Preview

Literary Analysis Paper - Cathedral

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1134 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Literary Analysis Paper - Cathedral
Literary Analysis paper - Cathedral "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver tells us short story about a blind man who comes to visit his friend and her husband. In the story, even though the husband can technically see and has a normal sight, in the beginning of the story he is the one who shows the signs of true "blindness" through inability to see Robert beyond his blindness, incapability to communicate with Robert, him feeling uncomfortable and acting awkward around Robert. The husband does not realize how Robert 's blindness changes him as human being. Carver skillfully shows the occurrence of change in the personality of the husband from being very awkward around a blind man to coming to realization that Robert is a person and not just a blind man. In the story, "Cathedral" Carver brings out the concept of husband 's spiritual blindness and the theme of broke marriage to shows what is wrong with the modern world. Carver portrays husband 's spiritual blindness to show parallel to the spiritual blindness of the modern world. The narrator sees his wife 's blind friend as handicap and not as a whole person. The narrator is not enthusiastic about the visit because blind people make the narrator uncomfortable "... and his being blind bothered me. My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movie the blind move slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they were led by seeing-eye dogs. The blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to" (114). In this way, Carver shows how spiritual blindness can limit people in our everyday life just as it did the husband. In reality, spiritually blind people are unable to understand matters beyond their physical site. The theme that Carver touched in the "Cathedral" of the spiritually blind verses physically blind has been touched in the Bible as well. Passage in John 9:1-41 points out an interesting comparison between physical and spiritual blindness that takes place in this passage. It mainly


Cited: Jan Zlotnik Schmidt, Lynne Crockett. "Portable Legacies: Raymond Carver 's 'Cathedral '."
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Raymond Carver Cathedral Essay
    • 1470 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Raymond Carver Cathedral Essay

    In the short story “Cathedral,” by Raymond Carver, the narrator draws a cathedral with his blind guest and transforms from a narrow-minded, materialistic, and superficial individual to an individual who acknowledges the spiritual aspects of life and the lives of those around him. Before the egoist narrator meets the blind man, Bub is so closed-minded, jealous, and materialistic that he does not want to help someone in need and he does not empathize with the hardships others endure. However, after Bub communicates with Robert and engineers an emotional connection, he is no longer limited by his former characteristics. Through this emotional link, Robert assists Bub in opening his mind to the spiritual world and feeling empathy for others.…

    • 1470 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Stereotypes Of Blind People Illustrated In Raymond Carver's Cathedral
    • 206 Words
    • 1 Page

    Stereotypes Of Blind People Illustrated In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    In the short story, “Cathedral” written by Raymond Carver, the author tells the story in first person, which is very effective because he tends to project some of his own feelings and habits onto the main character such as drinking and loneliness. The reader can pick up that the time is set in the mid-fifties from the talk of new colored television and traditional ways of the household. The main plot in the story is the main character has his wife’s friend good, blind friend stay with them, Robert. With Robert being blind, this gives the main character some uncertain feelings. Throughout the story, the husband realizes that Robert is not the typical stereotype of blind people, which he thought he was going to be. At the end, the main character…

    • 206 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Three Unique Characters In Raymond Carver's Cathedral
    • 394 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Three Unique Characters In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    In “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver there are three unique characters all having their own side of the story the narrator’s name unknown, the narrator's wife also unknown, and a blind man named Robert. Robert decides to take a small visit to the narrator’s wife, and husbands home to catch up. The narrator is not blind; he can see everything now he thinks he is more superior than Robert. The narrator is jealous because Robert truly listens to the wife so therefore the have a deeper connection, more so than the narrator, and the wife. As the narrator's wife falls asleep Robert, and the narrator begins to make an engagement, thus the central idea that the narrator begins to truly see.…

    • 394 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Blind Man Who Changed the Life of the Man Who Sees in Cathedral
    • 501 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Blind Man Who Changed the Life of the Man Who Sees in Cathedral

