Carver uses literary language to help perceive the narrator as an ignorant, disrespectful person. The narrator believes Robert is an abnormal person in society, so he does not want Robert in his house. Even after learning the blind man’s name, the narrator insists on calling him “the blind man” throughout…
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…
They became very close and told each other every aspect about their lives. Robert eventually married a woman by the name of Beulah who then died of cancer. Robert was visiting his wife’s relatives in Connecticut and was going to visit the narrator’s wife and spend the night. This made the Narrator very uneasy. He mentioned that blind people bothered him and he only saw them in movies. He stated, “The blind moved slowly and never laughed.” The Narrator did not look forward to Robert visiting but he had no choice. Robert came by train and the Narrator’s wife picked him up. When he arrived at the house he met the Narrator. They then had drinks followed by dinner. After dinner they all gathered around the TV. The Narrators wife went upstairs to put on her robe. The Narrator then offered Robert some marijuana and he accepted. At this time the wife returned and smoked with them, soon after she fell asleep. The Narrator and Robert started watching a show on Cathedrals. Robert asked the Narrator to describe to him what a Cathedral looked like. Unfortunately, he could not. The Narrator tried to explain it but was at a loss of words.…
In the beginning of the "Cathedral" the narrator comes off very prejudice. Raymond Carver says "my idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed." The narrators’ attitude towards the blind and how they live their life is very naive. Unlike her husband the narrators wife is understanding and compassionate. Although interactions between the two couple would suggest their marriage was in strife. As for Robert he is the blind man who joins the group already being good friends with the narrator’s wife. The narrator at first is uncomfortable around Robert. But as interactions between the two men progress the narrator is finally able to see what his wife saw in Robert the whole time. A kind and ordinary man, who was no different than you and…
A blind man named Robert is coming to have dinner and stay overnight. The narrator’s wife worked for him for one summer about ten years earlier. They two became friends and have continued to communicating by using audio tapes. Not only the narrator annoyed with the fact that Robert is visiting but in some ways he is also jealous of the connection that his wife has with Robert. The narrator views Robert’s visit as an inconvenience.…
The narrator drinks too much, jealous of his wife, unable to adequately communicate with his wife, and unconnected to other human beings. In addition not only unconnected to others, but he also seems to resent his wife’s connections to other people as well. When “I” spoke of the impending visit by my wife’s friend: the blind man , he states that, “I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me” (Carver 32). “A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to” (Carver 32). Furthermore, when Robert arrived at “my” house, the narrator made no special effort to engage Robert in conversation. He preferred…
The narrator’s wife met Robert one summer in Seattle when she needed a job. On her last day of work the blind man touched her face. She tried to write a poem about it because this was something that was really important to her. She tells the narrator about Robert’s wife Beulah. When she let the narrator know about her pieces of the story begin to fall into place. However, the narrator does not like that Robert could not see Beulah. He was upset that she died and could’ve never…
The narrator experiences a great feeling. The narrator was just judging Robert by his looks. In the beginning, he did not even give Robert a chance until the end when Robert made the narrator see everything from his perspective. The narrator did not want to open his eyes because he was seeing things he never saw before. He now understands the blind man more than he ever did.…
In the moment when the blind man and [Bub] share an identical perception of spiritual space, [Bub’s] sense of enclosure – of being confined by his own house and circumstances – vanishes as if by an act of grace, or a very large spiritual reward for a virtually insignificant gesture. [Bub] learns to see with eyes other than that insufficient set that keeps him a friendless drunk and a meager husband.…
You can never seem to know what's going on in another ones life, unless you put your feet in there shoes, so to judge, is simply ignorance. Raymond Carver's "Cathedral" is a story about how the narrator is uncomfortable with having his wife's blind friend, Robert, over. Roger has lost his wife, and to cope with her death, he planned to visit the narrator's wife. Without any knowledge whatsoever on how to act in accompany towards a blind man, the narrator seems to get a glimpse of what it is to truly fit into the blind mans shoe.…
This is characteristic of her good nature and true compassion for her friend. At first, her husband was sketchy about the blind man coming to visit, and a little scared. The blind man was not what the husband expected. The blind man did not have dark glasses or a cane, and he smoked. The husband did not think that blind people smoked because of his own stereotypes he felt towards the blind. As the evening went on, it was apparent that the husband and wife were having a small conflict because of the husband's feelings towards the blind man. You can see both sides of this conflict. The wife is just being kind to a friend, but then again, I can see how Bub" would feel somewhat inferior because he really had no "say" to who would come into and stay in their home. The husband offered the blind man whiskey and they had dinner. When they were finished eating, they went and sat on the couch. The blind man and the woman were reminiscing about what they have missed in each other's lives for the past ten years. You can tell how happy this is making the wife; there is nothing like reminiscing with an old buddy! The wife definitely deserves this! The visit from Robert is as important to the wife as anything. When she falls asleep on the couch between the blind man and her husband - is her intention, I believe, to bring these two closer together. She wants her husband to see what she sees in Robert. Her going upstairs, provides…
Throughout the story, Cathedral, by Raymond Carver, readers are shown the other side of blindness. In the world, one may assume that there is just one type of blindness- being sightless. “My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they were led by seeing-eye dogs. A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to” (Carver, 1). The meaning of blindness goes much deeper than that. Through the actions and words of a character, the husband in this short story, readers are shown how much ignorance, fear, and confusion one can have for someone who has literal blindness. All these negative feelings towards the blind man leads to the husband finding the blindness within himself.…
Having Robert stay at the man's house left the man feeling quite uneasy. Not only was Robert a threat to his wife, he also thought that Robert may be a hassle to deal with. The man stated, "I wasn't enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me" (Carver 1). Because the man had such strong images in his mind about Robert, the first time he saw Robert caught him by surprise. Robert's appearance was not unordinary, and did not look like a blind person. " He wore brown slacks, brown shoes, a light brown shirt, a tie, a sports coat. Spiffy" (Carver 32). At this point, the man's ideas about the blind people's appearance had been contradicted.…
The narrators statement at the very beginning of the story explains his own lack of knowledge concerning physical blindness. His lack of knowledge relating to the visitors disability is undeniable, yet he makes it very clear that he is…
The narrator is describing what happened in his house. From this we discuss the characterization of this short story. I will be discussing the narrator’s friendship with his wife and the blind man. The narrator is someone who is not friendly. Even his wife confirms it by telling him; “you do not have friends. Period.” I will then discuss how the narrator changes in his relationship status as the story end.…