"Cathedral," written by Raymond Carver, is about a person who is blind and is a friend of narrator’s wife. His name is Robert. Robert is going to meet narrator’s wife, who is his friend, after his wife’s death. The narrator feels unhappy that his wife’s friend is coming to their house to spend the night. His wife has gone to pick the blind person from the train station while the narrator stays at home. When his wife arrives at home, he sees from the window and feels bad because his wife is laughing with Robert and hugging him on her arm. Robert and the narrator’s wife have worked at the same office before their marriage. She worked as the reader for Robert. She tells her husband that at the last day of her office Robert touched her face, and she wrote a poem about her experience. The narrator’s wife and blind man keep in touch with each other by sending the tape back and forth. After Robert reaches their home narrator’s wife introduces him with her husband. The narrator asks his wife to take Robert for bowling, but she feels upset and tells her husband about Robert’s wife Beulah who died recently. She tells the narrator that Beulah was also working for blind man before she got married with him. The narrator thinks how awful it must have been for Beulah to know that her husband could never look at her. They have the dinner and have conversation about Robert’s trip. The narrator finds the blind man weird because he has not put on his glasses. They watch television and see the Cathedral in T.V. The narrator asks Robert about the Cathedral, and he tries to describe it but is unable to do a good job. So, Robert tells him that it’s difficult to explain and asks him to bring a piece of paper. Robert asks the narrator to close his eyes and keep drawing, and narrator does so. With his eyes still closed he says the drawing is “really something.” The central idea of the story is that we should not underestimate the abilities of handicapped people because they might be smarter than the physically capable people. The narrator’s tone is a critical element in a good story, and we can see various tones used throughout this story as well. The ironic tone is reflected in the central idea that Carver used to convey to the readers in his story. The narrator tries to imagine how a blind person can see by closing his eyes and imagining the Cathedral. Carver uses the first person (I) narrator as the story’s point of view. The protagonist narrator and the antagonist Robert are used as a characterization technique to build the story. Both the internal and external conflict is used by the Carver to describe the story as well.
The main character, the narrator, a 1st person, faces a situation that reflects the story’s central idea. The protagonist is not shown as a good character in the beginning of the story. Although he is not physically blind, he displays a lack of vision and self- consciousness, which makes him even blinder than Robert. He seems to be narrow-minded against blind people. He does not like the relationship between Robert and his wife. The protagonist character is shown as, jealous, insignificant, and nasty because he doubts his own wife’s past relation with Robert. The narrator can see the people well, but has difficulty in understanding their thoughts and feeling. Robert, the blind antagonist, is shown as a kind man who takes time to learn and listen to others. He seems as friendly and open person because he and the narrator’s wife are sharing their past ten years of life with each other. Similarly, Robert is also responding her which portrays that he is a supporter and listener to others. Even though he is physically blind, he is able to see people’s inner thought and feelings. Carver uses the first person narrator (I) to develop the story. The unnamed narrator seems to be disturbed by the visit of blind man in his home. He is concerned about what role does Robert plays in his wife’s past. The narrator’s thoughts towards the blind man are pathetic stereotype. He finds it weird after seeing Robert cut meat on his plate during dinner, the way Robert smokes cigarette, and not wearing glasses. The use of first person narrator in the story helps the reader to draw their attention into the story. It also makes the readers feel closer to the narrator by describing his own point of view throughout the story. The drawback of this point of view could be biased in favoring the narrator. The story revolves around the conflict between the narrator himself, his wife, and Robert. Both the internal and external conflict is portrayed in the story. The narrator’s conflict in his mind after Robert’s visit to his house is the internal conflict with himself. He is thinking of his wife’s past relation with the blind man. He faces his greatest challenge of unique and mental shock after seeing the behavior of Robert. He is more envious about the other male being more powerful than him. The external conflict is the narrator having with his wife after the arrival of blind man. The narrator’s wife does not seem to be happy with her husband and tries to commit suicide. The narrator does not like Robert being close to his wife. The narrator’s wife wants to be loved and nurtured by her husband, but it is impossible for him to understand emotional and physical affection towards his wife, which creates conflict between them. In conclusion, Carver uses the effective criteria to analyze the story: an effective use of characterization, an interesting set of conflicts, and the first person (I) narrator that most readers can easily understand and make prediction about the upcoming sequence of the story. He has provided an ironic message implied in the story’s central idea. It helps readers to understand and realize how a blind person who is physically handicapped could be more powerful than a capable person.