    In the short story Cathedral Bub makes a slow transition from being closed minded to being open minded concerning his thoughts about blind people, mainly Robert. When Bub first met Robert, he was surprised to find that Robert did not meet the typical physical appearance of a blind man, which would consist of dark glasses and a cane. Nevertheless his preconceived theory on Robert and other blind people is that they are full of sadness and depression. In this short story Bub’s thoughts and ideas emerge to see who Robert for who he really is as an individual.…

    • 501 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    'The Rich Brother' By Tobias Wolf
    • 1497 Words
    • 6 Pages

    'The Rich Brother' By Tobias Wolf

    When describing the blind man’s relationship and interactions with his wife he says “All this without seeing what the god-damned woman looked like” Carver 108). This shows the narrator’s arrogance. He assumes that because the man couldn’t see what his wife looked like they couldn’t have a normal relationship. When speaking with the blind man the narrator continues to judge him based strictly off of appearance. He says that he had wished the man had dark glasses on because his eyes were “creepy”. Later when the Narrators wife went up to bed he was left alone with the blind man. He said “I wished she’d come back downstairs. I didn’t want to be left alone with a blind man” (Carver 111). The blind man is like any other person in this world except for the fact that he can’t see. This goes to show that the narrator doesn’t see people for who they actually are, he is judging him strictly off of a physical disability. The narrator and the blind man eventually decide to smoke a joint and watch T.V. The narrator was describing what was going on in the show and a cathedral appeared. He realized that the blind man probably had no idea what a cathedral looked like so he tried describing it to him. When he realized that he could not describe it they decide to draw it together while the blind man put his hand on top of the narrators. The blind man told him to close his eyes while…

    • 1497 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Husband In Raymond Carver's Cathedral
    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Husband In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    In Raymond Carver’s story “Cathedral”, he tells a story about an old friend visiting. Robert, the blind man, and the husband are alike in a couple ways, including the fact that they both care about the wife, and they both like to drink. The husband and Robert also have many differences; the husband is more judgmental than Robert, who has more of an open mind. There is the obvious difference that the husband is not blind like Robert. Carver wrote this story from the husband’s point of view, so we heard everything from him, and saw things the way he did.…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Real Blind Man In Raymond Carver's Cathedral
    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Real Blind Man In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    In the story Cathedral, by Raymond Carver, the narrator makes multiple statements as to how he feels about Robert, the blind man. The statements are made purely on what the narrator has seen in movies and what he has read. The narrator makes harsh judgments of the blind mind regarding his inability to see his surroundings and other people. However, the narrator fails to see things the same way that Robert does, more deeply. Throughout the story the narrator finds himself beginning to understand the blind man’s condition in that he can see more than he anticipates. The narrator, or ‘Bub’ as the blind man calls him, goes through a drastic change of character throughout the time of getting to know Robert. After talking and having a few drinks with Robert and getting to know him a little better, Bub begins to see things as the blind man does and shines some light on a whole new perspective of being able to see.…

    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Response To Raymond Carver's Cathedral
    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Response To Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    As I begin to read “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, I cannot comprehend what is going on. The story starts off with a husband named Robert telling the reader about “this” (par.1.) blind man who has been long term friends with his wife and will be coming to visit due to the tragic death of the blind man’s wife. Through the way that this man speaks of the blind person gives the appearance that the husband is not very fond of this person or any blind person. Robert seems very careless and judgmental. As stories of Robert’s wives past with the blind man are told to him, he acts as though he couldn’t care less.…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Raymond Carver Cathedral Summary
    • 206 Words
    • 1 Page

    Raymond Carver Cathedral Summary

    Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral” is a story that will aggravate the reader who is glancing at this story for the first time. The story itself will make her feel many mixed emotions as she continues to read. The story is told in first person by the husband’s point of view, who was not given a name in the story. This story is not only about a blind man named Robert, it is also about the husband himself and his views on a blind person in general. The way the husband is telling the story makes it both frustrating, yet it makes her feel pity towards him. He shows a high level of inconsideration when he speaks about the blind man. The husband has no remorse of the things he says. As she reads further into this short story, she notices that…

