Analysis of Raymond Carver’s Cathedral

Raymond Carvers Cathedral illustrates the point of view of a self-centered man, the narrator, who suffers from a mild lack of education and culture while being more than slightly close-minded and rude. These are observations that one can make by considering how he reacts to his wifes blind friend, Robert coming over at their house as well as by his perceptions of the blind man. The fact that the main character is also narrating helps as well when trying to capture his nature since we have access to his every thought. His unease towards the blind man appears under various forms throughout the short story but it also fades as the husband starts to ask more sincere questions to the blind man, as he takes a greater interest in him. At the end, the man realizes something, or more precisely, the blind man makes him understand something. For that reason, we can affirm that Carvers Cathedral is a story about the blind leading the blind for ignorance is a sort of blindness as it isolates one from the rest of the world and others emotions.

To begin with, in order to prove that Cathedral is a story about the blind leading the blind, explaining how the narrator is blind is crucial. We can claim that he is blind in his own way because he has limited understanding of others realities. He knows only stereotypes. This can be understood in some parts of the text such as: My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blinds moved slowly and never laughed (265) and blind men dont smoke. (270) Moreover, we can tell that he is ignorant because he cannot carry an interesting conversation. This is also due to the fact that the Robert makes him feel uncomfortable nevertheless; he seldom knows what to say. For example, when the blind man arrives and greets the husband, the smartest thing he can answer is: Likewise. (269) Then, to escape a real conversation with the blind man, he offers him drinks and dope instead. He even goes as far as turning on the television, which is rather rude. Furthermore, especially at the beginning, he pretends to show an interest for the blind man, using small talk and asking irrelevant questions like: Which side of the train did you sit on, by the way? (269) Altogether, the narrator is blind which in this case means ignorant whereas his wifes friend, who is literally blind, is about to change his perceptions.

At this point, knowing just how blind the husband is, demonstrating that in Carvers Cathedral, the blind leads the blind, can be accomplished by showing exactly how he changed throughout the short story. As the story goes on, he slowly begins to take an honest interest in the blind man. This new attitude towards the guest first occurs during dinner, when Robert is fascinated by the fact that Robert finds no difficulty in knowing where are his foods on the table and keeping pace of the meal. The following quotation supports this idea rather accurately: I watched with admiration as he used his fork and knife (271)This is the first time that readers feel as if the narrator is receptive to Robert and not just uncomfortable in his presence.

As the husband continues to be attentive to the blind man, while they are both watching/listening to a documentary, he asks Robert if he can imagine a cathedral. This leads to Robert teaching him how to see as a blind, without his eyes, while drawing the cathedral. The narrators preconceptions then drastically change as he realizes that Robert has a better comprehension of himself and of others than he does. Readers understand that while studying these lines: It was like nothing else in my life up to now (278) But I had my eyes closed. I thought Id keep them that way for a little longer. I thought it was something I ought to do. (278) Its really something (279)All in all, in Carvers Cathedral, Robert teaches the narrator to be more open to new perspectives as well as to be willing to try and understand them.

All things considered, there is absolutely no doubt that Cathedral is a story about the blind leading the blind. The narrator is considered blind as he is ignorant and is not aware of much besides his own self. Although, he ends up learning something from a real blind man, Robert. At the beginning, the very presence of Robert makes him uncomfortable but towards the end, he really bonds with his wifes friend and has an improved understanding of someone elses reality.

Source:

Gwynn, R. S. Literature A Pocket Anthology fourth edition. Penguin Academics, 2009