In the short story, “Cathedral” written by Raymond Carver, the author tells the story in first person, which is very effective because he tends to project some of his own feelings and habits onto the main character such as drinking and loneliness. The reader can pick up that the time is set in the mid-fifties from the talk of new colored television and traditional ways of the household. The main plot in the story is the main character has his wife’s friend good, blind friend stay with them, Robert. With Robert being blind, this gives the main character some uncertain feelings. Throughout the story, the husband realizes that Robert is not the typical stereotype of blind people, which he thought he was going to be. At the end, the main character…
“Cathedral” begins with the narrator introducing his wife’s friend, Robert, who is coming to the narrators’ house to spend the night. He had recently lost his wife and the narrators’ wife had invited him to visit her after years of separation. She had met Robert when she landed a job to read to a blind man and they kept in touch through tapes, even after she left the job. The narrator was not looking forward to meeting Robert because his idea of a blind man came from the movies, which showed that they moved slowly and rarely laughed. As the story unfolds, the narrator begins to have a different opinion about the blind. Raymond Carver uses symbolism, characterization, and an involved narrative point of view to show the difference between being able to see something and being able to understand what the real meaning of it is. As the story evolves, the characteristics of the narrator begin to change as he interacts with Robert.…
in the poem cathedral by robert carvin the narrator is told by his wife that she is inviting a blind friend over the narrator finds out that his wife has been send audio tapes with a blind man named Robert who she worked for several years ago. at first the narrator was closed minded about the blind man but when the wife bring the blindman from the airport he introduces himself as robert the first thing that came to robert mind was that not what he was expecting a blind man to look like how robert was dressed he was not expecting him to have a full beard and not wear dark glasses.During his visit and dinner, the narrator feels threatened by the relationship his wife and Robert share and he doesn't know why throughout the story the narrator…
The narrator doesn’t seem happy in his marriage. His wife asks if her blind friend, Robert, can stay with them because his wife just passed away (299). “ If you love me, you can do this for me… and the friend came to visit, I’d make him feel comfortable.” (301). The previous quote shows that the narrator does seem to love and admire his wife because he tries so hard to make Robert comfortable near the end of the story. This also suggests that his wife loves him too and that he should have to worry about Robert staying in their home.…
The narrator, who lack social skills, was not so thrilled about entertaining a blind man and was a little jealous about his wife’s continuing relationship with Robert. He thinks that his wife may have discussed details of their relationship with Robert or possibly complained about his faults, which made him insecure, embarrassed and a little irritated with his wife and Robert.…
Raymond Carver, Jr. was an American short story author and poet. He was born in 1938 and died in 1988. He was married twice, struggled with drugs and alcoholism, and was an unsuccessful writer early on in his career. It was not until his publication of “Cathedral” that he gained success. Carver even believed that “Cathedral was a watershed in his career, in its shift towards a more optimistic and confidently poetic style” (Arciniegas). “Cathedral” starts out slow, spending most of the short story on the back story of the narrator’s wife and a blind man. The story progresses with the three characters doing mostly everyday things, eating, talking, and drinking. While this happens, the narrator’s ideas of the blind are challenged little by…
The narrator drinks too much, jealous of his wife, unable to adequately communicate with his wife, and unconnected to other human beings. In addition not only unconnected to others, but he also seems to resent his wife’s connections to other people as well. When “I” spoke of the impending visit by my wife’s friend: the blind man , he states that, “I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me” (Carver 32). “A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to” (Carver 32). Furthermore, when Robert arrived at “my” house, the narrator made no special effort to engage Robert in conversation. He preferred…
