Analysis of Carver's Cathedral - Book Report/Review Example

Critical Analysis of Carver’s Story, “Cathedral” Introduction Raymond Carver’s Cathedral’s literary excellence lies in itsingénue approach to the presentation of the theme and the ingenuity of the narration. Ironical simplicity in all the setting, plot, characterization, narration, diction, sentence pattern, composition, etc makes the story greatly palatable for the readers while it tantalizes them to brood over the underlying theme, that is, the crisis of modern individualism. Throughout the progress of the story, Carver has attempted to divulge the root of modern man’s problems such as loneliness and interpersonal communication failure through the symbolical use of blindness. In the story “Cathedral”, eyesight as well as blindness has played a significant role to work out the theme social alienation engendered by communication gap. Indeed “blindness and sight” is embedded within both the structure and the content of the story. The author essentially propounds that, though blessed with eyesight; the crust of individualism does not let modern man see what lies beneath the surface or appearance. Indeed Carver’s narrator is one of those commoners who never want to go through the stress to interpret mindfully what they are attached to. Ingénue Simplicity in the story’s Plot Indeed the plot of Carver’s story is ironically simple. It is endowed with a great fluidity of expression that enables the readers to read the story palatably. Apparently it details a homely dialogue between a narrator and his guest Richard, a blind man who is paying visit to Richard’s house. Like any other homely conversation the story’s plot also continues having no apparent predestined goal. But elements like the blind guest’s success in bonding a relationship, in opposition the narrator’s failure, etc make this apparent simplicity ironical and provoke Carver’s readers to delve deep in what lies beneath the surface level of the story. Regarding the ironical simplicity of the story, Carol Simpson Stern says that like other stories of Carver, the Cathedral’s plot is “about people who work mindlessly, drink, have broken marriages, and take in life, not directly, but through an immersion in mediated images” (1). Indeed the ‘blindness’ of the narrator has been used as an irony in the structure of the whole story. The narrator relates the story in his own way that provides the readers with the opportunities to look into the communicational incapability in his character. Analysis of Major characters All the two major characters of the “Cathedral” are those who do not stand alone in the society; rather they are submerged in the society and fraught with all the characteristics of a modern man. In the story, the unnamed narrator, the only developing character, is self-doubting, introvert, and self-absorbed. At the beginning of the story, he lacks communication skills. But as the story progresses, he, breaking his comfort zone of “nonchalant detachment”, gradually learns to decode the unfathomable meaning of the blind man’s long-lasting relationship with his wife and eventually forges a true connection with him. One of the stories’ themes is to unearth and uphold the root cause of modern man’s failure to forge a successful relationship and to perceive what lies beneath the materialistic existence, coming out the crust of individualism induced by materialism. This theme has prudently been applied in the literary relationship that exists among the three characters of the blind man, Robert and Robert’s wife who are the characters in focus. These three characters uphold the three themes of religion, public relations and composition. The author cautiously and sensibly engages these characters to explicate and, at the same time, explain the theme. Internal and External Conflicts in the Story In the story the narrator is in conflict with his blind guest Richard. He is quite annoyed at the blind man’s visit and a bit jealous of his relation (Richard’s) with his wife. Indeed the narrator’s failure to acknowledge the blind man’s existence results in his conflict (the narrator’s) with him. Modern man’s crisis is vividly evident in the narrator’s confession. Coming out of the nonchalant individualism and going beyond the media-induced ethereal reality the narrator is unable to form a warm relationship with his near ones as well as to grab the essence of a cathedral: “I wasn’t enthusiastic about the visit.  He was no one I knew.  And his being blind bothered me.  My idea of blindness came from the movies.  In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed.” () He is in quite contradiction with the blind guest who is above all these illusive realities. The narrator is also in conflict with his wife. Throughout the progression of the story, the narrator wonders why and how the blind man continues a successful relationship between his wife Beulah and the narrator’s wife. On the surface level the narrator’s wonder at Robert’s successful relationship seems to be quite reasonable. In the beginning of the story, the readers will agree with the way he thinks about the blind man Robert: “I found myself thinking what a pitiful life this woman must have led. Imagine a woman who could never see herself as she was seen in the eyes of her loved one. A woman who could go on day after day and never receives the smallest compliment from her beloved.” (3) It is until the middle part of the story where the readers surprisingly learn that the narrator’s wife is more emotionally attached to the blind man than the narrator, as in the second paragraph the narrator comments, “My wife finally took her eyes off the blind man and looked at me. I had the feeling she didnt like what she saw” (Carver 3). Use of Point of View Though simplistic, the point of view from which the story has been narrated ironically provokes the readers to think over the story’s central theme. The unnamed narrator describes his wife and her relationship with the blind man. Obviously he describes the story in his own way. Without resorting to verbal smokescreen he expresses unashamedly his thought about the blind man and his relationship with the wife. Indeed the readers learn about all of the major characters the narrator, his wife and his blind guest Richard, through the narrator’s eyes. The narrator’s narration is evaluative through the most part of the story. Carver’s superiority lies in the fact that though his narrator solely enjoys the opportunity to narrate it does not bias a reader’s judgment. Rather a reader is kept at a safe distance from where he/she can judge the narrator also. The irony in Richard’s narration is that he continually wonders about the blind man’s closeness with