Raymond Carver Cathedral Analysis
Austin Barrett
Gosia Gabrys
English 1110.02
27 Oct 2015
Analysis of Cathedral
The narrator of Raymond Carver's short story Cathedral starts by saying, "This blind man, an old friend of my wife's, he was on his way to spend the night. "The narrator continues to say that after the blind man's wife died while visiting her relatives in nearby Connecticut, he had called the narrator's wife to arrange a visit of old friends. The narrator admits he is not excited about this man coming to visit his wife. "He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me. My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they were led by seeing-eye dogs. A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to." Soon enough, the narrator would come to look at being blind in a much different way and even come to realize that he himself is being blind.
The narrator then tells how his
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He asks the narrator to find a pen and some paper so they can draw a cathedral together. The narrator brings some back. The blind man tells him to grab the pen, then puts his hand around the narrator's. The narrator draws a box that looks like a house. He adds spires, great doors and flying buttresses. He finds himself a little excited and can't stop. His wife wakes up and asks what they are doing, and the blind man tells her they're drawing a cathedral. The narrator keeps drawing as the blind man asks him to put in some people. His wife asks again what's going on, but the blind man assures her that everything is alright. Then he tells the narrator to close his eyes. The blind man asks if they really are closed, and the narrator says yes, so the blind man asks him to keep them that way. The narrator keeps drawing, his eyes closed, with Robert's fingers clasped over his as their hands gliding over the paper. The narrator explains, "It was like nothing else in my life until
The White Heron And Cathedral Literary Devices
1124 Words | 5 PagesThe story follows the narrator encountering his wife’s friend Robert, who is blind, and assimilating his prejudices throughout the encounter. When the story begins the narrator is more than closed off to the idea of the blind man visiting his home. He is uncomfortable with Robert’s knowledge of him because he does not wish to associate himself with a blind man, a condition which he looks down upon. When Robert arrives, he attempts to be friendly to the narrator, a sentiment that is little reciprocated. While never encountering a blind man, he has many preconceived notions prior to his arrival.
Compare And Contrast Cathedral And A Good Man Is Hard To Find
1375 Words | 6 PagesThe narrator placed himself in Robert’s shoes and realized how inaccurate his perception about Robert was. By sketching a Cathedral, they were drawing a piece of art that represents a collaboration closer to sight. By sharing an intimate experience, Robert the physically blind man was able to help the unnamed narrator, metaphorically blinded prejudice man see his errors in his conscious and see things
Response To Raymond Carver's Cathedral
431 Words | 2 PagesThe author use of the title “Cathedral” was misleading at first. “Cathedral” is about a husband who had an interesting experience with his wife’s blind friend. The narrator, also known as the husband, had difficulty understanding other people thoughts and personal feelings. The narrator knew how important the blind man is to his wife, yet he still makes careless jokes about him. “Maybe I could take him bowling” was a comment made by the narrator after finding out that the blind man was staying over his house.
Blindness And Ignorance In Raymond Carver's Cathedral
968 Words | 4 PagesThe narrator pictures the blind as slow-moving and never laughing (34). As he finally meets Robert, the narrator is shocked that the man makes no use of a cane or dark glasses, as he “always thought dark glasses were a must for the blind” (38). Finally, the narrator’s ignorance toward Robert peaks as he asks which side of the train he sat on, because, according to the narrator, “going to New York, you should sit on the right-hand side of the train, and coming from New York, to the left-hand side” (38) to best enjoy the scenery of the Hudson. The jealous mindset of the narrator, however, drives most of his sarcasm and ignorance. One of his initial instances of jealousy occurs as he depicts a moment shared between his wife and Robert.
Examples Of Epiphany In Cathedral
697 Words | 3 PagesThe husband, who is also the narrator of the story, is against the idea from the start. But as the story progresses, his views about the blind man and the blind in general changes. In the beginning of the story, the narrator clearly states, “And his being blind bothered me.
Ignorance And Preconceptions In Raymond Carver's Cathedral
448 Words | 2 PagesIn Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral,” written in 1983, the author points out that empathy and perspective are the only way to truly experience profound emotion. The narrator is struggling is sucked into his own comfort zone, he drowns his dissatisfaction on life, marriage, and job in alcohol. A man of limited awareness breaks through his limitations by socializing with a blind man. Despite Roberts physical limitations, he is the one who saved narrator from himself and helped him to find the ones vies of the world.
