Critical Summary Of Cathedral By Raymond Carver

Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” is a short story that unfolds through the perspective of Bub. The story begins by depicting Bub’s narrow mindedness and as the story progresses it becomes clear that his perspective shifts after an encounter with his wife’s blind friend Robert. It is through this encounter that Bub has an epiphany. It is his jealousy towards Robert and intoxication that debunk his preconceived notations and highlight the connection between him and Robert. It is only after his epiphany that he is drawn out of this obliviousness and gains insight. Bub’s wife, his smoking, and drinking are key elements in breaking apart his bias and as a result he is enlightened.

Blindness is not limited to physical manifestation. In Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral,” the figurative blindness is immediately apparent through the narrator and his shallowness, irrational jealousy, and egotistical personality. His dismissive behavior and ignorance towards the feelings of Robert, his wife’s blind friend, speak negatively of his character and reveals his insecurities. While the narrator’s emotional blindness and Robert’s physical blindness initially inhibits their bond, it eventually leads the narrator to an epiphany and the beginning of a character transformation. The different forms of blindness allow the characters to bond and grow over the course of the story.

Everyone at one point has judged a book by its cover. In the short story, “Cathedral”, Raymond Carver creates a narrator who bases off ideas and assumptions about blind people from movies. The narrator has never interacted with a blind person before the day where his wife invites her friend, who is named Robert, to stay. The narrator and Robert have never met, but the narrator has a strong dislike towards Robert before meeting. The narrator’s closed-mindedness and misconceptions leads him to judge Robert, however after a few hours of interaction, the narrator learns more about him and grows to have a new perspective about people not being who they think they are.

The Story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver is about true blindness and the effects of emotional contact. Peterson studies the use of determiners, a and the, that refer to the blind man in the story and its effects to establish the atmosphere of the story. He states that the change in determiner seems subtle, but these subtle changes are significant because the changes show how narrator feel about Robert throughout the story. Nesset studies the sexual polices and the love lives in several Carver’s stories. He discusses how Carver wrote his stories based on less of love and more of love withdrawal. Also Facknitz addresses rediscovery of human worth and the effects of emotional touch by discussing three short stories written by Carver. He analyses each narration of the narrator and comments based on psychological manner. The story “Cathedral” suggests the meaning of true blindness does not only refer to physical disability; it refers to those people who cannot see the world from other’s perspectives and it can be overcome through emotional contact.

In Raymond Carver's "Cathedral," the husband's view of blind men is changed when he encounters his wife's long time friend, Robert. His narrow minded views and prejudice thoughts of one stereotype are altered by a single experience he has with Robert. The husband is changed when he thinks he personally sees the blind man's world. Somehow, the blind man breaks through all of the husband's jealousy, incompetence for discernment, and prejudgments in a single moment of understanding.

In the short story, Cathedral, by Raymond Carver, the author uses imagery, symbolism and narrates the story in first person point of view. The Cathedral’s main theme is being able to identify the difference between being able to look and/or see and it is portrayed through the main characters role in the story. Carver uses a unique style of writing which gives the short story a simple way for the reader to understand the story’s theme.

Carver is well known for his short stories and poetries. Among his works, “Cathedral” is considered one of the best, favorite, and most optimistic and the most developed. Carver’s story revolves around the theme of seeing and looking. Most people believed they could not live without cathedrals which brought them closer to their God. Similarly, people place so much importance to the physical eyesight and tend to think they can hardly live without it. Robert, a blind man, is invited to the narrator’s home and the narrator is shown troubled by Roberts’s disability. Later on, the narrator is amazed to see the blind smoking despite having even thought of helping him with his drink earlier on (Carver 516- 524). The latter brought to attention that as much as natural looking is essential, more essential is the ability to see or to visualize things. The writer explains that it might be tougher to be without eyesight; however, it is possible to live without it and make the best of what else one has, more so the brain. Visualizing brings out a better view of the significance of life and things surrounding us.

Being different from other people is difficult to deal with in life, yet, we judge people who are different from us. Robert, a blind man, from a short story called, “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver is a wonderful book and a life lesson story. Robert is a blind man who had a strong friendship with Bub’s wife. Bub is the husband and isn’t really that type of person anyone would get along with.Throughout the story bub wasn’t very fond of Robert because he would get jealous that his wife would be more interested towards Robert. Robert and bub’s wife were best friends before bub married her. Roberts personality was interesting and a person who you would want to know in life. Throughout the end of the story, Carver, the author, sends a heartwarming message to the audience that can change your view in things in life. In the story, Robert was very easy going, shady and creative.

