Published in 1983, Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral” explores the theme of ignorance through the first person narrator’s journey from insecurity to openness. The narrator begins as close-minded and fearful of what he does not understand; as the story progresses, he begins to have his eyes opened, ironically with the help of a blind man.
“Cathedral” Plot Summary
The story’s narrator informs the readers that a friend of his wife’s, a man who happens to be blind, is on his way to visit. The narrator is not enthusiastic about the visit because blind people make the narrator uncomfortable, mainly because the narrator has no real experience with the blind.
In addition to his uneasiness with the blind, the narrator is uncomfortable with his wife’s relationship with the blind man. The wife and Robert, the blind man, have maintained a close relationship via tape recordings mailed back and forth, and the narrator finds this unsettling. Despite the narrator’s feelings about the visit, Robert shows up, and the three of them dine together, and Robert and the narrator get to know each other.
Characters
The Narrator: The unnamed narrator of the story is insecure, close-minded, and lacks communication skills at the beginning of the story. As Robert urges the narrator to open up to discussion, the narrator begins to exit his comfort zone of nonchalant detachment to forging a real connection with Robert, thus causing the narrator to rethink not only his prejudice toward the blind, but his outlook on communication and personal connection overall.
Robert: Robert, the blind man, is a long-time friend of the narrator’s wife. Robert has maintained a close relationship with the narrator’s wife since she worked for him years ago. Since then, they have stayed in touch. Robert works hard to get to know that narrator, too, while he is visiting them, pushing the narrator to talk and interact with him, bringing the narrator out of his shell of closed-off ignorance.
The Wife: The narrator’s wife, who is also unnamed, plays a secondary role in the action of the story, since she falls asleep while her husband and Robert talk. Readers are given some of the wife’s background, learning that she was married before, has attempted suicide, and has trouble communicating with her husband.
Theme and Meaning
At the end of “Cathedral,” the narrator has a life-changing moment, or an epiphany, while trying to tell Robert what a cathedral looks like. The narrator, when first trying to explain what the cathedral looks like, struggles for the words. However, upon Robert’s encouragement, loosens up, and draws the cathedral with Robert, guiding his hand with a pencil onto paper.
This is a close personal connection and intimate moment of communication for the narrator, and it impacts him greatly. The narrator is able to connect with Robert, and this is the moment where the narrator can put aside his insecurities and actually interact with someone else. It changes the narrator; he says, “It was like nothing else in my life up to now” (Carver 108).
Throughout Cathedral, the boundaries the narrator has placed on his interaction and communication with others are eroded by Robert’s patient persistence in getting to know him. As a result, the narrator confronts his own insecurities and misconceptions, not just about Robert and the blind, but also about his own ability to interact with others.
Carver, Raymond. “Catherdral.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia, eds. New York: Pearson, 2007. 98-108.
Another Raymond Carver Article:
Book Review Cathedral by Raymond Carver
Jeris Swanhorst - After earning a Bachelor's degree in English, Literature from Minnesota State University, Mankato in 2005, Jeris Swanhorst went on to earn ...
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