Preview

Through the Eyes of the Blind in Cathedral by Raymond Carver

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
892 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Through the Eyes of the Blind in Cathedral by Raymond Carver
Through the Eyes of the Blind in Cathedral by Raymond Carver
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.
The narrator starts his story very unenthusiastic about Roger's visit. He based his ideas mainly from movies he remembered watching, "In the movies, the blind [moves] slowly and never [laughs]. Sometimes they [are] led by seeing-eye dogs." (209). With these ideas, it made it clear on how unaware he was towards blind people. It seemed as though he believed that blind people didn't have much to do with their lives.
He felt sorry for Robert, and basically pitied Robert's wife. The Narrator comments, "Imagine a woman who could never see herself as she was seen in the eyes of her loved one. A woman who could go on day after day and never receive the smallest compliment from her beloved. A woman whose husband could never read the expression on her face, be it misery or something better." (213). These were such shallow words to say to someone you have never even met yet, face to face. How can he forget that these were two people who fell in love with each other for who they are, for better or for worse. Beauty is only skin deep.
The narrator then anxiously awaits the arrival of Robert as he sips back his drink and watches television. They meet on a high note as the narrator's wife introduces the both of them to each other. As they find there selves having small talk, the narrator's wife seems to find herself being embarrassed as the narrator asks Robert, "Which side of the train

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    At the beginning of the story, the narrator has his own ideas about things and will not attempt to see his wife's points of view. He felt interested in nothing, even though his wife let him see her romantic poem, he pretend that he understood it. Also, William has problems on trusting people, only reply some simple questions from the blind man as he…

    • 401 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the short story “Cathedral,” by Raymond Carver, the narrator draws a cathedral with his blind guest and transforms from a narrow-minded, materialistic, and superficial individual to an individual who acknowledges the spiritual aspects of life and the lives of those around him. Before the egoist narrator meets the blind man, Bub is so closed-minded, jealous, and materialistic that he does not want to help someone in need and he does not empathize with the hardships others endure. However, after Bub communicates with Robert and engineers an emotional connection, he is no longer limited by his former characteristics. Through this emotional link, Robert assists Bub in opening his mind to the spiritual world and feeling empathy for others.…

    • 1470 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout Raymond Carver’s story “Cathedral” one is shown three very vague characters. First being the narrator/ husband of the wife. He is the most important of characters because the story is his point of view and about his “blindness” as a person. Secondly, there is the wife whom used to work for the blind man. Lastly, the blindman named Robert whom has helped the wife in times of need. Do to the husband being the narrator, one will recognize his emotional detachment to the other characters in the story. An example of this detachment is that he doesn’t call anyone by their names or address them with any names. Bethany Qualls writer of “A Narrator’s Blindness in Raymond Carver’s a “Cathedral” does a very good job at describing the narrators…

    • 301 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    When describing the blind man’s relationship and interactions with his wife he says “All this without seeing what the god-damned woman looked like” Carver 108). This shows the narrator’s arrogance. He assumes that because the man couldn’t see what his wife looked like they couldn’t have a normal relationship. When speaking with the blind man the narrator continues to judge him based strictly off of appearance. He says that he had wished the man had dark glasses on because his eyes were “creepy”. Later when the Narrators wife went up to bed he was left alone with the blind man. He said “I wished she’d come back downstairs. I didn’t want to be left alone with a blind man” (Carver 111). The blind man is like any other person in this world except for the fact that he can’t see. This goes to show that the narrator doesn’t see people for who they actually are, he is judging him strictly off of a physical disability. The narrator and the blind man eventually decide to smoke a joint and watch T.V. The narrator was describing what was going on in the show and a cathedral appeared. He realized that the blind man probably had no idea what a cathedral looked like so he tried describing it to him. When he realized that he could not describe it they decide to draw it together while the blind man put his hand on top of the narrators. The blind man told him to close his eyes while…

    • 1497 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    in the poem cathedral by robert carvin the narrator is told by his wife that she is inviting a blind friend over the narrator finds out that his wife has been send audio tapes with a blind man named Robert who she worked for several years ago. at first the narrator was closed minded about the blind man but when the wife bring the blindman from the airport he introduces himself as robert the first thing that came to robert mind was that not what he was expecting a blind man to look like how robert was dressed he was not expecting him to have a full beard and not wear dark glasses.During his visit and dinner, the narrator feels threatened by the relationship his wife and Robert share and he doesn't know why throughout the story the narrator…

    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    One thing the husband and Robert have in common is they both care about the wife. Robert cares about her as an old friend who he had not seen in many years, but they kept in touch by sending…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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…

