Symbolism InCathedral, By Raymond Carver

Symbolism is an important element in reinforcing the meaning of a story. It is a kind of formalist strategies which helps the reader understand the images that the author is trying to say in words. Symbolism is widely used in “The Story of An Hour” and “The Cranes”, which use conventional symbols, literary symbols, and even allegory. “The Story of An Hour” is written by Kate Chopin. Mrs. Mallard hears of her husband’s death from her husband’s friend Richards. At first, she feels depressed, but then she feels free and can have her own new life after thinking things through. Sadly, her “new” life is cut short by the abrupt return of Mr. Mallard. Mrs. Mallard, who has a bad heart, was so

I like to add more details about author and he’s self we already know Carver is an optimist, and this is his another aspiration which he uses in “Cathedral”. According to he’s believes in the ability for the people to change and more help for each other I would like to say the most optimistic tone of the set is the story “Cathedral”. Only the hero manages to get out their way to get away from the everyday layers each other, beyond its own limitations in thinking and boredom, and so by inspiring encounter with the blind incurable blindness. Both people are gaining something here, although it is difficult to diagnose as the feeling of being understood, micro-community or potency. All of are extremely rare by Carver’s

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. 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 of a blind person, so to speak. The

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.

What defines a “good” or “bad” person? The answer is complicated because we all have different perspectives on what we believe to be right and wrong. We as individuals have our own set of ethics by which we try to use when making decisions. However, when a person encounters a difficult dilemma, that choice can impact and even alter a person’s life. “Good People” by David Foster Wallace is an informative and insightful story of a young, unwed, Christian couple that are facing the conflicts of an unplanned pregnancy. Although outwardly this story seems to focus on “to abort” or “not to abort,” the underlying theme focuses on the internal conflicts the young man faces when weighing out the consequences of a decision. David Foster Wallace uses symbolism and an omniscient third person point of view in “Good People” to illustrate the internal battle one faces when dealing with the moral and religious dilemmas such as an unplanned pregnancy.

Raymond Carver 's short story, "Cathedral," portrays a story in which many in today 's society can relate. We are introduced from the first sentence of the story to a man that seems to be perturbed and agitated. As readers, we are initially unsure to the reasoning 's behind the man 's discomfort. The man, who seems to be a direct portrayal of Raymond Carver himself, shows his ignorance by stereotyping a blind man by the name of Robert, who has come to stay with he and his wife. From the very beginning, Carver shows his detest for Robert but over the course of the story eases into comfort with him and in the end is taught a lesson from the very one he despised.

Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral” shows the interaction of two men, one physically blind and one prejudiced, with contrasting personalities. Overall, the story illustrates how having a closed mind is much more debilitating than permanently closed eyes. Carver tends to revolve his stories around the bleak lives of middle class members and the situations they face; this could be due to his personal life as an alcoholic, who struggled to support his family. “Cathedral” embodies certain aspects of his personal life and makes the story appear more genuine. Carver successively conveys the theme of looking versus actually seeing in “Cathedral” through point of view and symbolism.

Symbolism plays a big role in the short story by Raymond Carver because only towards the end of the story we find out why the story is called “Cathedral.” The short story is called “Cathedral” because as the narrator and Robert, the blind man, are watching television Robert asks the narrator to describe him what a cathedral looks like since he has never been able to see one. However, because the narrator stated that he does not believe in something in particular, to him a cathedral is just a building that took about a hundred years to build and that they are very big and made of stone. But because Robert is not physically capable of seeing one for himself, the narrators description isn't helping too much. Then Robert had given the suggestion

I personally believe that with any story told or movie made that you have to creator’s life to see where the story actually comes from. No matter what we do in life we all as human beings find a way to show what we have been through in our lives. Raymond Carver was no different just he had a really tough road that he traveled and it showed in his stories. According to an interview with William, Stull in “Matters of Life & Death: An Interview with Raymond Carver” Carver also understood that his life showed through in his work, “Wolff said in a review of my first book of stories that he felt he could pick out a story of mine without seeing my name attached to it. I took that as a compliment. If you can find an author's fingerprints on the work, you can tell it's his and no other's.” (Stull 14-17) Carver’s life bled through his work and in “The Bath” we can see this. In “The Bath” we have a couple dealing with the accident their son had been in and it seemed to push them apart more than they already were. The fact of the couple losing touch with each other managed to transcend the story into Carver’s real life, Carver’s marriage to his first wife Maryann. But instead of an accident pushing Raymond and Maryann apart, it was Raymond’s addiction to Alcohol and the problems that came with his addiction.

The article written by McManus does an overview of Cathedral and how the series of events affected the unnamed narrator. McManus discussed key points about the relationship between the three characters and the tension that seems to not go away. Along with the points McManus also describes the literary devices that Carver uses to show the relationship between the characters and how it affects the narrator.

“Cathedral” written by Raymond Carver is a short story that unfolds as a first-person narrative of the main character named Bub. The story beautifully depicts the process of an individual who transforms from a person with lack of knowledge and ignorant towards knowledgeable soul, due to an encounter with his wife’s blind friend Robert, to an individual that is enlightened. The cathedral, in this story, is a mere subject brought up at the end of this story which becomes the object of his enlightenment. “Cathedral,” tells a tale of Bub who through a blind man receives an eye-opening experience. The narrator starts off as intolerable, but towards the end of the story, with the assistance of a blind man makes him open-minded. He is clobbered

This review of the short story Cathedral by Raymond Carver is very insightful. The author points out the theme of the story right from the beginning. The theme includes jealousy, insecurity, isolation, detachment, and connection. Then the author begins to break-down the symbolism of each sense in the story that Carver uses to create a deeper level of meaning in his story. For example, when Robert asks the narrator to describe a cathedral for him, the narrator is unable to think of anything to say and couldn’t

There are many themes in the short story “Cathedral,” some of them include the Cathedral itself and the difference between looking at something and really seeing something. Throughout the short story you see how people have different personalities and see how fast a person can change. The Cathedral and the audiotapes mean much more to both main characters than just an object or a building.

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.

Carver is separated from other writers of his time because of how his writing techniques develop a story. When analyzing the point of view from which Cathedral was told through, it can be seen as first person through the eyes of the husband. This creates an almost conversational like telling between the husband and the reader. By using this technique it makes, as put by Peterson in Psychological Distance in Raymond Carver's CATHEDRAL, “readers progress through a series of epiphanies, effectively conveying the story’s central message on “blindness” and spiritual awakening.” (Peterson, 2012, pg.1) This allowed me to experience the entire situation as though I had known the husband, which added a