Carver's Cathedral

Response Paper 5 I find the ending of Raymond Carver’s story, “Cathedral”, a refreshing, awe inspiring change to the endings of past few short stories we have read in class. The ending plays a significant role in the story because it causes a change in the perspective the protagonist has towards blind people and ultimately how he judges others. In the beginning of the story, Robert, the protagonist, has never personally met a blind person and makes many judgments about how the old man will be before he enters the house. He concludes about the blind man and his wife, “They’d married, lived and worked together, slept together – had sex, sure – and then the blind man had to burry her. All this without his having ever seen what the goddamned woman

In the short story “Cathedral”, written by Raymond Carver, the story is told through the narrator’s eyes as the audience gains insight on his perspective of his life and, more specifically, his views on his wife and her blind friend. The narrator’s name is never mentioned throughout the story, but his personality and initial narrow-minded bias towards his wife’s friend Robert depicts his character traits. Throughout the story he does not seem to change his views, but once he experiences Robert’s point of view in his life, the narrator changes his perspective. This suggests the narrator is a dynamic character in the story due to his change after getting to know Robert.

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.

“Cathedral”, by Raymond Carver, focuses on one main person, Robert who is a blind man. The story consists of three main characters: Robert the blind man, the husband and the wife. The story is written in third person, in the perspective of the husband. The story starts off with explaining how the wife was old acquaintances with Robert the blind man, the way Robert and the wife kept in touch was they would send tapes of them talking and updating them on what was going on in their life. Robert and had recently lost his wife, he was coming to visit the husband and wife for support. The husband was a bit uncomfortable as to Robert visiting and was unsure of the whole situation. When Robert arrives at their home, they have dinner and sit and catchup.

Cathedral is a story written by Raymond Carver. The story is told from the first-person point of view which is the unnamed narrator. He and his wife are visited by the wife’s former employer, a blind man named Robert whose wife recently died. The husband is unhappy because he is jealous of Robert from his wife’s past. Also, he has never interacted with a blind man before.

In “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver writes seeing, looking, and feeling multiple times throughout the story. Cathedral is about two men bonding disregarding their prejudice, and physical differences. Carver writes passages that describe the difference between looking, seeing, and feeling; revealing that the main character’s connection to Robert gets stronger as the story progressed, emphasizing the importance of the connection between the narrator and Robert throughout the story. The passages emphasize the importance of how relationships develop and strengthen over time and show how they can form between people that had prejudices or preconceived notions against those people.

Raymond Carver the author of “Cathedral” the narrator in this story has some prejudices, against blind people as well as so discomfort and jealousy towards Robert who is his wife long friend and confidence. In spite of how the narrator feel about Robert he does exactly what his wife asked him to do, helps to make Robert feel comfortable. This is where the reader can see the narrator had integrity. He puts his own person feeling behind him and does everything he can for Robert. For example, making sure Robert understands what's on television. We see leadership and integrity in Robert as well, Robert isn’t just a blind man, he is a man that has seen the world and a person who works with what he was giving and makes the best of his life that he

Robert Phillips Beth Orozco ENG102 19 June 2016 “Cathedral” Analysis Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral” is about a self-centered person whom is uncomfortable with his wife’s blind friend, Robert, coming to stay for the night. Robert is coming to visit after his wife died of cancer, but the narrator is self-centered and only concerned with himself and about how Robert, being blind, will affect him. In this first-person narrative, the narrator discards the purpose Robert had in his wife’s past. It is ironic that this occurs while simultaneously the narrator himself lacks self-awareness and understanding. The narrator automatically believes himself to be in a superior position since he can see and Robert cannot, as well as pities his dead

In Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral,” a blind man named Robert visits a man and his wife in their home for a short period. In the beginning, the husband is very rude to Robert due to his inability to see. However, by the end of Robert’s stay, the husband realizes that he is quite far from being a blind fool. By analyzing the theme, character, and conflict of the short story, the reader will be able to better understand what messages lay within Carver’s writing.

Cathedral, the short story by Raymond Carver is told from a first person point of view through the eyes of the narrator who remains nameless throughout the story. The narrator, for most of the story acts selfish, feels jealousy, and does not want Robert, a blind man, to come to visit, but as the story progresses, the narrator gets to know and understand Robert and for the first time, he begins to see things with a completely different perspective. These changes make the narrator a dynamic character.

In Raymond Carver's "Cathedral," the husband's view of blind men is changed when he encounters his wife's long time friend, Robert. His narrow minded views and prejudice thoughts of one stereotype are altered by a single experience he has with Robert. The husband is changed when he thinks he personally sees the blind man's world. Somehow, the blind man breaks through all of the husband's jealousy, incompetence for discernment, and prejudgments in a single moment of understanding.

By the end of Raymond Carver's "Cathedral," the narrator is a round character because he undergoes development. The story opens with the narrator's unconcern for meeting the blind man, Robert, which is because he was uninvolved in the friendship between the blind man and the narrator's wife. Feeling intimidated, he discloses, "I wasn't enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me" (Carver 1). This emphasizes the narrator's unwillingness to bond with the blind man, which is made visible as the story progresses; moreover, he does not acknowledge their relationship. This is highlighted when he mentions what the name of the blind man's wife was. "Her name was Beulah. Beulah! That's a name for a colored woman. 'Was his wife a Negro?' I asked" (3). He seems disgusted with people. The insensitive narrator's prejudice is evident by him saying, "I've never met, or personally known, anyone who was blind" (5). This statement causes the audience to expect growth in him. The narrator's detachment from the blind man is indicated by his disinterest in cathedrals and tapes; nevertheless, the blind man and the narrator have had dinner, "smoked dope," and drank together,

Carver is well known for his short stories and poetries. Among his works, “Cathedral” is considered one of the best, favorite, and most optimistic and the most developed. Carver’s story revolves around the theme of seeing and looking. Most people believed they could not live without cathedrals which brought them closer to their God. Similarly, people place so much importance to the physical eyesight and tend to think they can hardly live without it. Robert, a blind man, is invited to the narrator’s home and the narrator is shown troubled by Roberts’s disability. Later on, the narrator is amazed to see the blind smoking despite having even thought of helping him with his drink earlier on (Carver 516- 524). The latter brought to attention that as much as natural looking is essential, more essential is the ability to see or to visualize things. The writer explains that it might be tougher to be without eyesight; however, it is possible to live without it and make the best of what else one has, more so the brain. Visualizing brings out a better view of the significance of life and things surrounding us.

The views we have are what shapes us, sometimes we have vast knowledge of ideas. Other times we are limited in what we can understand. We are given the choice of seeking out more of said idea or choosing to remain as is. Cathedral by Raymond Carver is a story that gives us a look into what it is like to have our views challenged through experiencing them first hand. We are introduced to the story by narration and we are given a brief summary of how his wife and the blind man had met from the narrrator. We learn that the blind man is named Robert, he is the only character that is named and described in the story. After the exchange of greetings and very detailed description of the dinner they all enjoyed Robert and

Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” is about an unlikeable and disgruntled man’s encounter with a physically blind man that shows him a new way to see. The plot in this short story is not very riveting, but the journey the characters take and how they need each other takes center stage. The narrator takes the reader through his thoughts leading up to and during the visit with the blind man. Until the very end, the unnamed husband who is also the narrator remains unable to communicate or connect with anyone in his life. In Raymond Carver’s short story, “Cathedral”, he uses first person point of view, characterization and tone in order to convey the theme of change is only possible by trying new and sometimes uncomfortable things.