Raymond Carver's Cathedral

Robert and the narrator are watching a television documentary on cathedrals, hence the title, and Robert asks “…maybe you could describe one to me?” (188), because he understands what the purpose of cathedrals is, but he has no idea what they look like. The narrator attempts to describe a cathedral, but he does not know how to “…even begin to describe it.” (188). The cathedral means nothing to him, and he admits to Robert that when it comes to religion: “’I guess I don’t believe in it. In anything. Sometimes it’s hard.’” (189). When Robert suggests that they draw a cathedral together, hand over hand, the narrator becomes nervous and cautious, he is unsure what do. After a little bit, the narrator became more comfortable and “…couldn’t stop” drawing (190). The narrator then closes his eyes to finish off the drawing, and at that moment with Robert, he metaphorically opens his eyes. He does not exactly know what happened, but he knows something positively changed, he felt like “it [was] really something.” (190). He has an out of body experience, “…I didn’t feel like I was inside anything” (190), an epiphany. Carver does not entirely explain the ending or what happens next, but one can be optimistic and assume that Robert changed the narrator for the better, by making him close his eyes to

The narrator’s lack of imagination leads him to reject what is beyond his visual perception. The narrator looks at his surroundings plainly as they are and therefore fails to see the deeper meanings behind it. Throughout the story, the narrator is watching television, which symbolizes his narrow perspective and his failure to observe the world on his own. His “idea of blindness came from the movies” (Carver 315) and this preconceived notion results in his unenthusiastic attitude towards Robert before

In the beginning the narrator is un-named, we read the story as thoughts within his mind. His actions gives-off a sense of jealousy. He’s bothered by the former relationship the blind-man and his wife has had in the past. He is blunt and honest with (us) in telling how he feels about the situation. “I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me.” “A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to.” The narrator gives us the introduction to the life event. He tells us about his wife and how she met the blind-man. In short, she formally worked for him, reading him things when she lived in Seattle for a summer. The narrator mentioned when the blind-man touched around his wife face and her current marriage with her childhood sweetheart. Her husband at the time was in the military –industry, which caused her to have to move a lot. She and the blind-man kept in touch by sending voice recorded

In the narrative, the author writes the story in first person point of view through an unnamed narrator which enables the reader to visualize, experience, and perceive a deeper insight into his mind. The story commences with the narrator speaking directly to the audience appearing closed-off and narrow-minded. His wife has an old friend named Robert, who happens to be blind, coming to spend the night. Right away, the reader can sense how the narrator comes off as self-absorbed. He`s only concerned about how Robert’s visit will affect him and is inconsiderate about the strong bond Robert and his wife have built over the years. The narrator also lacks self-awareness when he found himself thinking “what a pitiful life this woman must have led.” (Carver 3) The woman being Beulah, Robert`s recently deceased wife, who the narrator belittled as she married a blind man and now she “could never see herself as she was seen in the eyes of her loved one.” (Carver 3) Not realizing that with

Furthermore, the title of the short story has symbolic representation to the transformation the narrator partakes as the story ends. Specifically, when the narrator begins to explain the cathedral on the TV and is unable to describe it with detail to Robert, shows how blind he is even though he is able to look at the things show in the program. In the short story, Robert suggests to the narrator to work together on drawing a cathedral to better illustrate it. As both hold on to the pen and trace the cathedral unto the piece of paper bag, Robert is able to visualize it in his mind; the narrator, on the other hand, gets to a point in his life where he realizes that he is now able to see, rather than just look at something, and is able to understand its meaning, as he states “it was like nothing else in my life up to now…my eyes were still closed.” Here, the narrator recognizes that even though his eyes were closed, as if he was blind, he is able to tell how immensely and detailed cathedrals are.

In “The Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, a man named Robert is coming to spend the night at the narrator’s house. Robert is a friend of the narrator’s wife who happens to be blind, which doesn’t sit well with the narrator. Robert and his wife have a ten year relationship which started with her working for him. Since then they’ve stayed in contact by sending audiotapes to each other. When Robert reaches the house, the narrator is a bit uncomfortable. The first reason being because the man is blind, and secondly he’s not really sure what to say to a man who has a past with his wife. Soon after, the narrator sees that Robert isn’t initially what he thought the man would be like. Robert’s suggestion for the narrator to close his eyes while drawing the cathedral creates a different perspective for him, which allows him to realize it is he who is limited and cannot see, not Robert.

The narrator just sees with his eyes. He looks right through things. There is a difference in looking and seeing. The narrator seems to be changing while drawing the cathedral and feeling great for once about life. Although when drawing it his wife asks him what he is doing and him ignoring her shows that he has not changed for good. He cannot answer his wife so that shows that he is not changing to be a better man or husband. The significance to this story is that truly seeing things is a better way of going through life rather than overlooking the beauty. In the story Robert teaches the narrator how to see without his eyes. At the end of the story Robert tells the narrator to open his eyes but he does not listen, he still is taking in the beauty of being able to see without his eyes. The narrator has gone his whole life without truly seeing the world around him and seeing people for who they are and not what they look like. The narrator drawing the cathedral without physically looking opens him up to a new and better lifestyle. If he has truly changed then he can finally see the true beauty in people and the whole rest of the

