Raymond Carver Cathedral Analysis

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

In Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral”, the short story is told by a character within the story. The first-person point of view gives us a transparent visual of an important time in the narrators’ life. The narrator, who is “un-named” in the beginning of the story, uses blunt, flawless and a particular choice of words. This gives us as the reader a deeper connection with the narrator. The narrator begins this story by taking us through the changes he go through with the uneasy feeling of having a blind-man coming to his house to visit.

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

I enjoyed reading “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver. The story is realistic, relatable, and meaningful. The main protagonist, Bub, is arrogant and superficial. Because of Robert’s intimate relationship with his wife, he does not like the blind man. To cover up the fact that he is jealous, he states that he never had a blind man in his house before and that Robert does not have the characteristics he thought blind people have. Robert does not wear glasses, has a beard and etc. On page 90 he says, “I always thought dark glasses were a must for the blind.” This shows that even before he met Bub, he already had some preconceived picture of Bub that hinders him from really getting to know the real Bub. However, towards the end of the story he seems

The idea of blindness in Carver’s Cathedral gains additional meaning throughout the story as we learn more about the character Robert and the blind man himself. The story begins in first person, depicting Roberts disdain for the blind and his smallness of character. As a juxtaposition we are introduced to the blind man who is evolved in character, and has a substantially important relationship with Roberts’s wife. As the story progresses and Robert has more interaction with the blind man, he himself begins to evolve through time spent while his wife is asleep. As the story comes to an end, the blind man has affected the character of Robert to the point that his inward blindness has been exposed. This story shows that blindness does not necessarily

The notion of possessing an intrinsic bias is introduced in Raymond Carver’s Cathedral. He highlights how perception can affect the way people interact and communicate with each other for the first time. In the short story, the narrator himself is blind to the emotions of the people around him and eschews any form of self-reflection until the very end. He is envious of the blind man, who shares an intimate relationship with the narrator’s wife. However, the blind man is depicted as insightful and personal. Carver discloses in Cathedral that Robert, the blind man, and the narrator’s wife had been exchanging audiotapes for years, sharing their experiences and difficulties with one another.

The narrator chooses to hold himself back from achieving any progression towards self-actualization with making close-minded judgments in regards to his wife’s blind friend Robert, such as “Was [Roberts] wife a Negro” (Carver 301) and “But [Robert] didn’t use a cane and he didn’t wear dark glasses” (Carver 303). These are clear indications that the narrator has kept his mind closed to keep himself safe whilst choosing to hinder his progression to actualization by “being afraid.”

“Cathedral” is a short story written by Raymond Carver, published in 1981. The story is told in the first-person by a man referred to as “Bub.” Bub lives with his wife, who remains unnamed. The premise to the plot of the story is that Robert, a blind man who is friends with Bub’s wife, is coming to visit Bub’s home after his own wife dies. The reader follows Bub’s perspective throughout the experience and is privy to his thoughts and commentary. According to Carver, “Cathedral” differs from his other stories. Carver describes this difference in Fires, “[It] was totally different in conception and execution from any stories that [had] come before. There was an opening up when I wrote the story. I knew I’d gone as far the other way as I could or wanted to go, cutting everything down to the marrow, not just to the bone. Any farther in that direction and I’d be at a dead end” (204). A critic writes, “Carver's figures seal themselves off from their worlds, walling out the threatening forces in their lives even as they wall themselves in, retreating destructively into the claustrophobic inner enclosures of self. In Cathedral, and in Cathedral only, we witness the rare moments of their comings out, a process of opening up in closed-down lives” (Nesset 166). This moment of coming out occurs at the end of the story, and is representative of the culmination of Bub’s development process, which is personal enlightenment. In “Cathedral,” Carver includes five key ideas which convey the message that by focusing on and dealing with problems, reserving judgement, breaking stereotypes, and being open-minded, a person may find themselves confronted with the opportunity of being enlightened, which in Bub’s case, was the experience of a perspective change.