    • 206 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Blindness Is Considered A Disability In Raymond Carver's Cathedral
    • 1936 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Blindness Is Considered A Disability In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    Blindness is considered a disability. The person with a disability in Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” is Bub. A person can be handicapped mentally. Bub is self-centered, and lives inside his own world. He is “blind” to the world around him and does not wish to open his mind to anything outside of his ignorant, pathetic, mundane life. Robert opens Bub’s mind, enabling Bub to see Robert as a person first, and not a blind man.…

    • 1936 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Symbolism In Raymond Carver's Cathedral
    • 164 Words
    • 1 Page

    Symbolism In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    Cathedral by Raymond Carver is a fiction where the writer explicitly used symbolism to explain human inhibition and lacking. Cathedral, the story, weaved an ironic situation where Robert, the blind man teaches the narrator, a man with eyesight, to truly see substance for the first time. Symbolism is an artistic and poetic style used by writers using symbolic images, characters or abstract to depict ideas, emotions, states of mind and key messages. Writer masterfully used a blind man named Robert as one of the main character of the story where blindness is symbolically used to explain the ‘power of observation’ and to expose our true ability to see things in perspective and in substance. Having sight and having insight are two different qualities…

    • 164 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Blindness In Raymond Carver's Cathedral
    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Blindness In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    Blindness can manifest itself in many ways. Arguably the most detrimental form of this condition may be the figurative blindness of ones own situations and ignorance towards the feelings of others. In Raymond Carver 's short story "Cathedral," the narrator 's emotional and psychological blindness is immediately apparent. The many issues faced by the narrator as well as the turn-around experienced at the culmination of the tale are the main ideas for the theme of this story; and these ideas aid the narrator in eventually succumbing to character transformation by simply regarding the literal blind man in a positive light.…

    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    "Cathedral" Character Analysis
    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages

    "Cathedral" Character Analysis

    Throughout Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral,” the nameless narrator, the main character develops emotionally through a situation that creates fear in an already introverted man. He does not want to go outside of his comfort zone and he is caught off guard when he is forced beyond his current developmental state. But, through a lesson from the blind narrator finds himself enlightened to the sentiments of the handicapped.…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis of Raymond Carver's Cathedral
    • 809 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Analysis of Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    Raymond Carvers Cathedral illustrates the point of view of a self-centered man, the narrator, who suffers from a mild lack of education and culture while being more than slightly close-minded and rude. These are observations that one can make by considering how he reacts to his wifes blind friend, Robert coming over at their house as well as by his perceptions of the blind man. The fact that the main character is also narrating helps as well when trying to capture his nature since we have access to his every thought. His unease towards the blind man appears under various forms throughout the short story but it also fades as the husband starts to ask more sincere questions to the blind man, as he takes a greater interest in him. At the end, the man realizes something, or more precisely, the blind man makes him understand something. For that reason, we can affirm that Carvers Cathedral is a story about the blind leading the blind for ignorance is a sort of blindness as it isolates one from the rest of the world and others emotions.…

    • 809 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Cathedral by Raymond Carver
    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Cathedral by Raymond Carver

    The short story "Cathedral", written by Raymond Carver, was first published in 1983. This short story deals with one main problem: Prejudices. The short story is about a man, the narrator, which wife is going to meet her old friends, Robert, whom is blind. At first the main character aren’t looking forward meeting the blind man. His sigh of being a handicapped is narrow-minded: “In the movies, the blind move slowly and never laughed” (ll. 8-9). Prejudices are something that has always existed and it’s a huge problem because it causes a lot of conflict between people. This is especially seen with undereducated people because they do not know enough about other people’s cultures or lifestyles and therefore draw assumptions based on unreliable sources such as movies and other types of media. The main character undergoes a progress throughout the story where he develops; first he is negative about the whole situation, afterward his eyes opens up. Who is really the blind one? This short story is dealing with two men, each with their handicap.…

    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics