Amanda Gazaway Professor Macklin Cowart English 1102 10 September 2014 “Cathedral”: The Importance of Transformation in the Characters In “Cathedral‚” Raymond Carver drastically creates changes within his characters that bring them closer together throughout each experience. The pertaining metamorphoses begin by being utilized as simple icebreakers but eventually commence an everlasting bond between the narrator and the blind man‚ Robert. Character development is important because it allows
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when the man and woman escalate their actions to an inappropriate extreme. “Popular Mechanics‚” written by Raymond Carver‚ is a concise story in which a man and woman go through a separation. The process of their separation brings out their incessantly blatant resentment toward each other. The result of the couple’s tensions is selfish behavior. To develop the theme of selfishness‚ Raymond Carver portrayed the relationship between the man and woman as a competition between rivals‚ and displayed them
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Who is the Real Blind Man? In the story Cathedral‚ by Raymond Carver‚ the narrator makes multiple statements as to how he feels about Robert‚ the blind man. The statements are made purely on what the narrator has seen in movies and what he has read. The narrator makes harsh judgments of the blind mind regarding his inability to see his surroundings and other people. However‚ the narrator fails to see things the same way that Robert does‚ more deeply. Throughout the story the narrator finds himself
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In his short story titled simply ’Elephant’‚ Raymond Carver focuses on the elephant both literally and figuratively. Literally‚ when the author used the word elephant as the title for his short story‚ he made me think of the narrator in the story as hardworking because elephants are hardworking creatures. The narrator works hard to earn a living and takes his responsibilities seriously. Also‚ the author could have used the word elephant to bring attention to the phrase elephant in the room which
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In Cathedral by Raymond Carver‚ we observe the way narrator sees and understands the things around him‚ and along with it we see some of the character traits like being arrogant and timid. It is seen throughout the short story that the narrator doesn’t seem to understand himself and these characteristics as he spoke to the blind man. However‚ speaking to the blind man not only ignited his hidden characters traits it also showed his hidden talents of sympathy to one’s disability. Early into the
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The narrator of Cathedral is many things; jealous‚ sarcastic‚ insensitive‚ inconsiderate‚ and overall just a bad person‚ he is also‚ surprisingly‚ a sympathetic character. While he exuberates many flaws and emotions that we do not readily show ourselves‚ this does not strike the fact that we can sympathise and relate to the narrator. In fact‚ it is the fact that he shows all of these flaws that make him a sympathetic character. The reason being is that he shows the emotions and flaws that humans
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In Raymond Carver’s Cathedral‚ perspective is the main tool used to characterize the speaker and those around him. The speaker’s misconceptions regarding the other main characters drives the story forward‚ acting as a catalyst for the story’s plot. Because the speaker is describing what he sees‚ and only reveals his own thoughts‚ the point of view is first person limited. Carver’s use of the first person limited point of view greatly contributes to the climax of the story‚ and is imperative in understanding
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The story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver is about one man’s understanding and acceptance of a blind man. The narrator represents the story’s dominant theme of overcoming prejudice of the blind through personal experience as well as mutual respect. The narrator‚ who remains nameless‚ holds deeply unfounded beliefs and stereotypes of what a blind person should be‚ yet over a relatively short period of time he develops a bond with the blind man‚ whom at first he privately mocked. The narrator’s preconceived
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The third reason why the main characters are lonely is because the narrator is escapist. 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.
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In Cathedral‚ by Raymond Carver‚ a blind man is visiting his friend that took care of him ten years ago. Although never given a name in this story‚ the narrator’s (Bub’s) wife is an important character. It is her friendship with Robert that "makes" the story. For her‚ it started out just as a job‚ and grew into much more. She read to Robert and helped him with all the household chores. She left working for him because her husband went to officer training school so they had to move. The blind man
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