Raymond Carver Cathedral Essay

In the short story “Cathedral,” by Raymond Carver, the narrator draws a cathedral with his blind guest and transforms from a narrow-minded, materialistic, and superficial individual to an individual who acknowledges the spiritual aspects of life and the lives of those around him. Before the egoist narrator meets the blind man, Bub is so closed-minded, jealous, and materialistic that he does not want to help someone in need and he does not empathize with the hardships others endure. However, after Bub communicates with Robert and engineers an emotional connection, he is no longer limited by his former characteristics. Through this emotional link, Robert assists Bub in opening his mind to the spiritual world and feeling empathy for others.
While Robert tells Bub that “you didn’t think you could [draw the cathedral]” (Carver 103), in reality, he is not talking about drawing a cathedral. He is telling the reader that Bub does not think that he can open up to the world, specifically the spiritual world. But this will all change because Bub is transitioning from being materialistic and intolerant to becoming more welcoming in all aspects of life and less focused on the physical. When drawing the cathedral, Robert tells Bub to “put some people in there. What’s a cathedral without people” (Carver 103). Robert is trying to force Bub to look from a different perspective, the inside. Although it may seem like it is just a detail for the drawing, the people that Robert asks Bub to draw represent happiness and they are quite literally, people. The cathedral that they are drawing is not only a building now, but it is a symbol for where they can find comfort and happiness. While Bub is focusing on the empty structure and the outside of the cathedral, it is also a metaphor for the emptiness of Bub’s life until he opens his mind to other experiences, specifically spiritual