A Critical Analysis Of Raymond Carver's Cathedral

At a glance, one may conclude that Carver’s “Cathedral” is a simple story, but a critical analysis demonstrates that it is the interactions and epiphanies that normal people have that ultimately change their life. The narrator has certain perceptions about the blind people and what happens at the Cathedral and other commonplaces. Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” is a story told by a narrator who has limited awareness of himself and those around him. He wonders how a blind man can have such understanding than other people. He has misgiving about the visit to the Cathedral simply because of lack of experience with the blind people (Paragraphs 5, and 9).
The narrator’s perceptions are unveiled because of his unexamined assumptions and his blundering attempts to initiate a small conversation lead to him moving out of his comfort zone. His thoughtlessness and the need to cover up the embarrassing situation compelled him to turn to the television as a
The narrator disdains blindness but remains oblivious to his limitations. He can see with his eyes but fails to discover the limitations he has placed on himself and how they have limited him from seeing greater things in life. Unlike his wife and Robert, the blind man, the narrator lacks a sight into the greater things of life, the potential tenderness and greatness that humanity presents and the curiosity that keeps one alive amidst limiting physical attributes (Carver p11). The narrator is devoid of self-awareness with very few redeeming attributes on emotional growth until the last part of the story. He is jealous of his wife’s association with the blind man. He fails to understand that the blind man sees life in a different perspective despite his physical inabilities. The blind man demonstrates his capacity to transcendent the realities of life. What the narrator does not know is that at one point his wife worked for the blind