Analysis Of The Story Cathedral - 1734 Words

Introduction Cathedral is a famous short story by American writer and poet Raymond Carver. The story was first published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1981 and appeared in The Americas Best Short Stories in 1982. In the short story cathedral, the unnamed narrator’s wife’s blind friend is coming to visit. The narrator isn’t thrilled about his wife’s blind friend coming to visit nor is he happy that the man is blind. Later in the evening the narrator experiences a life changing realization of the true meaning of seeing after connecting with the blind man whom he previously had no interest in knowing. Raymond Carvers â€Å"cathedral† is a story that reveals those who are blind see the world differently from those whom have sight but choose to see†¦show more content†¦Plot summary The narrator beings telling the readers about his wife’s blind friend that is coming to visit. The blind man’s wife has passed away and he is visiting family in Connec ticut not far from their home in New York. The narrator isn’t very thrilled about the blind man coming to visit nor is he thrilled that the man is blind. The narrator explains how his wife had met the blind man over ten years ago when she responded to a help wanted ad and how she had worked for him throughout the summer. The narrator’s wife and the blind man became good friends and toward the end of her employment of working with the blind man he had asked to touch her face. The narrator describes his wife’s experience when the blind man touched her face and how it affected her so much she wrote a poem about it but the narrator doesn’t understand how that experience had affected his wife. The narrator explains that his wife and the blind man have kept in touch over the years by sending audio tapes back and forth. The narrator begins making fun of the man for being blind and mentions how awful the blinds man’s wife must have felt knowing her husband was never able to know what she looked like. The day comes and the narrator’s wife goes to pick up the blind man who is introduced as Robert. When the narrator’s wife arrives back to the house the narrator is shocked when he sees the blind man. He begins describing whatShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Story Cathedral 936 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Cathedral† is all about inner vision. It throws light into the fact that inner vision is more vital than physical vision. It covers various areas of life: intimacy of relations, importance of communication, need for love and care in relations, trust etc. The story is about a husband, wife and a blind man who is the narrators wife’s friend named Robert. Robert is a blind man, but he has got good insight than the narrator who hardly understands the feelings of people. When the narrator comes toRead MoreAnalysis Of The Story The Cathedral 989 Words   |  4 Pagesplace. Everyone has been guilty of putting someone else down, for personal gain. Ego is associated with confidence and often clouds our perception of others, making us feel superior to others and that is portrayed in these three short stories. Short story â€Å"Cathedral,† narrated by a husband who expresses his feelings toward his wife’s legally blind old friend and former boss, Robert. Robert had lost his wife to cancer recently and was invited by the narrated wife to stay with she and her husband forRead MoreAnalysis Of The Story Cathedral 1351 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"Cathedral† The story â€Å"Cathedral† demonstrates that lack of sight does not necessarily prevent one from perceiving things as they are, or live their life to the fullest. In the story, a middle-age blind man, who is a friend to the narrator’s wife, and used to be her boss at one point, visits the narrator and his wife. The narrator has never interacted with blind people before, and all he knew about blind people was what he had seen on television. Blind people are stereotypically portrayed on televisionRead MoreAnalysis Of The Story Cathedral By Raymond Carver1305 Words   |  6 PagesThe Story â€Å"Cathedral† by Raymond Carver is about true blindness and the effects of emotional contact. Peterson studies the use of determiners, a and the, that refer to the blind man in the story and its effects to establish the atmosphere of the story. He states that the change in determiner seems subtle, but these subtle changes are significant because the changes show how narrator feel about Robert throughout the story. Nesset studies the sexual polices and the love lives in several Carver’s storiesRead MoreAnalysis Of The Story Cathedral By Raymond Carver Essay1137 Words   |  5 PagesHannah Artille November 22, 2016 Words: When Three Stories Collide There are three short stories with characters who are very alike. In the short story â€Å"Cathedral† by Raymond Carver, the protagonist, Bub, has an unwanted visitor. Similarly, in the story â€Å"Everyday use† by Alice Walker, the character Dee visits her mother and sister, which turns into a very unpleasant encounter. Lastly, the main character, Hulga, in â€Å"Good Country People† by Flannery O’Connor, is deceived by her visitor, a bibleRead MoreThe Theme Of Blindness In Raymond Carvers Cathedral745 Words   |  3 PagesIn Raymond Carver’s â€Å"Cathedral† the narrator is seen to show ignorance and bias towards blindness throughout the story, however towards the end he realizes his flaws and the difference between looking and seeing. From the beginning of the story to the end you can see a change within the narrator after his encounter with the blind man. At the end of Raymond Carver’s â€Å"Cathedral† the narrator hopes t o accomplish a change in his understanding of himself, and his experience with Robert flickers this changeRead MorePersuasive Essay804 Words   |  4 PagesPersuasive Essay In 1983, Raymond Carver introduced his short story â€Å"Cathedral† to the public. The first-person narrative takes place within the narrator’s home, where his wife is waiting upon the arrival of her blind friend Robert. The narrator, however, becomes more concerned about how Robert’s visit will affect him rather than enjoy the situation. Once Robert arrives, the narrator tries to understand the blind man, but he is unaware of what tasks Robert is capable of performing due to the narrator’sRead MoreAn Analysis of Cathedral822 Words   |  4 PagesAn Analysis of Cathedral Cathedral, written by Raymond Carver, is a short story that explores the narrator’s insecurities and fears of what he does not understand and through the progression of the story is enlightened by the man he fears. The short story Cathedral is a story of the narrators’ wife’s old friend coming to visit. The friend, Robert, is a man that she knew ten years before and has kept in contact with since. The two correspond via tape recordings on a regular basis. The wife tellsRead MoreCharacter Analysis Of Raymond Carver s Cathedral 1426 Words   |  6 PagesCharacter Analysis in Raymond Carver’s â€Å"Cathedral†: The Narrator Literature has the potential to act as a mirror by presenting people’s lived experiences, expectations, and perceptions through characters. Such is what can be deciphered through the analysis of different characters in Raymond Carver’s story â€Å"Cathedral.† This paper focuses on the narrator of the story portrayed by the author as blind, which is used metaphorically not to imply physical blindness, but the inability to have reasonedRead MoreRaymond Carver with Cathedral and John Updike with AP979 Words   |  4 PagesRaymond Carver with â€Å"Cathedral† and John Updike with â€Å"AP† â€Å"Cathedral† and AP both short stories written during the same century. But even though they both introduce stereotypical characters that somehow change their view of the world, they have many more different aspects. The stories differ in atmosphere and the quantity of people involve in each story. The story â€Å"Cathedral† only took place in a family house with only the husband, wife who can be qualified as a static character tried to kill