Raymond Carver's Cathedral
In life people demonstrate many characteristics which make that person who they are; while these characteristics define the actions made by people, they also help others to determine why such actions were made, while also characterize them for what that person has done or will do. In today’s society certain characteristics are viewed in a negative light due to the changing ways of everyday life and increasing deviation of traditional American views to ones of a more liberal nature. In “Cathedral” Raymond Carver writes of a man who is addicted to drugs and alcohol, which creates psychological distance from the narrator, his wife, and the blind man. This is caused by the narrators need to escape reality and enjoy a world that is not his own.
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Polly Peterson of George Fox University states, “In the first paragraph… Carvers use of demonstratives and possessives, central determiners, draws readers close to the story's narrator while simultaneously creating psychological distance between the narrator and the other two characters.”(167) On multiple occasions the narrator uses “this” to describe the blind man which puts an emphasis on the fact that he does not know the man and that he is indeed only a friend of his wife. In fact, Carver writes “This blind man, an old friend of my wife’s.” which is mentioned multiple times by the narrator and accentuates the fact that the narrator does not consider the blind man a friend. Peterson claims “This, a word used to indicate distance, in a metaphoric way, creating closeness between the narrator and the reader while establishing emotional remoteness between the narrator and the blind man.” (167) In addition, “this” is used to identify a single person, the blind man, while, at the same time, creating a sense of dislike of the narrator to the blind man. Also, throughout the story the narrator refers to the blind man only as “a friend of my wife” or says things such as “he called my wife” which establishes a scenario the narrator doesn’t know the blind man and doesn’t want any kind of relationship with him. All of these examples factor in and help the reader see the clear development of the narrator and the blind man’s relationship which drive the narrator to the final
Polly Peterson of George Fox University states, “In the first paragraph… Carvers use of demonstratives and possessives, central determiners, draws readers close to the story's narrator while simultaneously creating psychological distance between the narrator and the other two characters.”(167) On multiple occasions the narrator uses “this” to describe the blind man which puts an emphasis on the fact that he does not know the man and that he is indeed only a friend of his wife. In fact, Carver writes “This blind man, an old friend of my wife’s.” which is mentioned multiple times by the narrator and accentuates the fact that the narrator does not consider the blind man a friend. Peterson claims “This, a word used to indicate distance, in a metaphoric way, creating closeness between the narrator and the reader while establishing emotional remoteness between the narrator and the blind man.” (167) In addition, “this” is used to identify a single person, the blind man, while, at the same time, creating a sense of dislike of the narrator to the blind man. Also, throughout the story the narrator refers to the blind man only as “a friend of my wife” or says things such as “he called my wife” which establishes a scenario the narrator doesn’t know the blind man and doesn’t want any kind of relationship with him. All of these examples factor in and help the reader see the clear development of the narrator and the blind man’s relationship which drive the narrator to the final