The Role Of The Narrator In Raymond Carver's Cathedral
The narrator of Cathedral is many things; jealous, sarcastic, insensitive, inconsiderate, and overall just a bad person, he is also, surprisingly, a sympathetic character. While he exuberates many flaws and emotions that we do not readily show ourselves, this does not strike the fact that we can sympathise and relate to the narrator. In fact, it is the fact that he shows all of these flaws that make him a sympathetic character. The reason being is that he shows the emotions and flaws that humans, as a whole, want to show in any given situation, but choose not to out of compassion. Even though we do not react the same way the narrator would, it does not change the fact that often times we do feel like reacting in a similar manner that he would.
…show more content…
This is evident in the narrator’s reaction, through Carvers writing, when he is informed that the blind man was coming to stay with them. Rather than reacting with a false guise of comfort, he instead replies sarcastically saying, “Maybe I could take him bowling,” (3) knowing full man the blind man couldn’t even see the pins, ball, or lane he would be playing in. This sarcasm extends from discomfort, and the narrator’s unwillingness to want to deal with the blind man’s presence. The narrator had never even met the man once in his life, and yet here this blind man is coming to live in his house, eat his food, and sleep in his bed. He does not pretend to be okay with this simply because his wife knew the blind man for so many years. Branching off from how long the wife and the blind man knew each other, there comes another emotion that we more readily relate to; jealousy. Although the narrator does not blatantly tell the wife or blind man that he is jealous, he does subtle things that show he is. He flips his wife’s robe close when it slips open; while his wife and the blind man are talking, he turns on and turns up the television. His thoughts show how he feels about them conversing, when he thinks “I waited in vain to
This is evident in the narrator’s reaction, through Carvers writing, when he is informed that the blind man was coming to stay with them. Rather than reacting with a false guise of comfort, he instead replies sarcastically saying, “Maybe I could take him bowling,” (3) knowing full man the blind man couldn’t even see the pins, ball, or lane he would be playing in. This sarcasm extends from discomfort, and the narrator’s unwillingness to want to deal with the blind man’s presence. The narrator had never even met the man once in his life, and yet here this blind man is coming to live in his house, eat his food, and sleep in his bed. He does not pretend to be okay with this simply because his wife knew the blind man for so many years. Branching off from how long the wife and the blind man knew each other, there comes another emotion that we more readily relate to; jealousy. Although the narrator does not blatantly tell the wife or blind man that he is jealous, he does subtle things that show he is. He flips his wife’s robe close when it slips open; while his wife and the blind man are talking, he turns on and turns up the television. His thoughts show how he feels about them conversing, when he thinks “I waited in vain to