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blindness in literature
blindness in literature
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Cathedral “I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me” (99) the narrator tells us in Raymond Carver’s Cathedral. An old friend of the narrator’s wife, Robert, is coming to visit them at their home. The narrator is not at all pleased with this situation and lets us know it from the beginning. Throughout the story, the narrator begins to see the blind man in a different light and his mind-set begins to change to admiration. The narrator seems to be somewhat jealous at first of the relationship between his wife and their visitor. He says, “She told him everything, or it seemed to me” (100). His wife had worked for the blind man for one summer ten years ago, yet she continued to communicate with him via tapes. The narrator must have felt some sort of envy towards the man who knew more about his wife’s life than he, her husband did. Not ever having “met or personally known anyone who was blind” (102) left the narrator at a loss as to how this man was going to behave or what they could do or talk about. He had read and heard things about the blind but Robert turned out to be none of these. The narrator thought “dark glasses were a must for the blind” (102) but Robert wore none. He had also heard blind men could not smoke because they could not see the smoke they exhaled “but this blind man smoked his cigarette down to the nubbin and then lit another one” (103). Slowly, the narrator becomes interested by how the blind man carries himself and his abilities despite his handicap. During the meal the three were having, the narrator remarks, “I watched with admiration as he used his knife and fork on the meat” (103). After dinner, when they sit down to talk and hav... ... middle of paper ... ...and had nothing in common except for the wife. A lot changes though and they come to share a lot more. When we begin the story, the narrator is shown as ignorant towards blind people. He does not know what to expect or how to react to this strange man who does not act much like the narrator’s one-sided ideas of how a blind man should be. Robert is unique and the narrator soon starts to realize this. He begins admiring the capabilities that are more or less like his own. When they finish the picture of the cathedral, the narrator keeps his eyes closed. The blind man had given him a piece of himself and what it meant to be blind. In the end, they both give each other a special gift. The narrator gives the blind man a mental picture he can take with him about the way a cathedral looks to him. The blind man gives the narrator the gift of understanding and enlightenment.
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...
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
The fact that Robert is blind is stated quite frequently in this story. Even though we know he has a visual handicap, he is very open minded. The narrator however, can see just fine, but is very close minded. The close mindedness seems to be more of a problem for the narrator than Robert’s blindness. The narrator has no friends, and a life of no significance. In drawing the cathedral, the narrator finds not being able to see can be liberating. and seems to help him let go of his prejudices, and come to accept a new way of seeing. This story shows us that we can prevent ourselves from seeing what is really there by blinding ourselves, but that we have the ability to open our minds and seeing what is really
The short story “Cathedral'; includes three characters. These characters include the narrator, his wife, and her blind friend Robert. Early into the story, the narrator expresses that he possesses many stereotypes, these stereotypes keep him “blind'; from the true reality of blind people. The narrator says “My idea of blindness came from the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they were led by seeing-eye dogs.'; This explains where the narrator originally gains his misconceptions of blind people. The narrator’s wife tells him that Robert will be visiting for the weekend. Once Robert arrives at their home, the narrator is shocked to find out that Robert doesn’t wear dark glasses, carry a cane, and is wearing a full beard. Throughout the story some of the narrator’s stereotypes are erased. Howeve...
The narrator makes his opinions clear from the very beginning. In the first paragraph of the story he states, “A blind man in my house was not something that I looked forward to” (Carver, 34). This opinion continues on throughout almost the entire story. The narrator has no logical reason to explain why the thought of a blind man in his home makes him so uncomfortable either. He states that he has formed his opinion from movies where blind people move very slowly and never laugh. This is the only evidence he uses to defend his opinion, which is a very weak argu...
The origins of Holden’s disillusionment and the reason that it all started is the death of his younger brother which he was very fond of and admired, Allie, three years ago. The death of Allie is very significant in Holden’s mind since it is an event which he remembers quite clearly at multiple occasions during the book. For example, when Holden is writing a descriptive composition for his roommate Stradlater, he decides to write about Allie’s baseball mitt since it is the only thing on his mind. “My brother Allie had this left-handed fielder’s mitt. He was
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.
