StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Cathedral by Raymond Carver - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Cathedral is a short-story written in a minimal style by Raymond Carver’s which is regarded as one of the best stories. In the story, the narrator who is unnamed man describes his experience with his wife’s best friend Robert. Robert was a blind employer of narrator’s…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER98.6% of users find it useful
Cathedral by Raymond Carver
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Cathedral by Raymond Carver"

Cathedral by Raymond Carver Cathedral is a short-story written in a minimal style by Raymond Carver’s which is regarded as one of the best stories. In the story, the narrator who is unnamed man describes his experience with his wife’s best friend Robert. Robert was a blind employer of narrator’s wife about 10 years ago whose wife had just died. Robert was invited by the narrator’s wife to pay them a visit after long period of communication such as through mailing of tapes. The wife recalls one time when Robert sensitively ran his hands all over her face, an issue which she never forgot and even tried to write a poem about it.

Narrator seems uncomfortable and disturbed with Robert because he is blind. He feels that he is superior compared with the blind man. The narrator’s opinion and attitude towards blind man is largely contributed by his perception of blind men from movies. He feels that it is strange for Robert not to wear dark glasses yet his eyes looked weird. Narrator is so much disturbed by the fact that Robert cannot perfectly use his eyes to see instead of concentrating on the Robert’s understanding and ability to clearly think and feel things deeply (Carver 186-190).2. The narrator is unable to describe cathedral perhaps because he is not religious and therefore cathedrals are meaningless to him.

Inability to describe cathedral shows that the narrator lacks insight and self-awareness thus leading him to a journey to self-realization as he realizes the limitations of his outlook. Although the narrator can literally see things, he does not pay much attention to what he does with his eyes. He does not understand what being blind entails particularly due to the fact that Robert understands what cathedral looks like even without visual knowledge.3. The blind man tells the writer to close his eyes while closing his eyes so that he can deeply understand and concentrate what he is doing by having a true sight with the real meaning lying within vision.

Robert hopes to teach the narrator a way of looking inward to gain deeper understanding of himself and to see excellent reality. He realizes the depth in genuineness that disturbs the narrator by quietly listening to him while he struggles to describe cathedral. The narrator seems to enjoy the experience of closing his eyes while drawing cathedral. The newfound knowledge and understanding makes him believe that the experience was a very important aspect in his journey to self-realization. Narrator feels that his inner eyes that are based on his mind but not literal eyes are more important (Carver 196).4. Cathedral represents true sight of Robert.

His ability to see beyond his blind eyes is greatly portrayed by his deeper understanding and knowledge of Cathedral. Cathedral further shows Robert’s Christian religion. The blind man seems comfortable with his situation thus making him to understand more than what the narrator understands. This can be seen when he asks the narrator to close his eyes while drawing cathedral. Cathedral also depicts creativity of Robert and his ability to understand the issues surrounding the narrator. Cathedral symbolizes the narrator’s awakening and journey to self-realization by gaining insight into his own life while drawing the picture of cathedral.

Cathedral symbolizes transition from depending on literal eyes to the use of mind eyes by appreciating the experience he got from closing his eyes while drawing the cathedral. Narrator’s attitude towards blind people and life dramatically changes since he can see beyond what is immediately visible (Carver 196).Works CitedCarver, Raymond. "Cathedral." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Ed. Cassill, R.V. and Richard Bausch. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2000. 186-196. Print.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Cathedral by Raymond Carver Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/english/1622002-cathedral-by-raymond-carver
(Cathedral by Raymond Carver Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words - 2)
https://studentshare.org/english/1622002-cathedral-by-raymond-carver.
“Cathedral by Raymond Carver Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words - 2”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/english/1622002-cathedral-by-raymond-carver.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Cathedral by Raymond Carver

Analysis of Cathedral Short Story by Raymond Carver

The man realizes that there are much more pragmatic… raymond carver's short story, Cathedral, is a about a man who meets his wife's blind friend.... During this meeting the narrator is deeply affected by the blind man, CATHEDRAL Cathedral raymond carver Weekend Short Story CATHEDRAL 2 This is a story of a blind man's visit which by chance affects an unsuspecting person who suffers from loneliness and poor communication with others and tries to combat these with excessive use of alcohol and drugs....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Cathedral Written by Raymond Carver

The paper "Cathedral Written by raymond carver " discusses that the story lays a lot of emphasis on drinking as well.... Cathedral, written by raymond carver is a story with a number of deep hidden meanings and symbols.... The act of preparing drinks and consuming them helps to provide the story with the flow because this action has been repeated a number of times....
1 Pages (250 words) Book Report/Review

Analysis paper on Cathedralby Raymond Carver

The setting creates a favorable atmosphere for the The Role of Setting in the Short Story cathedral cathedral is an intriguing piece that describes the impact a blind man imparts on the narrator.... Due to lack of vision, Robert cannot imagine the appearance of a cathedral.... The situation at hand forces the narrator to try to paint a picture of a cathedral using words but fails.... Together, they draw a cathedral on paper....
2 Pages (500 words) Assignment

Thesis statement&outline

The “Cathedral” by raymond carver and “Lady with the Pet Dog" are some of the most widely read and analyzed pieces of… However, a new dimension seeking to discover interpretation of the stories in the modern context can be engaged. The short story talks about a couple who had an interesting encounter with a blind man who was an intimate friend to the narrator's wife.... The “Cathedral” by raymond carver and “Lady with the Pet Dog" are some of the most widely read and analyzed pieces of literature....
1 Pages (250 words) Research Paper

The Common Denominators of Human Experience in Literature

Cathedral by Raymond Carver This story was published in 1983 by Raymond Carver and it explores the denominators of human experience through which human beings may recognize themselves, and converse with each other no matter how different their professions.... More so, the narrator is uneasy with his wife's relationship with the blind man (carver 35).... This communication connects the two people as the narrator is able to interact with other people (carver 108)....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Presentation of Love in Sleep by Murakami and Cathedral by Carver

This paper, Presentation of Love in Sleep by Murakami and Cathedral by Carver, presents Sleep by Haruki Murakami and Cathedral by Raymond Carver which are two famous short stories which address the theme of love relationships in their plots.... carver's Cathedral written in 1983 is considered to be the best story of the writer.... carver resorts to existential in his narration....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

2 drafts to peer review

Could this be a hint or start Teacher Raymond Carver's Cathedral The draft is a nice summary of the reading Cathedral by Raymond Carver.... For example, why will Richard would like to have Bub drew him a picture of a cathedral knowing that Bub is not a religious person who does not believe in anything.... For example, why will Richard would like to have Bub drew him a picture of a cathedral knowing that Bub is not a religious person who does not believe in anything....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Crytical Analysis

I think this piece… This short story proves to be one with a great lesson. “Cathedral” is a piece of literature wrote by a renowned writer named raymond carver.... raymond carver was a writer par excellence who believed in being minimal.... raymond carver wrote three collections of short stories which followed minimalism theme.... raymond carver described the emotions and anger of the husband quite beautifully with his craft of writing....
4 Pages (1000 words) Research Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us