Essay On Cathedral
803 Words | 4 PagesThe Understanding of a Blind Man In the short “Cathedral” the narrator is the character that is being evaluated on how he changes his ways throughout the course of the story. In the story a blind man comes to visit after the death of his wife. When the narrator learns about this he is not thrilled about the visit.
What Is The Theme Of Cathedral By Raymond Carver
1063 Words | 5 PagesRobert’s wife has recently died and he used to work for the narrator’s wife. Robert comes to visit the narrator’s home and the narrator is not happy about this because he believes blind people to be miserable and gloomy based solely on what he has absorbed from the movies. At the end of the first paragraph, he says, “A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to” (1.1). Little to the narrator’s knowledge, his wife and Robert had been using audio tape to correspond over ten years, and have much past history with each other. The narrator’s wife makes sure he knows to make Robert comfortable, and if he doesn’t it shows that he does not love her.
The Narcissistic Narrator In Raymond Carver's Cathedral
910 Words | 4 Pages“His being blind bothered me” (Carver 1). In Raymond Carver’s short story Cathedral, Carver establishes an ignorant narrator, who is dependent on alcohol and fixated upon physical appearance; he juxtaposes the narrator to a blind man who sees with his heart rather than his eyes. Through indirect characterization, Carver contrasts the narcissistic narrator to the intuitive blind man while utilizing sight as a symbol of emotional understanding. He establishes the difference between looking and seeing to prove that sight is more than physical.
Prejudice In Raymond Carver's Cathedral
727 Words | 3 PagesCarver highlights the narrator’s prejudice in the opening section of the story in order to reveal how the narrator’s bias against blind people in general leads to a preconceived negative opinion on Robert. From the outset, the narrator acknowledges his prejudice by mentioning that his “idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed” (Carver, 1). The narrator’s negative prejudice is not caused by knowing a blind man; rather, it is derived from an external factor, demonstrating how the narrator has formulated an opinion on people he has never met. Consequently, the narrator assumes that Robert will conform to the negative stereotype present in his mind, and is unpleased about Robert’s visit.
The Blind Husband In Raymond Carver's Cathedral
509 Words | 3 Pages“His being blind bothered me” is said by the husband early on. The husband also refers to Robert as “this blind man.” He never uses the name Robert nor does he give him any human characteristics. These actions show that the husband sees Robert not as a person but as a handicap person.
Internal Conflict In Cathedral By Raymond Carver
1522 Words | 7 PagesThroughout the story the reader can affirm that the wife has a deep, strong relationship with the blind man. The wife and the blind man share an intimate and vulnerable moments together; one includes when she lets him touch her face so he can remember her. Similarly, the narrator gets to share an intimate moment with Robert that leads to an epiphany. The epiphany that the narrator experiences when drawing a cathedral refers to seeing life from Robert, the blind man’s, point of view and seeing the struggles as well as life experiences a blind man must encounter on a daily basis.
The Theme Of Epiphany In Raymond Carver's Cathedral
860 Words | 4 Pages“I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And being blind bothered me” (104) The narrator has no knowledge of experiencing seeing a blind person. “My idea of blindness came from the movies” (104).
The Cause Of Conflict In Raymond Carver's Cathedral
1358 Words | 6 PagesRobert then asks him to close his eyes and continue to draw this way. After the drawing is complete Bub keeps his eyes closed and this leads us to believe his is finally at peace with Robert being there. Bub states, “But I had my eyes closed. I thought I’d keep them that way for a little longer.” (Carver 87).
Raymond Carver Cathedral Summary
528 Words | 3 PagesIn his contemporary short story, “Cathedral,” Raymond Carver tells the story of an unnamed narrator, his wife, and an old friend, a blind man named Robert. Robert has come to visit the narrator’s wife, who is quite excited to see this man whom she hasn’t seen in ten years, yet the same can’t be said of the narrator who is noticeably and vocally uncomfortable about his visit. The story is told through the narrator’s first person point of view, showcasing his thoughts and the events that take place when Robert comes to visit. Carver highlights the theme of having the ability to see, but not truly seeing, through his use of colloquial language, and creation of relatable characters. “Cathedral” begins with the narrator informing the audience
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