Cathedral Raymond Carver Analysis - 1212 Words

In â€Å"Cathedral,† Carver’s use of visualization and climactic change of character emphasizes the theme that looking and seeing are two very different things. When Raymond Carver had his wife’s blind friend, Robert, join them for a few days, he should’ve been more understanding and empathetic with Robert’s blindness instead of just avoiding it or brushing it off as if it’s not there. Carver did very well in changing his ways and learning to accept and understand Robert. Carver also did a good job of differentiating the acts of seeing something and really understanding something or someone. At first, he disliked Robert because he was blind. Carver even pondered over how Robert could’ve loved his late wife if he couldn’t see her, showing his†¦show more content†¦His wife repeatedly shows feelings of disgust and lashes out at Carver when he expresses this quality, saying things like, â€Å"Are you crazy? Have you flippe d or something? What’s wrong with you? Are you drunk?† (1). Even after hearing Robert’s tragic story of how his wife died of cancer and he was left with little to no money, Carver still refused to understand Robert’s predicament and called him â€Å"pathetic† as well as commenting that he can’t imagine how Robert could have loved Beulah if he never saw her. This point cements Carver’s ineptitude of empathy and understanding throughout the story, as well as perfectly symbolizing how harmful stubbornness of beliefs and views can be. However, when Robert arrives, Carver’s actions have more serious consequences than he believed at the beginning of the story, and must change accordingly. Carver and his wife rarely show affection for each other and it seems that his wife is always irritated with him. She expresses this while constantly giving angry feedback to the things that Carver says to Robert. Now, while Carver may not care for h is wife’s poetry, or even try to understand how she feels at times, Robert seems to care very deeply about her. They’ve sent audio tapes to each other, back and forth for ten years so that they could keep in touch and always talk about their lives. It is not surprising that Carver isn’t talked about in much of the tapes since he is rarely â€Å"there† for his wife. Evidence for this lies in hisShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Cathedral By Raymond Carver Essay830 Words   |  4 PagesMistakable Judgments An Analysis of â€Å"Cathedral† Raymond Carver wrote a long-lived short story name â€Å"Cathedral†. Where a divorced women remarried after a hard experience to a person who is struggling to accept his wife’s very long relationship with a blind man. Her new husband suspiciousness controls his emotions and draw his thoughts falsely. As her very old friendship was having an unfortunate event that his wife had passed away, he arranged with her a visit to their house, which concerned herRead MoreAnalysis Of Raymond Carver s Cathedral1696 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction: Everyone has ghosts in their closets; something they are running from, or trying to bury alive. Cathedral, written by Raymond Carver, takes place in the early 1980’s. Originally published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1981. Carver slightly revised the story and re-released it in 1983. At a time when the blue collar working class lived paycheck to paycheck, working hard for newfound luxuries such as color television, this short story is humorous and eye-opening for the reader. For adultsRead MoreRaymond Carver Cathedral Analysis1231 Words   |  5 PagesIn Raymond Carver’s â€Å"Cathedral†, it tells the story of a man whose wife one summer, worked for a blind man. The blind man and the husband’s wife, kept in touch throughout the years by sending cassettes back and forth in the mail. The blind man’s wife recently died and the husband’s wife invites him to say in her home, but her husband is displeased by this request. In the beginning of the story, the husband is very rude to the blind man and finds amusement by making fun of the blind man’s disabilityRead MoreAnalysis Of Raymond Carver s Cathedral 1648 Words   |  7 Pages Cathedral is a capitivating story based on the lives of the narrator, his wife and a blind man. Raymond Carver is the author of this story, and he does an excellent job allowing the reader to delve into the lives of these characters. Through using the thoughts of the narrator, the reader is able to grab our attention because the story is made more realistic. The views expressed by the narrator in many senses exemplify the views of many in society and therefore the reader is able to make an emotionalRead MoreAnalysis Of `` Cathedral `` By Raymond Carver920 Words   |  4 PagesRaymond Carver’s unnamed narrator in â€Å"Cathedral† provides a first-person point of view. This perspective opens a clear window into the feelings, attitudes, and the isolation of the unnamed narrator. The narrator’s tone of voice reveals his feelings and personality. This contributes to the story’s themes because the reader comes to understand things that the narrator never dir ectly or deliberately reveals; as a result, the reader comes to empathize with the narrator more deeply. Isolation and lonelinessRead MoreAnalysis Of Raymond Carver Cathedral1260 Words   |  6 PagesRaymond Carver is often known for his writing style known as minimalism, a style that often uses short phrases or sentences that convey a great amount of meaning. Carver’s â€Å"Cathedral† is full of minimalism, whether it be short and repetitive dialogue or brief thoughts that go through the narrators mind. These intentionally precise sentences are full of meaning, whether it be the importance of communication, or the lack of, the underlying tones of death and jealously, or even the psychological connectionRead MoreAnalysis Of Cathedral By Raymond Carver1541 Words   |  7 PagesA New Perspective Everyone at one point has judged a book by its cover. In the short story, â€Å"Cathedral†, Raymond Carver creates a narrator who bases off ideas and assumptions about blind people from movies. The narrator has never interacted with a blind person before the day where his wife invites her friend, who is named Robert, to stay. The narrator and Robert have never met, but the narrator has a strong dislike towards Robert before meeting. The narrator’s closed-mindedness and misconceptionsRead MoreRaymond Carver Cathedral Analysis985 Words   |  4 Pages In Raymond Carver’s story, â€Å"Cathedral,† we meet the nameless protagonist who is about to meet an old friend of his wife’s. The friend’s name is Robert and he is blind. In the beginning of the story, the narrator is uncomfortable with the idea of having someone with a disability, like Robert’s, in his home. He makes judgments about Robert and assumes that he is going to be like the b lind people he has seen in the movies. We also learn the background information about how hife wife and Robert metRead MoreCathedral By Raymond Carver Analysis1631 Words   |  7 Pages Cathedral is a short story written by American writer and poet Raymond Carver. (2017) The story was first published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1981 and appeared in The Americas Best Short Stories in 1982. (2012) In the short story cathedral, the narrator’s wife’s blind friend is coming to visit. The narrator isn’t thrilled about his wife’s blind friend coming to visit nor is he happy that the man is blind. Later in the evening the narrator experiences a life changing realization of the true meaningRead MoreAn Analysis Of Cathedral By Raymond Carver1441 Words   |  6 Pages Cathedral Research Paper The short story â€Å"Cathedral†, by Raymond Carver, is a thought provoking piece that focuses on the transition a man goes through to see the world with his soul. The story gives hope that people can change if given the chance to be better people. Over the course of the story, Carver uses both diction and description to explore themes in religion and morality. â€Å"Cathedral† depicts a husband and a wife as they prepare and entertain a friend of the wife. The husband, the narrator