Blog Post #1- Cathedral



           

Aubree Monares

August 26, 2017

Literature

 

Blog Post #1: Cathedral

            When first introduced to the narrator of this story, we learn that he has a somewhat prejudice worldview. The narrator makes it very clear that he was uncomfortable with the idea of having his wife’s blind friend, Robert, stay in his home. I know this because he says, “A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to.” This behavior from the narrator makes it evident that he is narrow-minded and uneducated about the blind. The narrator explains that his idea of blindness, “came from the movies,” where blind people were portrayed as moving slowly and never laughing. I also noticed the narrator’s judgmental outlook because of the way he talks about Robert’s wife. The narrator asks his own wife about Robert’s wife who had passed away. The narrator’s wife explains that Robert’s wife’s name is Beulah. Upon hearing this, the narrator exclaims, “That’s a name for a colored woman!” The narrator’s negative reaction towards the possibility of Robert’s wife being a person of color shows that he may look down upon people who are different than him.

At the beginning of the story, I do not find the narrator sympathetic. The narrator seems cold and unwelcoming towards Robert, because of his false perception of blind people. However, as the story progresses and the narrator learns more about Robert, he becomes more sympathetic and compassionate. When the narrator discovers that he and Robert share some of the same interests, such as the kind of alcohol he likes to drink and his enjoyment of television, the narrator seems to feel more comfortable around Robert. The height of the narrator’s sympathy towards Robert is evident when the two men are awake watching television while the narrator’s wife sleeps. Robert asks the narrator to explain what a cathedral looks like, and then Robert asks the narrator to draw it. It seems like a strange request at first, but when Robert puts his hand on the narrator’s hand to feel the motion of the pen on the paper, the narrator seemed to gain a connection with Robert through the drawing.

Something unusual that I realized about this story is that the narrator never calls the blind man by his real name. The blind man’s name is Robert, but the narrator only refers to him as “the blind man” throughout the story. Why is that? Could it symbolize the narrator’s lack of respect for Robert because he is blind? Also, what does the Cathedral symbolize in this story? What is the Cathedral’s significance? Lastly, why does the author end the story without giving more details about how Robert and the narrator’s friendship progresses, if it does?

           

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 27, 2017 at 9:50 AM

    Aubree, In your blog, I very much enjoyed this. I enjoyed how you told your readers, "The blind man’s name is Robert, but the narrator only refers to him as “the blind man” throughout the story", and asked a question soon after. To me it seems as though the narrator has no respect for the blind man and allows himself to be higher than who the blind man is, just because he can see. It seems to me, you did a wonderful job portraying the narrator as an antagonist.

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  2. AnonymousSeptember 27, 2017 at 9:50 AM

    Carver created a distinct antihero in the narrator in being a flawed man framed as being mediocre at best and terrible at worst. When he describes his wife turning on the sofa as "exposing a juicy thigh," not only does that highlight his clinging nature towards his wife but contributes towards a list of flaws highlighted throughout the text (Carver 39).

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