Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” and Tess Gallagher’s “Rain Flooding your Campfire” are good examples of intertextual dialogue between two writers. These two stories show us how two writers can grow and develop short stories differently from the same experience. There are similarities between the stories, such as the use of a first person narrator, the plot, setting, and also there is an interchange between the narrator and the blind man in both stories. But within these similarities there are also
Character Analysis in Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral”: The Narrator Literature has the potential to act as a mirror by presenting people’s lived experiences, expectations, and perceptions through characters. Such is what can be deciphered through the analysis of different characters in Raymond Carver’s story “Cathedral.” This paper focuses on the narrator of the story portrayed by the author as blind, which is used metaphorically not to imply physical blindness, but the inability to have reasoned
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
Comparisons and Distinctions between Different Literary Works When it comes to American literary works, each comes with its own elements, which allow readers to engage with the piece. Kate Chopin’s Desiree’s Baby, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, and Raymond Carver’s Cathedral, contain similar elements even though they are various forms of fictional short stories. Each short story remains as an addition to American history; these pieces educate readers
Raymond Carver’s Cathedral tells the story of a husband whose wife’s blind friend comes to spend the night. The husband and the blind man spend quality time together by watching historical programs about cathedrals on television. Since the blind man cannot see the cathedrals that the program discusses, the husband attempts to describe them to him. The husband fails to describe the cathedral to the blind man in an affective manner. Throughout the story, the husband goes on a journey to understanding
A Cynics Enlightenment Raymond Carver’s short-story Cathedral is outwardly about a pessimistic man, whose wife’s blind visitor named Robert changes the narrators predisposing perception of the world and awakes a new view on life in the process. But inwardly, the story is about the desperate need for connection between these three characters, which isn’t feasible do to the emotional-detachment by the narrator. In the beginning, the narrator is hindered by his prejudices which doesn 't allow him connect