In the story “The Fall of the House of Usher” there are three characters the narrator, Roderick Usher, and Madeline Usher. The story starts with the narrator arriving at the Usher family home where both Roderick and Madeline live, Roderick is both physically and mentally ill and Madeline is just mentally ill. The Usher family

He continues on to explain that the cathedral is a symbol that “represents a kind of common humanity and benevolence”. The topic Cathedral was used to help both connect. The husband is open to a new experience because he is willing to close his eyes and open his mind and senses when Robert holds his hand to draw. The husband gains insight into the world of the blind man who sees and experiences life with touch, hearing, smell and taste. Cathedral has also played its role to help the husband get a taste of Robert’s open mindedness and the real

The short story “Cathedral”, by Raymond Carver, is a thought provoking piece that focuses on the transition a man goes through to see the world with his soul. The story gives hope that people can change if given the chance to be better people. Over the course of the story, Carver uses both diction and description to explore themes in religion and morality.

Prejudice is an issue that is present in communities around the world due to diversity in race, religion, sexual orientation, lifestyles and physical disabilities of others as well. However, sometimes it just takes a life changing moment for one to realize that he or she should not discriminate against others just because of their appearance or beliefs. In the story “Cathedral”, author Raymond Carver writes about a man who is prejudging towards his wife’s blind friend, Robert, who will be visiting the couple. At first the narrator, or “Bub” as Robert nicknamed him, does not like the idea of Robert staying there because he is blind. Once Robert arrives, “Bub” does not really make an effort to get along with him; they had dinner together

“Cathedral” In Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral,” a man’s entire worldview is shifted by his wife’s blind friend, Robert. The protagonist begins the story as a shallow, intolerant person; he is isolated from his wife’s needs and problems and is especially disdainful of Robert in his blindness. His willful ambivalence toward his wife is implied in the casual way he talks about her past issues. He hardly mentions her first failed marriage with her high school sweetheart, an air force officer, which presumably ended harshly due to the fact that she tried to commit suicide. The narrator also brushes off her passions and aspirations, such as writing poetry and sending cassette tapes to Robert; he clearly does not consider Robert a threat, either, since he shows no interest in listening to any of the tapes or even asking his wife what they talk about.

The narrator (Bub) is characterised as being closed minded, and has a negative personality. He sits on the couch, smokes weed, drinks scotch and goes to bed. At the beginning of the story when Robert comes for a visit, the narrator is rude. The narrator doesn’t see people pass their physical appearance. He doesn’t look inside. The narrator says” I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me” (3). The narrator’s character makes him blind to the beautiful things in our world. The narrator is jealous of the connection between his wife and the blind man. He makes jokes about bringing Robert bowling. The narrator is jealous, and only focuses on the fact that he touched her face. He doesn’t see the deeper connection they have. He is blind. This is clear when the author writes “She told me he touched his fingers to every part of her nose, even her neck“(3). He also thinks about the blind man as a stereotypical blind man. He doesn’t seem to understand that there’s more to every blind man than a cane and sunglasses. He looks at people only on the outside. He thinks that the blind man can’t have a real connection. When Robert tells the narrator and his wife about his wife’s death, “I found myself thinking what a pitiful life this woman must have led” (4). Both Robert and the narrator are blind. The narrator is blind to the world. He can’t see people more than how they look on the outside. Throughout the story, he has a very flat tone. When they were talking about the blind man wife’s death, or when his wife attempts to commit suicide, he reduces the whole experience as her throwing up. He doesn’t sympathise with the blind man’s wife’s death or his wife’s attempted suicide. He doesn’t try to look at people on a deeper lever, rather he looks at the surface of every problem. He

Creepy.” Bub becomes keenly interested in gaining an understanding of Robert. Bub watches as Robert eats. “The blind man had right away located his foods. He knew just where everything was on his plate. I watched with admiration as he used his knife and fork on the meat.” Bub continues watching Robert intensely throughout the meal. Bub takes note of everything Robert does, even considering him as Robert enjoys conversation with Bub’s wife, “For the most part, I just listened. Now and then I joined in. I didn’t want him to think I had left the room, and I didn’t want her to think I was feeling left out.” Although our narrator Bub is still being brusque and dismissive with Robert outwardly, one might presume due to our insight into his thoughts that Bub is beginning to set aside his preconceived notions about Robert. We can see clearly the development of this character from someone with no interest in communication or understanding, to an inquisitive person. Without his knowing it or wanting it, Bub is slowly opening himself to Robert.