It takes place in the narrator's home; he is on his way to spend the night. Here we in vision a relating visit with friends and good times. However, the narrator expresses negative thoughts about Robert because he is blind. The narrator says, “I wasn’t enthusiastic about this visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me” (Carver 28). The narrator believes blind people are dismal and miserably unhappy. Carver gives a gleam of this character’s perception as he judges Robert and his worth. The narrator evaluates Robert’s life as having nothing to contribute to society or anyone else. He also states “My idea of blindness came from the movies” (Carver 28). As a society, we do this unknowingly every day to people we

Different, when a person is describing a stranger that has some form of handicap the word different, majority of the time will come up. There are many people in this world that get uncomfortable around “Different” people and that’s where the narrator of the “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver gets his ignorance from. However, the hostility of the narrator stems from the relationship his wife has with the blind man Robert. Robert may be the blind person in this story but the narrator is the one with limitations in sight. Even though the narrator can physically see, he himself places limitations on what he can see, meaning while Robert can only imagine what things look like and can open his mind to the possibilities and the beauty in everything the

Gothic Cathedral, while most notable for its pointed arches, stained-glass windows, slendered piers, and flying buttresses, is also recognized by its lancets, rose windows, and triforiums, as well as other identifiers. Although most Gothic architects of the great cathedrals are unknown, those that we do know have a sense of fame attached to them and all those who worked on these grand projects. In reference, unlike “Romanesque”, whose name derives from modern architectural historians, the term Gothic was originally used in a derogatory manner by 16th Century Italian architect, Giorgio Vasari who viewed the style as “monstrous and barbarous,” accrediting its ugliness to the barbaric Goths, who are held accountable for the collapse of Rome and the break in classical art and architecture. However, during the 12th and 13th century the term “Gothic” was never used to describe the style of the time, instead it was quickly referred to as “opus francigenum” meaning “French work” or simply “opus modernum” meaning “modern work.” While Giorgio’s view resembles that of renaissance artist Lorenzo Ghiberti, of the previous century, most late medieval and modern views consider the Gothic era a high point in history for Western art and architecture.

Underneath the basic plot line of "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver is a story about a man's battles with himself. He is insecure in his relationship with his wife, has stereotypes about people that need to be broken, and he is cold and distant in all relationships that are seen in the short story. The main character, "Bub", is telling what is believed to be an honest story from the first person perspective. In most stories, the main character is the protagonist and is liked and respected by the readers, but in "Cathedral", Bub is neither liked nor respected because of his judgmental notions and his cold side with his wife and guest.

The short story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver depicts the social isolation experienced by an unnamed male narrator caused by his lack of empathy and understanding. The narrator’s short sighted opinions concerning his wife, her friend Robert, and Robert’s late wife, Beulah are what give insight into his character and the attitudes he possesses. “Cathedral” is told through the narrator’s informal and limited first-person perspective to emphasize the emotional divide between himself and those around him, while also echoing the author’s minute personal connection to the narrator.

The Notre Dame Cathedral is the most visited tourist site in France, beating the Eiffel tower with 13 million visitors each year. Because it took over 300 years to build, there are many different styles of the architecture shown throughout the building(notredamecathedralparis.com). This structure shows the hardships of war and the enlightened thinking of the Renaissance. Built in 12th century France, the Notre Dame Cathedral is one of the biggest French Catholic cathedrals in France and is still functional as a regular Church(sacred-destinations.com). This gem of architecture is a true wonder and represents the sacred and hopeful times of the middle ages and the renaissance.

When Robert arrives, he visits with the narrator’s wife first; the narrator observes them, but only occasionally joins in on the conversation. They all drink heavily and eat a large dinner. On his first visit to her home, an outgoing blind friend of the narrator 's wife interacts with the narrator by having the husband of his friend draw what he sees on the television; in doing so, the narrator allows Robert to share his sight through art; at the same time, the narrator shares Robert 's inner vision of beauty and feeling. This act of sharing gives each man meaning, and as such, relieves suffering from the narrator as he obtains new insights. Narrator new vision through the ability to create. A new vision is constructed when the narrator has to sketch the cathedral for Robert. The narrator doesn’t fully understand what happened when he closed his eyes and drew the cathedral, but he knows that it was an important experience, as the narrative opens; the narrator is shown to be one that lacks vision. He closes his eyes and start drawing cathedral with the help of Robert. He realizes the word is way vaster than his perspective. From my point of view life is all about making things happen not to sit by side and try to judge someone else for their look. The modern world made easy to judge and define people among their looks. When he says my eyes were still closed. I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn 't feel like I was inside anything.’’ Being able to see outside of what