Raymond Carver Narrator

Carver’s story “Cathedral” opens with this blind man, coming to visit the narrator’s wife friend of ten years. It takes place in the narrator's home; he is on his way to spend the night. However,

William H. Macy is well known for his role as Frank Gallagher in the hit TV show Shameless. From the beginning, we learn that Frank, who is a father of six, is extremely narrow minded and selfish. He has a hard time understanding his children’s thoughts and feelings, which is unusual for the average father. Like Frank, the narrator in Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral” demonstrates his inability to understand others thoughts and emotions because of his own narrow minded, selfish thoughts and actions. This is portrayed throughout the beginning of the story. First, we are shown his prejudicial thoughts towards the blind man simply because he is blind. He then expresses his selfishness as well as a hint of jealousy when he comments on the relationship between the blind man and his wife, while displaying an overall negative attitude about the man’s visit. Despite his negative characterization, much like many other intriguing dynamic characters, the narrator comes realize his own blindness towards the end of the story. This encourages him to be more self-aware, as well as sympathetic to others and the world around him.

It is this difference in demeanor, not physical ability and inability alone, that Carver uses to craft his contrast between the blind man and the narrator. The narrator shies away from potentially difficult interactions, preferring to skirt them away by alcohol and drugs. Robert indulges his host in his habits, but only so far as he can maintain his mind (page 83). Robert is instead in pursuit of a relationship the narrator thought him incapable of, a relationship invested in seeing the value, wonder, and capacity within people. Faith is how you look at the unseen, even the unforeseeable’s, embracing them with an expectation of a good outcome, contrary even to how things might seem. Incapable of judging by appearance, Robert welcomes only an experience which goes beyond shallow judgments; all was common to him, blind and seeing alike, and all was in its own way holy. In this, he assumes what he cannot see, the satisfying conclusion to his efforts, and like one building a cathedral that he will never see completed, he must have faith in the potential of others. Thus he considers the wife’s conscious presence only a hindrance to this aim (page 84), though a welcome partner in reflection for him, not a suitable medium for

In his short story “Cathedral” Raymond Carver uses a unnamed narrator to tell his story in a first person point of view. Other than his name we get to know that he has a wife who's blind friends, Robert, wife just passed away and is visiting her family in Connecticut. During Roberts stay in Connecticut he will be staying at their house. While the man was able to see perfectly from his eyes he wasn't able to see his surroundings and others feelings. On the other hand Robert was lacking eye sight but was able to understand people very well. The narrator feels bad for Robert because he has never seen his wife, but the truth is he saw and understood her in his own way. Sometimes we can see someone but cant really see what they are feeling or trying

You cannot truly see the world and understand other people, until you see inside yourself. Raymond Carver’s The Cathedral is a story that shows you do not have to actually “see” in order to appreciate the world or those in it. The narrator Bub forms a relationship with Robert, by the end of the story, although it starts to form with his wife, then when he actually meets Robert, and finally their “experience” together in the end. People tend to be blind to the world, until guided by someone with another insight on the world.

The story opens with the narrator giving a background of his wife and Robert. Immediately, it is easy for the audience to form a negative opinion about the narrator. Within the first paragraph of the story he says, “I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me” (Carver 33). This exemplifies his pre-formed opinion about Robert even though he hardly knows anything about him. He clearly is uncomfortable with the fact that Robert is blind, mainly based on his lack of exposure to people with disabilities. The narrator is very narrow-minded for most of this story, making it easy to initially dislike him.

What attitudes define the narrator throughout much of the story? What is his attitude toward his wife, toward Robert, toward his own experience and the experience of others? The short story “Cathedral” written by Raymond Carver is about a blind widower, his good friend and old employee, and the good friend’s husband. The narrator of the story is the husband of the widower’s friend and the thoughts and feelings from him portray a man who is fearful of the unknown.

In “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver which shows a narrators insight and reflection of himself by gaining better perspective and knowledge of Robert. At first the narrator's attitude towards Robert coming to visit his wife exhibits a lot of close-mindedness. He purely judges the fact that Robert is blind and how his only idea of blindness comes from “movies” (Carver 105). The narrator initially is fearful of meeting a blind man due to his experience of never meeting one. Before meeting Robert, the narrator and his wife get in a argument. The narrator goes on to say “I don’t have any blind friends”, which causes the wife to lash back to say “You don’t have any friends” (Carver

He made her happier than her husband did. There was never a dull moment when the wife was with Robert, the blind man. I think there are many reasons why the wife wasn’t happy with her husband.   In Tracy Caldwell’s Literary Criticism, she states, “Carver survived one failed marriage, several bankruptcies, and an alcohol addiction which he overcame in 1977.”  

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

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.

The Story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver is about true blindness and the effects of emotional contact. Peterson studies the use of determiners, a and the, that refer to the blind man in the story and its effects to establish the atmosphere of the story. He states that the change in determiner seems subtle, but these subtle changes are significant because the changes show how narrator feel about Robert throughout the story. Nesset studies the sexual polices and the love lives in several Carver’s stories. He discusses how Carver wrote his stories based on less of love and more of love withdrawal. Also Facknitz addresses rediscovery of human worth and the effects of emotional touch by discussing three short stories written by Carver. He analyses each narration of the narrator and comments based on psychological manner. The story “Cathedral” suggests the meaning of true blindness does not only refer to physical disability; it refers to those people who cannot see the world from other’s perspectives and it can be overcome through emotional contact.

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,

Raymond Carver’s unnamed narrator in “Cathedral” provides a first-person point of view. This perspective opens a clear window into the feelings, attitudes, and the isolation of the unnamed narrator. The narrator’s tone of voice reveals his feelings and personality. This contributes to the story’s themes because the reader comes to understand things that the narrator never directly or deliberately reveals; as a result, the reader comes to empathize with the narrator more deeply. Isolation and loneliness are prevalent themes in “Cathedral”. Appropriately, the narrator is insular and narrow-minded. He is unhappy and resentful because he overlooks the worth and liveliness of other people and is unable to make connections with them. Consequently he is afflicted with loneliness and isolation. “He is numb and isolated”, says Mark A.R. Facknitz, “a modern man for whom integration with the human race would be so difficult that it is futile. Consequently he hides by failing to try, anesthetizes himself with booze, and explains away the world with sarcasm.” (Facknitz 294) The narrator also appears to be emotionally distant from his wife. Neither he nor his wife are able to relate successfully to one another. Because of this, he is envious of the blind man, Robert, who seems to be the only one capable of creating and sustaining deep and personal connections with other people. As the story develops, the narrator’s increasing ability to connect with Robert and his wife emphasizes the