RAYMOD CARTER'S CATHEDRAL

Raymond Carver wrote Cathedral, a short story in the fantasy genre. The short story opens with an outline that simply explains the events that will take place. The reader is told that a visitor, Robert, who is also blind, would pay a visit to the narrator's house, because of the narrator's wife, whom Robert knew ten years earlier (Carver, 2). In the beginning, the narrator, who is not assigned a name, expresses dissatisfaction with this visit. He is only concerned about how this visit will affect him, not with how it will affect his life or even his wife. As Robert arrives, the narrator shows dislike and criticism as he observes his wife and Robert enjoy as they drink and eat. The narrator is told that Robert’s wife had passed on, he only pities Beulah, Roberts’s wife, on how it felt for her that someone she loved could never see her (Carver, 12). He does not take consideration of the fact that they couple was inseparable and relate it to his marriage which seemed to be in a bad state. However, as the wife takes a leave and leaves the narrator and Robert alone, watching television, the two engage as the narrator describes the on-goings in the television. A point reaches where the narrator is unable to explain how a cathedral looks like and Robert asks him to draw it with him on paper. This action makes the narrator experience a turning point in his life. The blind Robert helps him see and realize himself. The story ends with the narrator staying with his eyes closed even after Robert tells him to open his eyes.

The setting of the story is a domestic one where the actions take place in New York, in a family house; the narrator’s home (Weise, 128). The time of the story is an evening, the time when Robert arrives at the narrator’s home. Also, the short story was released in the year 1981. This is evidenced by the meal they take. Nevertheless, the family social class belongs to the middle class, as illustrated by the kind of meals they have and the setting of the house. The characterization of the story puts the narrator as the main character which various personality traits such as self-centeredness and little self-realization. This is evidenced by the actions of the narrator not being concerned about how the visit will impact his wife, but only interested in the effects the visit will bring him. He is also not aware of himself since which is evident after he receives a revelation of himself during the drawing of the cathedral with Robert.

The author uses a narrator to tell the story in the first person. The narrator is among the characters, and the main character (Clark, 112). Serves the purpose of narrating to the reader the life events that have occurred to him during the setting of the story and within the timeframe of the story. The story is majorly conservative and frequent with the use of the first person narration throughout the story. However, the story starts with the narrator having a different view of the visit and specifically the blind man. Later on, he changes are a few minutes of socializing with Robert. He starts to like him and realizes that the visit had a better effect that he had [received earlier on.

In the short story “Cathedral,” the author uses various figures of speech to make the reader understand and relate the literal meaning of the story to real life. He tries to make the story serve the purposes of literature to the society. Firstly, the cathedral that the narrator and Robert try to draw, symbolically serves the purpose of revealing the true purpose of life (Lehman, 76)). It is portrayed as an act of trying to explain to Robert how the cathedral looks like. However, it also serves the purpose of enabling the narrator to arrive at the point of realizing the truth about himself. Through drawing the cathedral together, the narrator can not only see the simple images that his physical eyes interpret when he looks at them on television, but get a deeper meaning and explanation of what they are. In the beginning, the narrator is not interested in the cathedral for it does not have a meaning to him. This is the reason why he cannot find the words to describe it. After the drawing, the narrator is able to know what the cathedral serves and understand further how it is. The cathedral is the truth that the narrator could not recognize and describe. The author also employs irony in this piece of literature (Clark, 116). Robert of a blind person who only uses imagination to bring the actual things in life to his sight. It is ironical that Robert helps the narrator who is not blind, see the truth and reach the point of self-awareness.

There is a tone of openness in this short story. The narrator openly wants the reader to know his life experiences. He does not hide his feelings about things. For example, he does not hide that he has a negative attitude towards the blind man (Lehman, 83). Consequently, he does not hide that he feels insecure in his relationship with his wife when he tells his wife about her childhood sweetheart. In the end, he is sincere that he has realized himself and seen truth in his life. There is a tone of disappointment also in the voice of the narrator as the story starts. The narrator is not happy about the visit. He is disappointed that his wife has this relation, which has lasted over ten years with Robert. As Robert and the narrator’s wife eat and drink to their enjoyment, the narrator only stays calm and observes them, with disappointment. In the end, the narrator also uses a disappointed tone after he realizes that he has not been living his true self for that long. There is disappointment that after the wrong impression he had about Robert, he has finally played a major role in his life.

Also, there are various themes that the short story tries to illustrate. The first theme is about the use of art to establish self-awareness. The first art portrayed in the story is the art of drawing, done by the narrator and Robert (Weise, 126). This art helps the narrator achieve the truth and reach a state of turning his perceptions about life. This same art also helps the narrator achieve the skills of establishing deeper meanings from objects and even situations. There is also the art of writing poems which is practiced by the narrator’s wife on a yearly basis. Even though the narrator does not take part in writing the, what the poems are about help him develop some insight. Finally, the characters engage in storytelling which to the reader is used to teach moral values and perceptions which will aid self-realization.

The second theme is about the meaning of sight (Weise, 125). In the short story, there are two men, one with sight and the other one blind. The narrator who has his sight is only able to see the light meaning of things that he looks at. He does not engage in trying to get deeper meanings. However, Robert the blind man, who has no sight, uses his imagination of how physical things look like and discovers the deeper meaning of these things (Weise, 127). It is through the processing of these images that Robert imaginatively builds in his brain that help him have a wider perspective and a deeper meaning. This theme enables the reader to differentiate between having the ability to look at things and taking a more in-depth sight lightly.

Finally, Raymond Carver employs suspense in this particular short story (Clark, 107). As he writes the narrative, he takes the reader to the point of climax where the reader gets more curious to know what happens next. The reader wants to know what will happen to the narrator after he has discovered the truth about himself. However, the story ends in an abrupt manner with the narrator still closing his eyes. The reader does not know the position that the narrator takes. We are not told whether the narrator made that change in life. The narrator’s final words are general that the reader cannot make any reasonable conclusion.









Work cited

Lehman, D. W. (2006). Symbolic significance in the stories of Raymond Carver. Journal of the Short Story in English. Les Cahiers de la nouvelle, (46), 75-88.

Carver, Raymond. Cathedral. London: Vintage, 2009. Print.

Clark, Robert C. "Keeping the Reader in the House: American Minimalism, Literary Impressionism, and Raymond Carver's "Cathedral...” Journal of Modern Literature, vol. 36, no. 1, Fall2012, pp. 104-118. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=84915722&site=ehost-live.

Messer, H. Collin. "Fleeing the Wasteland of Alcoholism: Alienation, Recovery, and Hope in Raymond Carver's Cathedral." Studies in Short Fiction, vol. 37, no. 1, Winter2012, pp. 43-58. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=77324364&site=ehost-live.

Weise, Jillian. "Cathedral by Raymond Carver." Literary Review, vol. 57, no. 4, Fall2014, pp. 122-130. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=100279041&site=ehost-live.









Deadline is approaching?

Wait no more. Let us write you an essay from scratch

Receive Paper In 3 Hours
Calculate the Price
275 words
First order 15%
Total Price:
$38.07 $38.07
Calculating ellipsis
Hire an expert
This discount is valid only for orders of new customer and with the total more than 25$
This sample could have been used by your fellow student... Get your own unique essay on any topic and submit it by the deadline.

Find Out the Cost of Your Paper

Get Price