The Parable Of The Six Blind Men

Losing your sight at a later stage in life can create acceptance difficulties and the need to learn a new method of communication.

People who are blind face many different problems in accomplishing everyday activities and becoming an independent individual. Some are able to overcome this issue while others struggle through it in their lives. In “Helen Keller’s Address before the New York Association for the Blind, January 15, 1907” she makes an appeal to the audience that the blind should be helped and made independent so that they can stand up and support themselves. She uses pathos or emotionally packed words, examples and anecdotes and cites from a prominent source to convince her audience that the blind are not helpless, but they are in need of guidance from people who can see in order to live and thrive independently.

In “Elephant in the Dark” the common thread of advice is mentioned. For instance, it is mentioned by using their touch to help them figure out what type of animal is in the dark room. For example, in the poem they say “Each of us touches one place and understands the whole in that way.” By doing this they each

In comparison, in “Cathedral” the narrator’s lack of vulnerability at this point of the story is beginning to be a problem, yet a beginning of a silver lining starts to show. From this point on forward in the story Husband and wife and the blind man are settling down, having a little bit of small talk and enjoying each other's company over some drinks. “I remembered having read somewhere that the blind didn’t smoke because, as speculation had it, they couldn’t see the smoke they exhaled”(Guy)said the narrator, he states that because Robert was smoking, this clashes preconceived notions about blind people. After that they enjoyed a great dinner and all the while the narrator once again is enamored of how effortlessly the blind man can find

Raymond Carver focuses on one of the critical problems that has been present for ages is that people do not know how to interact with those with disabilities in his short story the “Cathedral.” Stereotypes have led to awkward or lack of communication. Breaking down the barrier between disabilities and the world is necessary to develop an understanding for the other and to “look through their eyes.” In the “Cathedral” the husband breaks down many stereotypes of the blind, overcomes barriers in communication and develops an understanding for his wife’s blind friend, Robert.

the blind man would teach the narrator of cathedrals and make the narrator see beyond his sights.

He stops his thought about who he may gift it to: “He [Mr. Parsons] hesitated, not wishing to be boorish and inquisitive, even with a blind peddler.” (150). He considers that this man may have to be somewhere and wishes not to be crude. Mr. Parsons represents the blind community in this way. He is an example of how one can grow to become successful, even with his handicap.

Other people’s willful blindness shapes the invisibility of the narrator in Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. The narrator describes these people with involuntary or willful blindness as “sleepers” to whom the narrator only exists as “a phantom” in their minds (Ellison 4). He exists only as an ambiguous figment of imagination that society refuses to regard outside of given parameters and stereotypes that one dimensionally define him. Most individuals fail to recognize the narrator’s existence like the man he bumped into that called him “an insulting name” but the narrator realized that “the man had not seen” him (4). This man never had a chance to actually see the narrator because he was involuntarily blind. Nevertheless, the narrator suffered

As we gain knowledge we gain understanding, giving us a different view of the world. In the story, “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, the author takes us through a day in the life of a husband who is forced by his wife to meet and entertain her longtime friend Robert- who happens to be blind. The husband is not exactly excited by this visit. The author illustrates the characters’ development beginning as apprehensive and jealous, transitioning to more of an uncomfortable feeling, and finally ending with acceptance as the husband is put into a situation where he gains a new understanding of the blind man. He ends the story with his eyes closed and a mind open to a new view of the world.

In “The Elephant in the Village of the Blind,” the short story has a feel of sorrow to it as the characters in the village are simply blind, leaving them in the dark of knowing what an elephant really is. The villagers created imagery, similes, and metaphors to describe the elephant by using their senses and the knowledge they had to make impressions of what the elephant felt like and the movements it made. I believe that the story connects to the book, “The Great Gatsby.” This is because of how the main character, Gatsby, is basically a mystery to all of the people who attended his nightly parties. The guests that attended his parties really had no idea who Gatsby was or any information on him. I believe that the party guest from the novel

The elephant in the Village of the Blind is a story about a traveler who travels with an Elephant through a village where all of the people are blind. The people in that village did not know what an elephant was or what it looked like so they started feeling the Elephant and describing what it felt equivalent to. Some of the villagers felt the same part of the Elephant and came up with different answers. For example, one villager who touched the elephant’s ear described it as “a leather fan” while another one described it as a pillar. These different descriptions of the same part of the elephant shows that everyone has different interpretations of the same things. The Inkblot Test reminds me of this story because just like the villagers felt

In addition to employing evidence to her argument’s advantage, Keller also included a personal anecdote to inform the audience of the blind person’s capability. She believes that if beadwork was incorporated into the schools for the blind then “it could have been made a profitable industry for the sightless”. She recalls the type of beadworks she saw inside the shops such as “purses, bags, lamp-shades and dress-trimmings..under proper supervision this beadwork could be made by the blind”. This demonstrates that the blind people could obtain a position in the industry. She includes her personal anecdote to address the audience’s doubt of whether or not there would be any available place in the industry for the blind.

Maria-Gloria Contrada Introduction to Literature Professor Obuch 9 October 2014 To Go With Death or Rage Against It All three authors have encountered death in different ways: John Donne was near death, but survived, Emily Dickenson yearned for death, and Dylan Thomas watches as his father dies. In Emily Dickenson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”, Death as a theme was very important to Emily Dickenson. The speaker of the poem states that death is kind in that death kindly stopped for her.

Each blind man has a different idea of the elephant because they are only looking for the truth from their own personal experiences. Each only experiencing bits and pieces of the overall truth. I believe that each of the men is correct in their interpretation of the elephant but without their vision, they cannot see the truth before them. They are all wrong with their interpretation because they are unwilling in the beginning of the story to experience any of the other blind men’s experiences or interpretations.

About 285 million people are visually impaired worldwide; 39 million of them are blind” (Facts about). Many people in the world are affected by blindness. This has been an ongoing problem for a long time. It has grown over time and gotten to be a massive problem is a person’s everyday life. Blindness is a problem because most cases of blindness can be avoided, it’s increasing tremendously, technology isn’t made for the blind, learning has to be altered, and it’s expensive.