the people around him. He takes it for granted that blindness is a type of hindrance in the way of intimate relationship. But he himself fails to understand that though he is blessed with eyesight, he is not as close to his wife as Robert is. In the second paragraph he simply comments, “My wife finally took her eyes off the blind man and looked at me. I had the feeling she didnt like what she saw” (Carver 3). Analysis of the Setting of the Story The story’s homely familiar and indoor setting rather intensifies the story’s quality of being apparently simple. The narrator’s house is an ordinary place and this homely ordinariness reflects the narrator’s ordinariness also. This ordinariness of the setting is emblematic of the life of a common modern man. The room in which the narrator and his guest share their ideas represents a modern man’s living style that is endowed with the blessing of modern technology. The narrator’s discussion room has a television and the most significant symbol, the cathedral appears on the screen of this instrument first. The narrator’s capability to see symbolically refers to his proximity with modern technology-equipped lifestyle. On the other hand, the blind guest Richard is detached from this setting, to a great extent, because of his blindness. Finally the narrator also transcends the physical reality by going beyond the concrete setting of the story: “My eyes were still closed.  I was in my house.  I knew that.  But I didnt feel like I was inside anything” (Carver 4). Symbolism in the Story: Ironical Blindness The simple blindness of the narrator’s guest in the story ironically turns to be more meaningful at the end. Throughout the most part of blindness of Richard exists as an accepted reality of human life. Richard is blind, but he is endowed with some extra qualities. The narrator wonders at Richard’s ten-year old relationship with his wife. He cannot comprehend what enables him to continue a relationship for so long. Concurrently the readers also perceive that there is something else that the narrator cannot see. The ironical blindness of the character is revealed more obviously through the contrast between the perception levels of the narrator and the blind man. Indeed it is the cathedral episode -on the TV in the story- that reveals the narrator’s blindness most. The Cathedral on the TV is viewed and interpreted differently by the two characters. But the difference of their interpretations allows the readers to gauge the narrator’s diminutive perception level and his incapability to see beneath the surface of human relationship. Indeed the irony in the narrator vision is that though he is blessed with eyesight, he cannot describe what a “cathedral” looks like. It is not that the narrator can’t view the cathedral in the way the Robert views. Rather he is one of the mindless commoners who do not bother about interpreting the meaning behind the structure and outward appearance of the cathedral. This passivity to look into the stern reality of life like blindness is his evaluation of his blind guest, as he confesses, “My idea of blindness came from movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed and sometimes they were led by seeing- eye dogs” (Carver 5). It simply refers to his mindlessness, in other word the mindlessness of modern people, to judge carefully what they are shown on TV or some other modern technology. Finally the narrator becomes aware of his own blindness. Though he confesses that cathedral is not anything special to him, at the end of the story, he perceives that the cathedral is “really something” (Carver 5). Tone and the elements in the story which create it This ironical blindness of the narrator to view his own communication gap with his wife puts the story to the readers’ open interpretation, Dianne Andrews Henningfield says, “Cathedral can be called an open text. That is, the story is a text that encourages its readers to actively participate in meaning-making; in other words, readers must act as sociologists, reading the signs that Carver leaves” (1). In this regard the narrator’s recount of his wife’s past with her early husband and the blind man Robert helps the readers to interpret the meaning behind the narration. The narrator especially focuses on those events that show that in spite of the catastrophes in her early conjugal life, the man with whom his wife maintained a close relationship is the blind man Robert. Thus by interpreting the relationship of the narrator’s wife with the blind man and also with the narrator the readers come to learn about what the narrator himself cannot see in the relationship of Robert with others, as in this regard, Henningfield says, “the narrator tells the reader about his wifes past; through his inclusion of certain details, such as her suicide attempt, and the exclusion of others, such as his own feelings for her” (2). Indeed the narrator depicts the characters of his wife and the blind man in his own way, but the readers construct these characters including the narrator’s character also by accumulating and evaluating various information that the narrator unknowingly remits to the readers through his readers, as Henningfield says, “the narrator constructs the character of his wife for the reader. However, the reader actively participates in the construction of the narrators wife by “reading between the lines” (3). Conclusion Ironical or ingénue simplicity is the most subtle technique that has been marvelously used in the story’s composition. Eyesight as well as blindness has played significant role in the development of the story. It has been used in both content and structure of the novel. In the beginning of the story, the narrator of the story remains obsessed with the blindness of his wife’s friend. But ultimately the readers become aware of the fact that it is the narrator who cannot see even though he is blessed with eyesight. Carver’s narrator is not crooked in nature. Also it is not that he deliberately continues to be a rude, arrogant and inarticulate person. Rather he cannot feel the way he behaves and interacts with the people at his surroundings. He cannot view that the way how he interacts with the blind visitor and his wife is the root cause of his alienation. This is because he cannot perceive why and how the relationship between the blind man and his wife survives for a long time. Work cited Carver, Raymond. Cathedral. University of Michigan, 1983 Henningfeld, Diane Andrews. "Cathedral." Short Stories for Students. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 25 Apr. 2010. Available at Stern, Carol Simpson. "Cathedral: Overview." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Web. 25 Apr. 2010. Available at Read More