The protagonist realizes the blind man is not a thing, he is a human, even though he lacks eyesight. In addition, being comprehensive allows the narrator to come out of his narrow-mindedness. For instance, the narrator says, “the blind man got down from the sofa and sat next to me on the carpet.”(88) Furthermore, “He ran his fingers over the paper. He found my hand,….He closed his hand over my hand. “Go ahead, bub, draw, “he said “draw… you’ll see. Draw,” ” (88). ““Take a look. What do you think?” But I had my eyes closed. I thought I’d keep them that way for a little longer. I thought it was something I ought to do. “Well?’’ he said. “Are you looking?’’ My eyes were still closed. I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything. “It’s really something,’’ I said.” (89) Because of the narrator’s acceptance and appreciation as a human, the protagonist opens himself. Also, the experience of drawing a “Cathedral” together, and having his eyes close demonstrates that. Moreover, illustrating cathedral jointly allows the protagonist to be compassionate about Robert and enable him to change his

The narrator first looks at the blind man as just a blind man, he didn’t refer to him as Robert, didn’t think that he would be able to do much on his own, and that he most likely wasn’t very knowledgeable. The narrator greatly changed his personal outlook on the Robert when he saw the Robert eating at the dinner table with ease. He was moving as if he knew where everything on his plate was. In a scene at the dinner table the narrator was thinking to himself and said in his mind, “I watched with admiration as he used his knife and fork on the steak.” (Carver 110) This was a turning point for the narrator’s outlook on Robert. After this scene, the narrators outlook on 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.

One of these main lessons I believe was that there is a difference between physically seeing and perceptively seeing. Although Robert was not able to see things physically like the narrator, he was able to perceive things in a way that the narrator could not. This could be seen when it came to Robert and the narrator's wife. Even though the Robert was unable to see the narrator's wife, he could perceptively see her, understand her, and listen to her in a way the narrator was unable to. He understood her problems and poetry, and give her companionship in a way that the husband did not see that she needed. From the beginning of the story, the narrator gave the impression that he believed he was better than the blind man because he had physical sight. After realizing the blind man understood his wife more and during the last moments when the two of them drew a cathedral together, the narrator's perspective changed.

The more he interacts with the blind man, the more his defenses and preconceived notions fall away. The narrator asks the blind man if he would like to smoke marijuana with him, during this Robert acknowledges his preconceived ideas by assuming the blind man smokes when he does not. Robert says, “I thought I knew that much and that much about blind people” (Carver, 187). Here, he must acknowledge he is previous notion was incorrect, and that is the furthest step we have yet to see the narrator take. The blind man staying up with him that evening shows him reaching out and attempting to help Robert evolve. As the blind man says “I am always learning something. Learning never ends” (Carver, 188). This represents Roberts learning and growing as a person. The true transformation is depicted through the describing of the Cathedral. Robert attempts two times to describe a cathedral but cannot find the words or description to it justice. The blind man leads him to draw it and made him close his eyes. Now Robert is seeing in a new way. No longer through his eyes, but from within. Robert describes this as “like nothing else in my life up to now” (Carver, 190). Together, one man eyes closed trying to see from within, one man blind but able to see from within, they draw the Cathedral. Robert kept his eyes closed for a long time after this. As he points out, “ my eyes were still closed” and “ I thought I ‘d keep them that way for a little longer” (Carver, 190 ). When the story finishes, Robert says “I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything” (Carver, 190). He had come to see in a new

Such a voice gives Robert the image of a shepherd who understands the softness his voice must have to successfully lead his sheep towards safety. In this case, the narrator is the sheep as he is led to his spiritual truth. This certainly helps to solidify Robert’s role as a spiritual guide, as he resembles both a shepherd, a term also given to Jesus Christ and God with their followers being the sheep that wander from the truth. A final detail is that the narrator’s salvation occurs through the drawing of the cathedral. The creation of a christian symbol, a cathedral, represents the creation of a set of values or beliefs, even though the values or beliefs may not be christian.

Raymond Carvers’ “Cathedral” uses the man’s blindness as the foundation of the story, in order to display the narrator’s transformation “from darkness to light”. These metaphors expose the psychological, social and cultural factors that built the man’s preconceptions about blindness, gender, and race. Robert is brought up into scene as a paradoxical character whose primary goal, ironically, is to enlighten the mind of the narrator (to make him see). What does he need to see? Why does he need to see?

Starting out as a single-minded twit, with the “blind” man by his side, the narrator was shown who the real blind character is being him. The lost was led by the misjudged, allowing the narrator to “see” how he was confused due to his own disregard. The nonexistent number of friendships the narrator had proved the valid statement of Robert who had great warmth for mankind even with physical disadvantages. However, the narrator couldn’t get a clue of what his philosophy hindered him from who had the advantage of vision. The narrator felt a sense of some sort of hierarchy towards Robert who had a useful stance with it. Ironically, the narrator who was blind and had a lot of disgust towards Robert ended up being the narrator’s teacher in the sketch of the “Cathedral”. The use of irony was more evident at the end of the narrative as the narrator didn’t open his eyes when he had the option. He put trust in the blind man as he opened his intellect that before wasn’t exhibited. “But I don’t feel like I was inside anything, it’s really something (pg.42) the narrator mentioned. Awareness and the opportunity of a tolerant attitude started to blossom as a new beginning of processing new ways of