The Husband In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

“Cathedral” is a short and warm story written by Raymond Carver. The author portrays the story in the first person narrative. Carver presents the interaction between an unnamed couple and a blind man by the name of Robert, who is visiting them. The story is told by the husband, the narrator, who is a prejudiced, jealous, and insecure man with very limited awareness of blindness. This theme is exposed through Carver’s description of the actions of the narrator whose lack of knowledge by stereotyping a blind man.

In “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver the short story based on three essential characters the narrator, his wife and the blind man. In this story the narrator who is biased and drastically changed when the blind man opens his eyes, makes him realize the importance of his life. The story begins by saying, "This blind man, an old friend of my wife, was on his way to spend the night” the blind man visits the narrator and his wife after his own wife, Beulah, dies. The blind man and the narrator’s wife are good friends since ten years as the narrator’s wife had worked for him last summer. He was not pleased about the blind man’s visit to his home.

Cathedral In the short story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, the main character which is the husband finds to let go of your own ideas of something to see the good in what you don’t like. In this short story it shows how a blind man sees things in a different light and is positive about it compared to the husband who had everything that the blind man doesn’t have. The author shows us that it’s important to view things in a different light and go out of our comfort zone to be able to see it differently. He also shows us that we can’t make judgements based on what our minds are thinking.

Oftentimes, people sharing a meal can change the bonds between each person present drastically. Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” uses communion to show how sharing a meal can bring people closer together. The husband, his wife, and the blind man Robert share a evening together of communion and conversation, which challenges how the husband perceives people classified as different. The juxtaposition between the wife and husband and his slight change in attitude towards Robert represents how ignorance can hinder people’s abilities to accept people for who they are as opposed to who they physically appear to be in Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral”.

The short story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, takes place in the days where black and white televisions are starting to become obsolete. And when cassette tapes were the latest technology. The basic setting of this short story is a middle-class home somewhere in New York, in the middle day. The meaning behind the title “Cathedral” after lots of drinks, a huge meal, and some marijuana, the living room itself transformed into what could be considered a sacred place, kind of like a cathedral. Carver uses a first-person when tell the short story “Cathedral” to underline the incredible parts of the remarkable moments that he relates to the story.

The protagonist in Raymond Carver’s essay “Cathedral” is the husband of the wife in the story. From the start he was never too thrilled to be having the blind man stay with him in his home. He felt uncomfortable and he also had no idea what to expect because he had never been around a blind man before. After his wife falls asleep the man seems to slowly start to have a more open mind when it comes to the blind man. They start to talk and connect.

The Cathedral and Everyday use were both enlightening and intriguing stories written by two renowned authors and differs in numerous ways, sett out to explain and disseminate its readers to dissimilar characters and themes. Whether fiction, non-fiction, there were meaningful lessons learned from reading both stories. The Cathedral is a story about two friends, a blind man Robert and his female friend that reunited after ten years, even though they communicated by sending tapes and poems. While Everyday Use was a story about a woman who had two daughters, Maggie and Dee, with two different personalities. Maggie, who lives at the home of her mom was shy and scar by burns she had sustained from a house fire, while her eldest sister Dee, who was educated,

In the world of literature, stories are often released for the purpose of social commentary or even to reflect on the authors past in a that its similar to an autobiography. Raymond Carver is a unique author often creating short stories that are of his own personal life through fictional characters that embody the turmoil he has gone through and social commentary on social issues. This is seen especially in his 1981 short story, Cathedral with a revised version being released in 1983, but we are gonna focus on the 1981 original. Cathedral’s plot centers around a blind man named Robert who after his wife dies, he lives with his departed wife’s friend who soon alongside her husband, helps teach Robert to learn a new way of seeing. The plot of the story while simple, is very complex under the surface, being a plot that is about three people who is dependent on each other and the connection that develops.

Critical analysis of Cathedral The narrator of “Cathedral” is a bitter man that is judgmental. He judges the blind man before even meeting him. He stereotypes the blind man from movies he watched, he thinks that they move slow and never have reactions. Also, he is a jealous of the blind man because him and his wife bond.

Conflict, defined as the opposition of two or more forces, remains the key ingredient in great stories. Conflict can be conveyed through an internal or external source, as well as one of these following forms: man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. supernatural, and man vs. himself. In Raymond Carver’s short story, Cathedral, the conflict is clearly man vs. himself. The narrator severely lacks sensitivity and can best be described as self-centered, superficial, and egotistical. While his actions certainly speak to these points, his misunderstanding of the people and relationships presented to him in this story present his biggest flaw.