Raymond Carver utilizes his character of the husband, who is also the narrator, in his short story "Cathedral." From the beginning of the story the narrator has a negative personality. He lacks compassion, has a narrow mind, is detached emotionally from others, and is jealous of his wife's friendship with a blind man named Robert. He never connects with anyone emotionally until the end of this story.
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.
People rebel for a cause. In the book “The Catcher in the Rye” , the protagonist, Holden Caulfield is living in a school called Pencey Prep. Holden is failing all of his classes except English, and he often curses and smokes cigarettes in his dorm. One of Holden’s main problems in life is the death of his brother Allie. Allie, who died of leukemia 3 years prior to the events of the book, was the only person who deeply understood Holden. When Allie died, Holden broke all of the windows in his garage while breaking his own hand. Holden even states that he tried to break his family’s station wagon, but his hand was broken. This event shows that Holden really cared about Allie and that his death had a huge impact on his life. The death of Allie created a fear for Holden, Holden became afraid of change. Holden himself stated that Allie was very mature for his age and very smart in the quote “He was two years younger than I was, but he was about fifty times as intelligent.” (p. 21). The way Holden sees change is the more you grow, the closer to death you find yourself. In the poem “Novel” by Arthur Rimbaud, the narrator talks about drinking and walking around. The narrator is having fun and is in tune with the environment. A quote that supports this is “At times the air is so scented that we close our eyes,” Other lines in the stanza also support this idea. In the next section, the narrator talks about his/her surroundings and how he feels. He is interrupted by a sudden kiss and starts to tremble like a small insect. In the next section, the narrator starts to talk to himself in his mind. The narrator uses the word ‘you’ not to the reader, but to himself to think about the things he is seeing, for example the attractive girl. The narrat...
Some people say that if one is blind, they can see. That’s how Robert in “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver is portrayed. The narrator, which is the husband, tells a time in his life when a blind man by the name of Robert comes to visit his wife when Robert’s wife died. This ensues all the stereotypes surrounding him and his disability from the narrator, which in truth he can see only what he can feel. The narrator changes throughout the short story from a disgusted being to understanding the blind people.
However, the most unfortunate of them is the psychological blindness. This is the kind of blindness in which a person has physical sight but most times lack psychological sight on things that take place around them. In Raymond Carver’s short story, “Cathedral”, the narrator’s wife used to work for a blind man named Robert, whose wife has recently passed on and as a result of that he will be coming to spend some time with the narrator and his wife at their home. The narrator isn’t very enthused about his visit. He believes blind people are helpless and are never happy. The narrator explains his understanding of blindness, “My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed” (Carver 78). Due to his view of blind people he expects Robert to be the exact but he is surprised when he realises that he the opposite and eventually learns a valuable lesson from him.
Constantly throughout the short story, Robert defies the narrator’s original portrayal of what he believes is a stereotypical blind man. “He also had a full beard. But he didn’t use a cane and he didn’t wear dark glasses. I’d always thought dark glasses were a must for the blind” (Carver 36). Robert also starts to change the narrator’s perception of blind people not only physically but emotionally. In an act of thoughtful accommodation, the narrator begins to describe to Robert the cathedrals on the television when the speaker of the program halts the commentary. Robert starts to slightly and gradually change the perspective that the narrator sees blind people from until the conclusion of the story when Robert shines a light on the
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.
This theme goes hand in hand with the theme portrayed in Hills Like White Elephants. In the story the narrator, whose name is never mentioned, has something against his wife’s blind friend, Robert, due to the fact that he cannot see. Robert visits the narrator and the narrator’s wife for company. It seems that the narrator had a preconceived idea that all blind people are boring, depressed, stupid, and are barely even human at all based on the fact that they cannot see the world. Robert, although he is blind, is a caring and outgoing person who is extremely close with the narrator’s wife. The fact that Robert is extremely close with the narrator’s wife should be reason enough for the narrator to accept him as a person, but he is a cold and shallow person with no friends. His relationship with his wife is lacking good communication and seems very bland. Robert’s wife recently passed away, but their relationship was deep and they were truly in love with each other. The narrator was blind to how a woman could work with, sleep with, be intimate with, and marry Robert as has he talks about how he felt sorry for her. The narrator is superficial and does not understand true love or