place, the narrator is more likely talking to us, trying to keep us amused and engaged. Underneath the wisecracks, readers can hear a tone of sincerity and positive attitudes towards life. Though the narrator makes jokes of the blind man initially, he shows respect and do what Robert asks him to do as the story continues.
The story is about a blind man who visits a married couple. He is an old friend of the wife, but the husband does not look forward to see the blind man (called Robert) because he does not know what to expect. He has never known any blind persons and his picture of these is based on a very little foundation. He has a lot of prejudices against Robert, but during his visit he changes his opinion about him. While watching TV together they get each other to know better and the husband finds out that he actually likes his company. They watch a program about cathedrals and while talking about cathedrals, Robert says that he does not even know how a cathedral looks like. The husband tries to explain what a cathedral is and how it is built, but Robert does not understand it. Therefore he suggests that they can draw one together. In that way Robert gets a picture of a cathedral in his mind and even though it is not as good as seeing it with his own eyes, it is good enough to give him an idea of what a cathedral is.
Raymond Carver’s short story, “Cathedral,” portrays a story in which many in today’s society can relate. We are introduced from the first sentence of the story to a man that seems to be perturbed and agitated. As readers, we are initially unsure to the reasoning’s behind the man’s discomfort. The man, who seems to be a direct portrayal of Raymond Carver himself, shows his ignorance by stereotyping a blind man by the name of Robert, who has come to stay with he and his wife. From the very beginning, Carver shows his detest for Robert but over the course of the story eases into comfort with him and in the end is taught a lesson from the very one he despised.
As “Cathedral” begins, the narrator speaks in a very conversational tone, he starts showing signs of his own blindness when he doesn’t understand why his wife writes poems. He says, “I didn’t think much of the poem. Of course, I didn’t tell her that. Maybe I just don’t understand poetry” (200). He continues his misunderstandings with other concepts such as believing in religion
Adding to the obvious structural references to cathedrals and religion, the language and character actions present further evidence of an epiphany of divine proportions. The television program which the characters watch together deals entirely with cathedrals. This spurs the first real conversation between the narrator and the blind man. This presents religion as some form of common ground, on which one could stand, even without sight. When first asked by Robert, the blind man, if he was "in any way religious," the narrator asserts that he is not, and goes on to explain how cathedrals and religion "don’t mean any...
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.
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.