While Robert was on his way to visit them, the narrator and his wife were talking about what to do when Robert gets here and that wife was telling the narrator to be nice when Robert gets to the house. The narrator told his wife that he would take him Bowling and the wife analyzed the narrator and stated “If you love me,” she said “you can do this for me. If you don’t love me, okay. But if you had a friend, any friend, and the friend came to visit, I’d make him feel comfortable”(page 105). This shows that the narrator wife wants him to do something for her and that when the blind man gets be nice and that she would welcome his friends if they came over she would show them a good time. Also when Robert finally came to the house Robert welcomed him to his home and led him a hand with his bags and takes his hand and shows him around the house by describing it. Later then everybody sat down and he offered Robert a drink and also he turned on the TV for Robert to listen to. The narrator loves his wife and he knows that Robert and hers had friendship in the past made the narrator jealous before Robert arrived at the house, but he decided to be nice and show him a good time to make his wife…
This is characteristic of her good nature and true compassion for her friend. At first, her husband was sketchy about the blind man coming to visit, and a little scared. The blind man was not what the husband expected. The blind man did not have dark glasses or a cane, and he smoked. The husband did not think that blind people smoked because of his own stereotypes he felt towards the blind. As the evening went on, it was apparent that the husband and wife were having a small conflict because of the husband's feelings towards the blind man. You can see both sides of this conflict. The wife is just being kind to a friend, but then again, I can see how Bub" would feel somewhat inferior because he really had no "say" to who would come into and stay in their home. The husband offered the blind man whiskey and they had dinner. When they were finished eating, they went and sat on the couch. The blind man and the woman were reminiscing about what they have missed in each other's lives for the past ten years. You can tell how happy this is making the wife; there is nothing like reminiscing with an old buddy! The wife definitely deserves this! The visit from Robert is as important to the wife as anything. When she falls asleep on the couch between the blind man and her husband - is her intention, I believe, to bring these two closer together. She wants her husband to see what she sees in Robert. Her going upstairs, provides…
“All this without his having seen what the goddamned woman looked like. It was beyond my understanding” (3). As the two men spend time together, the husband is able to step out of his comfort zone and realize that Robert is just like any other. He began to realize Robert has done more with his life than he had. This amazed, as well as confused him. What had he been spending all his life doing? And now he's going to look down to someone who has accomplished more than him?…
This is evident in the narrator’s reaction, through Carvers writing, when he is informed that the blind man was coming to stay with them. Rather than reacting with a false guise of comfort, he instead replies sarcastically saying, “Maybe I could take him bowling,” (3) knowing full man the blind man couldn’t even see the pins, ball, or lane he would be playing in. This sarcasm extends from discomfort, and the narrator’s unwillingness to want to deal with the blind man’s presence. The narrator had never even met the man once in his life, and yet here this blind man is coming to live in his house, eat his food, and sleep in his bed. He does not pretend to be okay with this simply because his wife knew the blind man for so many years.…
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.…
Blindness can manifest itself in many ways. Arguably the most detrimental form of this condition may be the figurative blindness of ones own situations and ignorance towards the feelings of others. In Raymond Carver 's short story "Cathedral," the narrator 's emotional and psychological blindness is immediately apparent. The many issues faced by the narrator as well as the turn-around experienced at the culmination of the tale are the main ideas for the theme of this story; and these ideas aid the narrator in eventually succumbing to character transformation by simply regarding the literal blind man in a positive light.…
Throughout Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral,” the nameless narrator, the main character develops emotionally through a situation that creates fear in an already introverted man. He does not want to go outside of his comfort zone and he is caught off guard when he is forced beyond his current developmental state. But, through a lesson from the blind narrator finds himself enlightened to the sentiments of the handicapped.…
The narrator is shown to be a man who is envious of his wife’s first husband, jealous of her bond with the blind man and who smokes marijuana daily. The narrator’s use of a narrative point of view helps give the readers an inside of his personal thoughts about the blind man, Robert. Stereotypes and intimidations are constantly present with the narrators thought’s such as “they move slow, use canes, wear dark glasses, never laugh, and use seeing-eyedogs.” This helps demonstrate the view the narrator has towards the blind. Further into the story the narrator’s thoughts take a dramatic enlightening turn with the use of a cathedral, it serves as a way to grasp the narrator and show him to “see” things in a different prospective.…