Cathedral
Cathedral There are many themes in the short story “Cathedral,” some of them include the Cathedral itself and the difference between looking at something and really seeing something. Throughout the short story you see how people have different personalities and see how fast a person can change. The Cathedral and the audiotapes mean much more to both main characters than just an object or a building.
In the beginning of the story the narrator is completely disgusted at the thought of a blind man being in his house because of all the false things he’s heard about people who can’t see. Peoples perceptions change rapidly once they get to know someone, and in this case when the narrator got to know Robert the blind man, he realized that he wasn’t really seeing Robert for who he was. In the story, the narrator finds out that his wife’s friend Robert is blind and immediately assumes that he is superior because he has vision and Robert does not. The narrator makes it seem like if you are blind you cannot live a normal life or have a normal relationship at all with a woman. Robert understands the narrator’s wife more than the narrator ever will because Robert can see her for who she really is because he truly listens. Robert continuously throughout the story tries to say that seeing is way more than just looking.
In the beginning of the story it’s pointed out to the narrator that his wife has been talking about him to a man he does not know, so Robert knew things about the narrator before ever meeting him and this gave the narrator a strange feeling about Robert before they even met. By the end of the story the narrator completely changes his mind about the world and about Robert. Sometimes people need a change of pace and need to be proved they are wrong and in this case Robert proves the narrator completely wrong about a number of things.
The Cathedral itself represents being able to actually see. According to the St Joseph Church, “the very word "cathedral"
In the beginning of the story the narrator is completely disgusted at the thought of a blind man being in his house because of all the false things he’s heard about people who can’t see. Peoples perceptions change rapidly once they get to know someone, and in this case when the narrator got to know Robert the blind man, he realized that he wasn’t really seeing Robert for who he was. In the story, the narrator finds out that his wife’s friend Robert is blind and immediately assumes that he is superior because he has vision and Robert does not. The narrator makes it seem like if you are blind you cannot live a normal life or have a normal relationship at all with a woman. Robert understands the narrator’s wife more than the narrator ever will because Robert can see her for who she really is because he truly listens. Robert continuously throughout the story tries to say that seeing is way more than just looking.
In the beginning of the story it’s pointed out to the narrator that his wife has been talking about him to a man he does not know, so Robert knew things about the narrator before ever meeting him and this gave the narrator a strange feeling about Robert before they even met. By the end of the story the narrator completely changes his mind about the world and about Robert. Sometimes people need a change of pace and need to be proved they are wrong and in this case Robert proves the narrator completely wrong about a number of things.
The Cathedral itself represents being able to actually see. According to the St Joseph Church, “the very word "cathedral"
Cited: Bowles, Donella. “How Does Becoming Blind Affect Other Senses?”. eHow. n.p. n.d. Web. 20 February 2013. Carver, Raymond. “Cathedral.” The Nroton Introduction to Literature. Allison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. New York. Tenth Edition. Norton. 2010. 28-37. Print. St Joseph Cathedral. n.p. n.d. Web. 17 February 2013.