An Analysis Of Raymond Carver's Cathedral

Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” is about the narrator and Robert, a friend of the narrator’s wife. Robert, who is blind, comes to visit the narrator and his wife. The visit is arranged because Beulah, Robert’s wife, has died and the funeral service is held in Connecticut near the narrator and his wife’s house in New York. About ten years ago, the narrator’s wife met and worked for Robert in Seattle. At the time, she was married to a military officer. After moving to another military base, Robert and the narrator’s wife kept in touch via cassette tapes. At the beginning of the story, the narrator is unsympathetic towards Robert’s disability. However, at the ending of the story, the narrator is able to empathize with Robert. The central idea of the story is moral blindness can be more debilitating than physical blindness.

Raymond Craver’s short story, “Cathedral,” it is a very complex yet simple story to understand. Carver has been known throughout his career as being a minimalist, and in his short story “Cathedral” it is not exempt from his minimalism, and is more commonly known as a turning point in his career from the overall hopeless tones, and themes in his previous works to having a more optimistic approach even admitting it in Daniel Lehman’s article “Symbolic Significance in the Stories of Raymond Carver" in a Paris Review interview Carver states that it is his “break-through story”. In the story, the narrator interacts with his wife’s blind friend for the first time before facing an experience later throughout the story as the blind man known as Robert asks to describe what a cathedral looks like which relays to the title of the short story, and many article writers such as Diane Henningfield, Carol Simpson, and Chris Bullock go into detail as to how Carver uses different methods to tell the story and express his style of story telling. “Cathedral” is written in such a way that the reader is able to grasp what is happening in the story, and connect with the characters as the author uses character contrasts, interactions, and responses to using the lack of details along with the subtle uses of metaphors and symbolisms while the story itself reflects Carver’s minimalism, and changes in his works.

It seems in life that we often look at things without really seeing them. Raymond Carver demonstrates in “Cathedral” that looking is associated to physical vision, but seeing involves a deeper level of commitment. The author is making the point when you put yourself into someone else's shoes and allow yourself to see things the way they see them, it can be the most rewarding and eye opening experience.

“Cathedral” by Raymond Carver is a story that focuses on sight, it specifically highlights vision by demonstrating how it requires a much deeper engagement. The narrator, who Robert calls “Bub,” is astonishingly shortsighted or “blind” while Robert (the actual blind man) is insightful and perceptive. Bub assumes that he is superior to Robert because he has his sight. He also assumes that Robert is unable to make a female happy, nor lead a normal life. Bub is convinced his ability to see is everything but ironically enough, he fails see beyond the surface of things which is why he doesn’t know his wife adequately. However, Robert sees much deeper than the narrator despite his inability to look at the surface. This ability to look deeper helps him understand, he does so by listening and touching. Throughout Robert’s visit, the narrator reveals he is closed minded and exposes how he views life in general. Bub is clobbered and it brings him to the epiphany that his views about Robert mirror his views of his life. His epiphany is shown through the author's use of appearance vs reality, irony, and vernacular dialogue; which shows Bub’s preconceived notations, the connection formed between Bub and Robert, and how out of obliviousness Bub gained insight.

Everyone has ghosts in their closets; something they are running from, or trying to bury alive. Cathedral, written by Raymond Carver, takes place in the early 1980’s. Originally published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1981. Carver slightly revised the story and re-released it in 1983. At a time when the blue collar working class lived paycheck to paycheck, working hard for newfound luxuries such as color television, this short story is humorous and eye-opening for the reader. For adults ranging from thirty to forty years old, the 1980’s were possibly a ghostly, haunting time. In the 1970’s, many of these people were experimenting with social use of drugs and alcohol; unfortunately, some did not survive to see the following

Raymond Carver wrote a short story called ‘‘The cathedral’’, it is about a woman who has a long time friend and he is blind. He comes at her house to see her and then realize that she as a husband. At the beginning, the husband has a good vision but he is the one who seems "blind." The husband is speaks and do signs when he is talking to Robert, the blind man, the husband is kind of ‘‘blind’’ because he does not notice and understand what it is for Robert to be blind. What does it mean or how it changes his life to be a person who cannot see anything, to be a blind man. The husband seems very uncomfortable, Robert makes him feel that he is not in the right place. The husband is always

Raymond Carver the author of “Cathedral” which narrate about inviting her old friend who is blind to their house. Robert is blind and his wife had died not long ago. The story beginning to show how the author is troubled by approaching visit for things he can 't exactly clarify, but he ascribes it to Robert 's blindness. The author does not understand how much the blind man used to be to his wife and he doesn 't suspect his arrival, yet before the end of the story the author has an epiphany and sees. From this story, the Reader gets the feeling this is no conventional story. The author is amazingly easygoing in recounting his story, and this account style is purposely utilized by the writer to draw in the reader. Consider the different routes in which the narration of "Cathedral" can be viewed as a casual narration and a well detailed description.

