ipl-logo

The Theme Of Freedom In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

173 Words1 Page

Freedom is not always about physical freedom, sometimes it is more than that. People have their own psychological fears that act as a barrier towards their own open mind. In the story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, the narrator has very limited knowledge about the blind people. Whatever he knows about them is through some sort of media. The blind man Robert, shares a deep relationship with the narrator’s wife. They both exchange their life events with each other through mailing tapes. The narrator was not excited about Robert’s visit to his house in order to see the narrator’s wife.. Later, as he observed Robert closely, he felt that Robert is not like the blind man he assumed he would be. He realized that the blind are similar to people with

Show More
Related

  • Stereotypes In Flannery O Connor's Cathedral

    564 Words  | 3 Pages

    When first reading the story the narrator comes across as someone with a not so pleasant attitude. The narrator's wife and an old friend or hers named Robert; who is blind, have been communicating with each other for the past ten years. It's pretty obvious that the narrator is jealous of Robert. This is part of why the narrator has issues with blind people. “My idea of blindness came from the movies.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Cathedral And A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    1375 Words  | 6 Pages

    In both short stories, “Cathedral” written by Raymond Carver and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” written by Flannery O’Connor, we encounter characters that have a limited perspective on life. We find that the unnamed narrator in “Cathedral” has a bias mindset towards the blind man, Robert before he even meets and gets to know him. While in “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the grandmother is ignorant of her surroundings while being oblivious to her own flaws. Both stories demonstrate the overcoming of blindness through prejudice and vanity to end up seeing something greater than themselves through the use of characterization, symbolism, and epiphanies. In “Cathedral,” the narrator’s wife invites her blind friend, Robert, to stay in their home

    Read More

  • Anger And Jealousy In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    652 Words  | 3 Pages

    Each thought is rapidly flowing through his mind, and he cannot stop thinking about his wife being with the blind man, Robert. The language of the narrator depicts the emotion that he has frequently attempted to conceal from his wife. Furthermore, the excessive use of the word “she” demonstrates how the husband is upset over his wife’s action, not the blind man’s. The husband is not upset when Robert is with his wife, but he is enraged over the thought of his wife voluntarily hanging out with Robert. “She worked with this blind man all summer.”

    Read More

  • Blindness And Ignorance In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    968 Words  | 4 Pages

    Blindness applies as both a physical and mental ailment. Raymond Carver portrays this concept to readers with his short story, Cathedral. Told from the point of view of a nameless narrator, Cathedral tells a tale of healing mental blindness and, ultimately, curing one’s ignorance. As the nameless narrator encounters Robert, a blind friend of his wife, he changes from a man with a nearsighted mentality to an aware, empathetic human being. The traits, psyche, and point of view of the narrator of Raymond Carver’s Cathedral each drive the plot toward a theme of healing and transformation.

    Read More

  • Accepting With Sight In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    597 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sight is a gift that people are given that an abundance of people takes for granted in countless ways. In the story “Cathedral”, written by Raymond Carver, readers are introduced to a modern story on people realizing the truth behind the art of not seeing. He uses intense and lyrical descriptions on both sides of being blind and seeing through someone who cannot physically see. An abundance of people has found themselves under the ridicule of judging, and finding this unfortunate defect within someone’s unique genetic makeup to be a burden or even a curse from God. Within this story the main character learns to see without actually seeing with the help of his new-found friend Robert who teaches him new ways of looking upon his own life.

    Read More

  • Raymond Carver Cathedral Response

    998 Words  | 4 Pages

    Through their interactions, the narrator and Robert are able to communicate and understand each other in ways that the narrator never thought possible. This highlights the idea that true communication and understanding are possible only when individuals are willing to put aside their assumptions and biases, and to open themselves to the perspectives of

    Read More

  • The Husband In Cathedral's Cathedral

    1014 Words  | 5 Pages

    He expected Robert to the image of a blind person he had. Also, the husband has no knowledge of the world, he didn’t know what a blind man looked like, acted like, or even knew that a blind man could have a beard. It wasn’t until the husband met Robert that all of this

    Read More

  • A Rose For Emily And Cathedral Analysis

    1268 Words  | 6 Pages

    The narrator finally understands how Robert can love a woman or even just eat dinner being blind, since looking is not as important as he once thought. The townspeople were also just as wrong about Miss. Emily. When Emily dies, the townspeople are let into

    Read More

  • Theme Of Irony In Cathedral By Raymond Carver

    1054 Words  | 5 Pages

    Robert literally can’t see, but he does obtain vision only on a deeper level. The narrator isn’t too enamored with the idea of another man coming to his home. He is insensitive and makes some harsh comments that make Robert feel a little uncomfortable. Due to his callous and unsympathetic personality, the narrator is never able to connect with his wife while Robert is instantly able to. Robert comes to visit the narrator and his wife at their home for the first time.

    Read More

  • Ignorance And Preconceptions In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    448 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 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.

    Read More

  • Prejudice In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    727 Words  | 3 Pages

    Carver 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.

    Read More

  • Internal Conflict In Cathedral By Raymond Carver

    1522 Words  | 7 Pages

    In “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, the narrator struggles with an internal conflict that involves him never being able to be in a vulnerable or sensitive state, especially when he is with his wife. The narrator creates suspense by having the reader wait until the end to realize what the blind man was referring to when he states, “From all you’ve said about him, I can only conclude—” (Carver 35). The reader can observe that the blind man was explaining that the husband was missing out on all aspects of life and the little things the world has to offer. The husband was so closed-minded, that he was missing out on having a deeper connection with his wife.

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Epiphany In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    860 Words  | 4 Pages

    The narrator begins to change as Robert taught him to see beyond the surface of looking. The narrator feels enlightened and opens up to a new world of vision and imagination. This brief experience has a long lasting effect on the narrator. Being able to shut out everything around us allows an individual the ability to become focused on their relationships, intrapersonal well-being, and

    Read More

  • The Cause Of Conflict In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    1358 Words  | 6 Pages

    The story revolves around three characters, a husband who is also referred to as Bub, his wife, and a blind man, Robert. The story begins with the wife reminiscing back at the times that she shared with Robert. She continues to talk about how much she enjoyed spending time with him. She talks about how she has kept in touch with him and how she has even written about Robert before. Even though the narrator doesn’t directly state to his wife, he happens to be “irritated” (Facknitz) by the fact his wife tends to have a connection with Robert.

    Read More

  • Premium Harmony Short Story

    1136 Words  | 5 Pages

    Unwilling to open his home to the blind man, the narrator wants to stay in his own selfish bubble and neglect any outside perspectives. In the beginning the narrator is very closed off and self-absorbed and allows his wife to do all of the talking. They eat, drink, watch TV and smoke dope. Only after many hours does the narrator concede to having a developed conversation with Robert, and his

    Read More

More about The Theme Of Freedom In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

Open Document