Character Change In Raymond Carver's The Cathedral

As a young teen I was hyperactive, irritating, and close-minded; however, as I aged into my late teens I became tranquil, tolerable, and open-minded. Through my teen years, I had undergone a character change. Now not only do tangible individuals experience these changes but several characters in the media, including those in books and cinemas, have undergone this transformation. In particular, the narrator in the short story “The Cathedral” composed by Raymond Carver had an eventful change in character. In the beginning of the story, he was harsh and unloving towards his wife’s blind friend, although by the end he was compassionate and sympathetic to the blind man. At the beginning of “The Cathedral” the narrator is deemed as a non-loving, bad-mannered, and insensitive man, although one evening spent with the blind man

As the narrator starts to smoke cannabis he offered the blind man some; “[t]hen I asked if he wanted to smoke some dope with me” (92). Shortly afterwards the narrator comprehends he smokes like any other man does; although, he thought the blind man would possibly not relish smoking since he cannot view the smoke. When this occurs to him, he decides to start bonding with the blind man. After that they sat down and discussed the shows on the television (94). Now the wife is asleep at this point, so the narrator is truly doing this out of kindness. After a while, the narrator realizes that the blind man cannot see the television. At this moment, he decides to describe the cathedral on the television (94). Thus, he is striving to aid the blind man to comprehend what he sees. The smoking and television discussion sparks a change in the narrator; however, this change progresses once he holds the blind man’s