Analysis Of The Narrator ' Cathedral '

The main character or narrator in the Cathedral was not only jealous of the relationship between his wife and her friend (the blind man); moreover, he had not seen him in person and did not appreciate the idea that he was actually spending the night at their house. However, after the narrator’s encounter with Robert, he perceives that he was not what he expected him to be; instead, he was gentle and friendly. On the other hand, the main character or narrator in everyday use was outspoken and straightforward, explaining about her surroundings and what had transpired in her life. From harsh labor to the different circumstances, she had faced in her lifetime; she also talks about her daughters who had different personalities.

Throughout the story, the narrator perceives Robert as an inadequate person, pathetic, needing help to find his way around and simply not being able to provide for himself. “But he didn’t use a cane and he didn’t

Once Robert arrives some, of the narrators assumptions about blind people are broke down immediately like when he mentions "He didn't use a cane and he didn't

The narrator is pre-judgemental towards all people who are blind, whether or not he has met them. He believes all blind people are the same as those he has watched in movies. The narrator perception of the blind is that they “moved slowly and never laughed” and when they went out “they were led by seeing eye-dogs” (Carver 104). The movie industry creates a false image of the blind, which leads to the narrator’s assumptions. However, the blind are not all the same, just like how everyone else in the world are not the same. People are designed to be different in their personalities, thoughts, looks and much more. The narrator’s ideas of Robert are based off of false conceptions and this changes his attitude towards Robert. The narrator already has strong feelings towards Robert before meeting him

"Cathedral" is a short story ultimately about enlightment, finding something more meaningful and deeper with in one self. Although from an observing point of view nothing more in the story happens then a blind man assisting the narrator in drawing a cathedral. Although as known, the narrator's experience radically differs from what is actually "observed". He is enlightened and opened up to a new world of vision and imagination. This brief experience will have a life long effect on him. The reason for this strong and positive effect is not so much the relationship made between the blind man and the narrator or even the actual events leading up to this experience, but rather it is mostly due to what was drawn by the narrator.

The narrator is impressed by how little like a stereotypical blind man Robert looks. When he enters the house, they shake hands and the narrator tries an attempt at small talk but he only asks what side of the train Robert sat on. As the wife cooks dinner, the narrator fixes them all a drink. They drink

In “Cathedral” by Raymond Carter, the narrator has his vision, but he does not truly see the world. The blind man lacks sight, but sees deeper meanings to life.

The speaker puts Robert in a category that stops him from seeing him as an individual, yet receives an eye-opening experience through the blind man’s knowledge and

more sightless than Robert. Different from Robert, the narrator’s eyes are perfectly fine but he

Robert and the narrator. This leads the reader to believe that they did not have a strong connection with each other before they interacted because of the way blind people looked.

Let´s start saying that the concept he is referring there is what it is commonly known as a "zero ending", an ending that it is irrelevant or worthless because the story itself provides the information needed to understand the story, and a conclusion is not required here. For example, in the Cathedral´s story, the author provides enough evidence to understand it. There is a sarcastic tone in which the narrator refers to how the blind man feels because of his condition. Everything is right until we get to the end, everybody is expecting a conclusion telling us how the narrator thoughts differ after having shared that moment (cathedral´s drawing) with the blind man; however, it did not happen. That sarcastic tone I already mentioned finished

This becomes more obvious when Robert and the narrator watch/listen to the TV program on cathedrals. When the narrator starts to draw the cathedral with his eyes closed, guiding Robert’s hand, he has somewhat of an epiphany. He thinks to himself, “My eyes were still closed. I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything.” He can’t see what he’s drawing, but that doesn’t matter because he understands what a cathedral looks like. He can trace its shape, helping Robert to understand it’s shape too. Robert won’t be able to see it but he will still understand. The narrator has a moment of realization that feeling something, physically or mentally, can lead to an understanding more profound than if you were to just look with your

Narrator’s jealousy even extends to Robert’s relationship with his former wife. Narrator looks so thoughtful for a long time and decides that how can a blind man marry with a woman whom he is unable to see (205). On the other hand narrator is able to see his wife, but fails to see into her feelings, the way Robert could see into his wife’s soul. Narrator’s blindness to the feelings of his wife seems to divide them in their marriage. She shares greater emotional intimacy with Robert than she does with her husband, because they have talk about (include some of things they talk about that reveal how deep their relationship is).

Around the beginning of the story, the narrator skimmed over the house and noticed the excessive antiquity of the building; however, he realized the true inconsistency of the apparently perfect adaptation of parts and the crumbling of each individual stone. As the narrator observed the building more closely he spotted a barely noticeable fissure that ran from the roof of the building down to the waters if the

He seems like an interval person. He carefully watches his wife and Robert, and keeps his thoughts to himself. He loves his wife. He gets jealous when knowing Robert touched his wife’s face and neck before she quitted the job. His jealousy also presents when he talks about his wife’s ex-husband. He never mentions his name “Why should he have a name? He was the childhood sweetheart, and what more does he want”. He is neither as sympathy as the wife nor as open as the blind man. He is racist, rude, and close-minded. He is flawed. He has a disgust view about Robert’s death wife “Beulah! That’s a name for a colored woman” “Was his wife a Negro?” (715). He does not like people with disabilities. His concept about disability is stereotype “The blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they were led by sight- seeing dog” (713). He also makes himself clears that “A blind man in my house is not something I look forward to” (713). The narrator is somewhere between mean and curious when having silly comments, thoughts “May be I could take him to the bowling” (715) or “the blind didn’t smoke, because they couldn’t see the smoke they exhaled” (717). He is a little bit childish to turn on the TV while his wife and Robert are talking as he just cannot join the conversation. The narrator does not feel comfortable to let other people understand him. Probably that is why he does not have any friends. The narrator seems to be nervous when he has to talk to Robert all by himself “I wish my wife hadn’t pooped out”. When his wife falls asleep, he feels uncomfortable as he knows now he has to talk to Robert. It can be seen that the narrator is nervous to talk to Robert, partly because of his insecure feeling toward Robert “Say my life was being threaten by an insane guy who said I had to do it or else”. It is only when the narrator participates in drawing the Cathedral with Robert, he can invade in a part of the blind man’s world, and he