Cathedral

The coming of age story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver gives the account of a superficial narrator who resents the relationship between his wife and a blind man. Furthermore, he lets his preconceived prejudices obstruct his own views of his wife's friend who is physically blind. However by the end of the story the narrator learns a valuable lesson from the blind man he could not have foreseen.

The point of view of this story is very important. "Cathedral" is told from the very close-minded view of a first person major character. In the beginning the narrator is obviously aggravated with the "arrangements" his wife has made without his consent.(168) A blind man his wife had worked for prior to their marriage is on his way to spend the night while nearby visiting relatives after his wife's death from cancer.

The relationship between the narrator's wife, whose name is never given, and Robert is a very close one. On the last day she worked for Robert, "he touched his fingers to every part of her face, her nose - even her neck!"(168) This gives an example of how the blind man takes in the things he cannot see with his eyes. It has now been some time since they've seen each other but they kept in touch by sending tapes back and forth updating each other on current events in their lives. "She told him everything, or so it seemed to me," the narrator says. (169)

From the beginning it is evident that the narrator is a very self-centered and superficial person. He does not like the idea of a blind man coming and staying at his house. "I wasn't enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me." (168) This statement displays how the narrator does not understand or even sympathize with the blind man after losing his wife. He simply sticks to his stereotypes he has drawn from movies about blind people. "In the movies the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they were led by seeing-eye dogs." (168) It also becomes quite clear that his wife disapproves of his attitude toward Robert and fails to see how he could be so self-centered. "My wife finally took her eyes off the blind man and looked at me. I had the feeling she didn't like what she saw. I shrugged" (171)

The relationship between the narrator and his wife is not a healthy one to say the least. When he is describing her relationship with the blind man, the tapes and the poetry she writes, he often uses the word etcetera which suggests that he does not care enough to go into detail. Also, the narrator even reveals that he doesn't think much of her poetry. Because he does not appreciate her poetry and the tapes, it can be assumed that he does not appreciate her either.

The other emotion highly present from the beginning is that of the attitude of Robert. We are introduced to what appears to be a quick witted and pleasant man, especially considering the recent death of his wife. His cheerfulness is established by his referring to the narrator as "Bub" (172) within the first minutes of his arrival. This gesture shows how comfortable Robert is in the setting and also establishes the strong difference between the personality differences of he and the narrator. This also creates the main conflict the narrator faces in the story in trying to look past his stereotypes and jealousies toward Robert and accepting his company.

The narrator's initial views of Robert are indeed evident for not only does he seem jealous but he goes as far as to stereotype Robert due to his blindness. "He also had a full beard. But he didn't use a cane and he didn't wear dark glasses. I'd always thought dark glasses were a must for the blind." (171) This statement shows the author's ignorance and seems to be just another attempt to find an aspect not to like. He later even refers to Robert's eyes as "Creepy." (172) The blind man still, though he probably senses the narrator's dislike for him, proceeds to be upbeat and tries his best to