Blind Leading The Blind Man In Raymond Carver's Cathedral
Essay #1, Character Analysis
English 102
Blind Leading The Blind In the short story, “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, it all began when the narrators wife invites her blind friend over to visit her and her husband. The husband has normal vision, but in the beginning of the story, he is the one who is “blind.” For example, he is close minded and stereotypical about this blind man arriving to their home. The husband's words and actions when dealing with Robert is that the husband is uncomfortable, awkward, and mean. As the story progresses, we can see as change in the husband, and he seems to be able to see Robert as a person and not just as a stereotypical blind man. The narrator does not seem to care about Robert's feelings. Before Robert arrives, the husband refers to him as “this blind man” (Carver 32). He never uses his name, and he does not assign him any human attributes. The narrator stereotypes Robert as this dependent blind man who walks slowly with a cane, has a seeing eye dog, and wears dark glasses, but in fact, he could not …show more content…
For example, when all three were sitting down eating dinner, the husband adds, “I watched Robert with admiration as Robert used his knife and fork on the meat” (Carver 38). The husband is finally understanding that Robert is just like everybody else. He can give him credit for accomplishing tasks like that. This incident is the most significant because we can see the narrator understanding that Robert is more than just a “blind man”, he is human just like him. He is seeing who Robert is on the inside. Another examples unfolds when the two start smoking marijuana. The narrator says to himself, “He held in the smoke, and then let it go. It was like he'd been doing it since he was nine years old” (Carver 40). This concludes that the narrator view Robert as a successful independent man who can still be a cool normal guy even though he is
English 102
Blind Leading The Blind In the short story, “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, it all began when the narrators wife invites her blind friend over to visit her and her husband. The husband has normal vision, but in the beginning of the story, he is the one who is “blind.” For example, he is close minded and stereotypical about this blind man arriving to their home. The husband's words and actions when dealing with Robert is that the husband is uncomfortable, awkward, and mean. As the story progresses, we can see as change in the husband, and he seems to be able to see Robert as a person and not just as a stereotypical blind man. The narrator does not seem to care about Robert's feelings. Before Robert arrives, the husband refers to him as “this blind man” (Carver 32). He never uses his name, and he does not assign him any human attributes. The narrator stereotypes Robert as this dependent blind man who walks slowly with a cane, has a seeing eye dog, and wears dark glasses, but in fact, he could not …show more content…
For example, when all three were sitting down eating dinner, the husband adds, “I watched Robert with admiration as Robert used his knife and fork on the meat” (Carver 38). The husband is finally understanding that Robert is just like everybody else. He can give him credit for accomplishing tasks like that. This incident is the most significant because we can see the narrator understanding that Robert is more than just a “blind man”, he is human just like him. He is seeing who Robert is on the inside. Another examples unfolds when the two start smoking marijuana. The narrator says to himself, “He held in the smoke, and then let it go. It was like he'd been doing it since he was nine years old” (Carver 40). This concludes that the narrator view Robert as a successful independent man who can still be a cool normal guy even though he is