    • 281 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He thinks to himself, “They’d married, lived and worked together, slept together-had sex, sure-and then the blind man had to bury her. All this without his having ever seen what the goddamn woman looked like. It was beyond my Understanding.” (Carver 35). In this quote the narrator doesn’t understand that even though Robert had never “seen” his wife that he was able to get an idea of what she looked like by feeling her features. The blind man also is also able to look past someone’s appearance and get a first impression by the way someone talks to him rather than their skin color or the way they dress. In a way the narrator is blinded from who people really are because he is a sighted person. Another example of his incompetence is when Robert starts to smoke and the narrator thinks, “I remembered having read somewhere that the blind didn’t smoke because as speculation had it, they couldn’t see the smoke they exhaled. I thought I knew that much and that much only about blind people.” (Carver 36). This is a prime example of how the narrator is ignorant because people do not smoke so they can see themselves exhaling smoke. This is where Robert starts to teach the narrator about blind people and their…

    • 878 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral” is a story that will aggravate the reader who is glancing at this story for the first time. The story itself will make her feel many mixed emotions as she continues to read. The story is told in first person by the husband’s point of view, who was not given a name in the story. This story is not only about a blind man named Robert, it is also about the husband himself and his views on a blind person in general. The way the husband is telling the story makes it both frustrating, yet it makes her feel pity towards him. He shows a high level of inconsideration when he speaks about the blind man. The husband has no remorse of the things he says. As she reads further into this short story, she notices that…

    • 206 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    It took a blind man to help the narrator to actually see. In “Cathedral” what is known as looking is physical vision, but in order to really see, it requires a stronger and deeper involvement. The narrator is only seeing through his eyes and is not looking at the bigger picture. Robert however, has the ability to “see” in a deeper level. Even though Robert can’t physically see the narrator’s wife he understands her more because he listens. The narrator had to go through lack of intimacy while dealing with jealousy and having lack of communication with his wife before one person could help him accept and understand life as he should. The narrator learns that the ability to really see involves more than just…

    • 1268 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Cathedral, by Raymond Carver, a blind man is visiting his friend that took care of him ten years ago. Although never given a name in this story, the narrator's (Bub's) wife is an important character. It is her friendship with Robert that "makes" the story. For her, it started out just as a job, and grew into much more. She read to Robert and helped him with all the household chores. She left working for him because her husband went to officer training school so they had to move. The blind man and the woman kept in touch through audio tapes throughout the years. This gave the woman enough money so that she could marry her childhood sweetheart. You may be able to tell, just what a kind and giving person she was, for doing the job she chose.…

    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Following dinner, the three retired to the living room to watch television. The narrator’s wife grew weary and left the two men alone. The narrator feels uneasy alone with a blind man. He felt the blind as an intruder in his personal space, his house. He was not comfortable with the situation. Finally the narrator makes a slight attempt to ease the atmosphere between him and the blind man by describing what is being shown on…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Raymond Carver Cathedral

    • 315 Words
    • 2 Pages

    At first the narrator didn’t fully accept Robert relationship with his wife. The narrator changed his views about Robert at a later stage, when Robert visited them.…

    • 315 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The short story "Cathedral", written by Raymond Carver, was first published in 1983. This short story deals with one main problem: Prejudices. The short story is about a man, the narrator, which wife is going to meet her old friends, Robert, whom is blind. At first the main character aren’t looking forward meeting the blind man. His sigh of being a handicapped is narrow-minded: “In the movies, the blind move slowly and never laughed” (ll. 8-9). Prejudices are something that has always existed and it’s a huge problem because it causes a lot of conflict between people. This is especially seen with undereducated people because they do not know enough about other people’s cultures or lifestyles and therefore draw assumptions based on unreliable sources such as movies and other types of media. The main character undergoes a progress throughout the story where he develops; first he is negative about the whole situation, afterward his eyes opens up. Who is really the blind one? This short story is dealing with two men, each with their handicap.…

    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What Can You See?

    • 2066 Words
    • 9 Pages

    “I’ve never met, or personally know, anyone who was blind… I’d always thought dark glasses were a must for the blind. Fact was, I wished he had a pair.” (140) Much of the story is filled with sarcastic and rude thoughts of the narrator; thoughts that are best left as thoughts. If he had voiced all of the opinions he had regarding Robert to his wife, the story would have ended with a divorce, not a revelation. Stuck up and overconfident, the narrator seems to think he understands everything. He is thinking of the world as if it was all about him and his ego. We are all guilty of this sometimes, but it seems that the narrator is guilty of it a lot more than sometimes. His self-centered perception of the world shows us that he does not see things how they truly are.…

    • 2066 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays