Diane Perry
Response Paper 1
Inside a Box

Raymond Carver’s the “Cathedral” takes place in somewhere upstate New York with an estimated time frame of a setting of late 1960’s to early 1070’s. The clues of how Robert should travel while coming and going passed the Hudson, should offer the reader a clue where the setting takes place. (Carver 109)The references in the story with a color television set, terms used in the text, the use of cassette tapes, and the use of marijuana would give the reader the impression of the timing of the story. The setting would appear to be a small town which symbolizes the thinking at that time and why the husband thinks the way he does throughout the story. References to traditional marriages, non- mixing of races during this time as well give the reader clues as to the importance of setting. Living in upstate New York would indicate that it was a small working town which correlates with the husband having the small town perception of something that is not the norm for him. In this story, Carver tells how a husband’s comfort zone, narrow-mindedness, and the ability to change how he communicates effectively will change throughout this story with a single, closely personal mind opening event.

The clues in the story definitely show that the husband's character is very narrow- minded when it comes to something out of his comfort zone. He judges things without exploring or opening his mind he makes snap judgments. He has preconceived notions based on conjecture. He presumes how a blind person should act, dress, and feel off of movies. “A beard on a blind man”. (Carver 108) The use of no cane or glasses shows how uneducated or cultured the husband is. (Carver 109) That tells the reader he thinks that a blind person is incapable of caring for themselves. The husband's notion is a blind person is this helpless human being needed to be waiting on hand and foot, until he meets Robert does this perception change. He assumes that the blind can feel like a “normal” person can because he lacks vision, which tells the reader he himself seems to have the inability to feel passed the outside and has great difficulty really seeing within someone. When you deal with someone from a small town they usually have a stereotype of many different people. Because being from a small town in this time frame you generally keep to yourself, did not travel outside your community. So therefore people from this type of environment usually have this mindset shared by the husband. This perception was uncommon, especially in an upstate New York, to have a relationship outside your race let alone be married outside your race. He calls the cassette tapes as just “harmless chitchat” that the wife uses to communicate with Robert. (Carver 107) This gave me the impression that he does not see that Robert and his wife have a far more intimate relationship then they themselves have. That Robert has the ability to really see within a person who in turn has a greater impact on a person then just seeing an expression. Because of the husband not having any experience prior this one, seemed to feel very uncomfortable, out of his comfort zone, even though the story takes place in his living room. He cannot see outside his own box. The husband has a small town mentality about many things which is very common during this time frame and a reflection of how setting plays a role in his character's attitude and behaviors.

In addition to his narrow-mindedness, the husband has much insecurity, especially when it comes to his comfort zone and being in close proximity with anyone including his wife. Now he has a man he knows little about, coming in his personal space, in his small house, invading his secure little environment, isolated from the rest of the world. “You don’t have any friends,” she said that tells us that he does not like people in his comfort zone, he is very comfortable by himself with his colored TV. (Carver 108) In small towns, generally the population does not have many cultural events to attend. If it was an agricultural town, men usually focus on work and their family, not focused on socializing with others. To deal with his uncomfortable situations he seems to drink a lot and with the use of marijuana seemed to calm him. The scene takes place in the small living room. The husband takes “the big chair” this showing that he is showing that he is dominant in his home he is the King of the Castle. (Carver 110) He does not sit next to Robert but away from him. He is very jealous when it came to Robert being in his home where before the reader got the impression that he could care less about his wife’s relationship with Robert. But now that he was in their home was a different story. He shows this by wanting to hear his wife to speak of him but there was just more talk about Robert. (Carver 110) With now being confronted with being close to someone besides his wife you seen how he does not deal well with being out of his comfort zone especially when the wife falls asleep the husband experience now becomes extremely personal.

Finally, the reader can see the husband exhibit the ability to communicate effectively. He went from not being able to describe, feel, to open himself to seeing a whole new world within the confines of his familiar home. He had to drop his personal barriers within his own home to go outside his comfort zone to really see passed just looking at something but to really look at something. It took Robert asking him to verbally describe the cathedral to drawing the cathedral. It took one person to make him come out of his box to experience an epiphany. It took a stranger’s touch to do this. “He found my hand, the hand with the pen. He closed his hand over my hand.” (Carver 115) He was in his own house, now close to someone that he normally would never dream of doing so. In this small room, his very own comfort zone, did the husband draw a box that could depict his very own home. When he closed his eyes it seemed to be the ultimate break down of all the husbands passed feelings, way he thought, the way he felt, the way he sees. As a result of the setting within his own home, the husband was able to come so close in proximity to someone where before he would have never done this. That was a very moment that he really seen like Robert seen things. “My eyes still closed. I was still in my house. I knew that. But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything.” (Carver 115)He experienced an out of body experience that it took for this stranger to come to his own home to be able to now communicate better not just with others but hopefully with his wife.

Throughout this story we see the husband have a very small town narrow mined mentality. The husband limited to his house, his small rooms and his only real view on things through TV. The husband didn’t seek to expand his horizons or his views. You see the husband’s insecurities and difficulty with people being in his comfort zone and the relationship that his wife had with Robert. If it wasn’t for the personal touch of a stranger the husband would still be in his little shell. Now the husband has a new outlook on life a view of seeing thing for what they are not just what he sees. The husband sees the true connection of the wife and Roberts bond with each other. One should not go through life so closed minded for you never know what shall come your way that you may miss out on if you don’t give it a chance. This is what the husband has learned and now is a better person and now well rounded just by one touch.
Carver, Raymond. “Cathedral.”
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry,
Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and
Dana Gioia. 12th ed. New York: Pearson, 2013.
106-115. Print.