In “Cathedral,” Carver’s use of visualization and climactic change of character emphasizes the theme that looking and seeing are two very different things. When Raymond Carver had his wife’s blind friend, Robert, join them for a few days, he should’ve been more understanding and empathetic with Robert’s blindness instead of just avoiding it or brushing it off as if it’s not there. Carver did very well in changing his ways and learning to accept and understand Robert. Carver also did a good job of differentiating the acts of seeing something and really understanding something or someone. At first, he disliked Robert because he was blind. Carver even pondered over how Robert could’ve loved his late wife if he couldn’t see her, showing his

In the story “Cathedral”, author, Raymond Carver, show the readers that a person does not need their eyes to see as sight has a deeper meaning for different people. Within the story, the narrator, husband, describe his experience with his wife’s longtime friend Robert, a blind man who came to visit after losing his own wife to cancer. The story takes place in the husband’s home somewhere in the East Coast near Connecticut.

Knowing that stereotyping someone is happening, is one the hardest things to understand. Someone may not understand stereotyping is happening until someone confronts the other person. The author who wrote the story Cathedral is Raymond Carver, has caught someone, and it was himself. This story was published on June 18th, 1981 by Atlantic Monthly. This story was written in the first person from the husband with an intensely detailed background. Cathedral main idea of the story was based on stereotypes. The setting and theme are easily found and used to analyze this story. The story Cathedral is about a husband and wife who has a problem with Robert (blind man), whose wife died and came to become a guest in their house. The husband has a stereotype problem and stereotypes the blind man. After all was said and done, the husband realized that Robert was not like every other blind man. The setting took place mostly in the living room on the couch and the genre is considered humorous but serious. Moving forward in the essay, Carver will show how his stories differ from the normal human being. Cathedral shows stereotyping in a different way than most writers do by using the characters, setting, plot, and conflict to see that Robert was not like every other blind man.

The title of the story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver is a far cry from the themes that run through the story. Naturally, one would expect the story to centre on worship but it does not only mentioning it in passing. Admittedly, one of the themes that clearly come out of the story is an apparent blindness of the narrator who though physically had sight could not see the deeper things in life. On the other hand, Robert, the physically blind man was very insightful able to appreciate the beauty of life. Robert, the blind man finally assists the narrator to see through drawing of the cathedral.

Cathedral is a short story written by Raymond Carver. The story unfolds as a first person narrative of a main character named Bub. The story is short and slow paced. . In fact, the whole conversations and drama in the story is an event that took place in one day. The story beautifully depicts the process of an individual who transforms from this unknowledgeable, ignorant being into a knowledgeable soul. The story was written more than three decades ago and still is relevant today. The story is fashioned in such a way that this timeless beauty will continue to awe and inspire people generations onwards. The cathedral, in this story is a mere subject brought up at the end of this story which becomes the object of Bubs enlightment. All in all this short story Cathedral tells a tale of Bub who through a blind man receives an eye opening experience.

In the story “Cathedral”, author, Raymond Carver, show the readers that a person does not need their eyes to see as sight has a deeper meaning for different people. Within the story, the narrator, husband, describe his experience with his wife’s longtime friend Robert, a blind man who came to visit after losing his own wife to cancer. The story takes place in the husbands home somewhere in the East Coast near Connecticut. As the husband has a drink and waits for his wife’s arrival with Robert, the husband shows an uneasiness about Robert being blind. Upon their arrival, the husband notices how joyful and happy his wife is with Robert and does not understand why. Inside the home, the husband and Robert had a few drinks accompanied with light conversation until dinner where the husband is impressed at how the Robert can describe the foods there are eating. After the dinner, the husband leaves to the couch to watch T.V. The wife and Robert join the husband him shortly after. After the wife falls asleep on the couch, the husband stops on a channel where they speak of Cathedrals and the blind man want him to describe it. Unable to use descriptive word to help Robert see, Robert asks the husband to draw the Cathedral on a paper thick enough so Robert can feel the lines. Robert joins hands with the husband as he draws on the paper and begins to visualize what a cathedral looks like while the husband has an insight on how to see through the eyes

Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” is about an unlikeable and disgruntled man’s encounter with a physically blind man that shows him a new way to see. The plot in this short story is not very riveting, but the journey the characters take and how they need each other takes center stage. The narrator takes the reader through his thoughts leading up to and during the visit with the blind man. Until the very end, the unnamed husband who is also the narrator remains unable to communicate or connect with anyone in his life. In Raymond Carver’s short story, “Cathedral”, he uses first person point of view, characterization and tone in order to convey the theme of change is only possible by trying new and sometimes uncomfortable things.

The author who wrote the story Cathedral is Raymond Carver. This story was published on June 18th, 1981 by Vintage. This story was written in the first person from the husband with an intensely detailed background. Cathedral main idea of the story was based on stereotypes. The setting and theme are easily found and used to analyze this story. The story Cathedral is about a husband and wife who has a problem with Robert (blind man), whose wife died and came to become a guest in their house. The husband has a serotype problem and serotypes he blind man. After all was said and done, the husband realized that Robert was not like every other blind man. The setting took place mostly in the living room on the couch and the genre is considered humorous but serious. Moving forward in the essay, Carver will show how his stories differ from the normal human being. Cathedral shows stereotyping in a different way than most writers do by using the characters, setting, plot, and conflict to see that Robert was not like every other blind man.