But as the story progresses, he, breaking his comfort zone of “nonchalant detachment”, gradually learns to decode the unfathomable meaning of the blind man’s long-lasting relationship with his wife and eventually forges a true connection with him. One of the stories’ themes is to unearth and uphold the root cause of modern man’s failure to forge a successful relationship and to perceive what lies beneath the materialistic existence, coming out the crust of individualism induced by materialism.

This theme has prudently been applied in the literary relationship that exists among the three characters of the blind man, Robert and Robert’s wife who are the characters in focus. These three characters uphold the three themes of religion, public relations and composition. The author cautiously and sensibly engages these characters to explicate and, at the same time, explain the theme. Internal and External Conflicts in the Story In the story the narrator is in conflict with his blind guest Richard.

He is quite annoyed at the blind man’s visit and a bit jealous of his relation (Richard’s) with his wife. Indeed the narrator’s failure to acknowledge the blind man’s existence results in his conflict (the narrator’s) with him. Modern man’s crisis is vividly evident in the narrator’s confession. Coming out of the nonchalant individualism and going beyond the media-induced ethereal reality the narrator is unable to form a warm relationship with his near ones as well as to grab the essence of a cathedral: “I wasn’t enthusiastic about the visit.

  He was no one I knew.  And his being blind bothered me.  My idea of blindness came from the movies.  In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed.” () He is in quite contradiction with the blind guest who is above all these illusive realities. The narrator is also in conflict with his wife. Throughout the progression of the story, the narrator wonders why and how the blind man continues a successful relationship between his wife Beulah and the narrator’s wife. On the surface level the narrator’s wonder at Robert’s successful relationship seems to be quite reasonable.

In the beginning of the story, the readers will agree with the way he thinks about the blind man Robert: “I found myself thinking what a pitiful life this woman must have led. Imagine a woman who could never see herself as she was seen in the eyes of her loved one. A woman who could go on day after day and never receives the smallest compliment from her beloved.” (3) It is until the middle part of the story where the readers surprisingly learn that the narrator’s wife is more emotionally attached to the blind man than the narrator, as in the second paragraph the narrator comments, “My wife finally took her eyes off the blind man and looked at me.

I had the feeling she didnt like what she saw” (Carver 3). Use of Point of View Though simplistic, the point of view from which the story has been narrated ironically provokes the readers to think over the story’s central theme. The unnamed narrator describes his wife and her relationship with the blind man. Obviously he describes the story in his own way. Without resorting to verbal smokescreen he expresses unashamedly his thought about the blind man and his relationship with the wife. Indeed the readers learn about all of the major characters the narrator, his wife and his blind guest Richard, through the narrator’s eyes.

The narrator’s narration is evaluative through the most part of the story. Carver’s superiority lies in the fact that though his narrator solely enjoys the opportunity to narrate it does not bias a reader’s judgment. Rather a reader is kept at a safe distance from where he/she can judge the narrator also. The irony in Richard’s narration is that he continually wonders about the blind man’s closeness with the people around him. He takes it for granted that blindness is a type of hindrance in the way of intimate relationship.

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