Cathedral by Raymond Carver - Book Report/Review Example

Cathedral The introductory paragraph of Carvers Raymond’s short story “cathedral” presents the life of a man and his wifewho have a male friend (Robert). The male friend appears to be blind –the other side of life. The narrator tells us the ideas he had about the blind, which seem to be different from what he is subjected to. The narrator uses “blindness” to paint a picture of what people tend to ignore but influences our lives so much that in anything, we do; a portrayal of the idea is evident. The key symbol of the “cathedral” helps to reinforce the image of what we cannot see but we can deduce the same information as those who have the means to access it-disability is not inability. The narrator gives a storyline of a blind man named Robert. The man was employer to his wife before they became married (Carver 1-2). He says that they kept in touch even after she left the job through tapes and using mails to update ones progress. She moved from Seattle to another town where she got married to the narrator that was ten years after. She had the passion of writing poems but what was evident is that she loved the pleasant moments she shared with Robert more than with her husband. Robert was now to come and spend the night with them after his wife’s death (Beulah) who was also his employee after the narrator’s wife. The news did not move him since he knew that they were once sweethearts and being close would in one way, or another rekindle their relationship. He said to his wife, “maybe I could take him bowling” (Carver 3). This shows that he was jealous. She went to pick him from deport and from her behavior that is how she conducted herself in his presence was very different from when they ware together. She seemed so happy as compared to when she entered the house with Robert and met the narrator (Carver 4). After they arrive home, the introduction seems so obvious that the narrator does not feel at ease to start a conversation with Robert. This is shown when he enquired what side of the train he sat on and the kind of response she gave him shows that he is dominated in that house. Her interruption makes him look like an idiot before Robert. Robert was in his late 40s by then. He did not use a walking stick nor did he bother to cover his blindness with sunglasses. In most societies, women are the one given the responsibility to serve drinks; in this case, the narrator seems more of houses help as opposed to being a husband. This is evident when he says, “let me go and get you a drink” (Carver 5). The narrator seems more of a stranger than the visitor. Robert seems to have more freedom than the owner does since his wife seems to concentrate more on his well-being than that of her husband. When he turns on the television set, his wife seemed angry at his decision rather than accepting it. She looked at Robert and enquired if he had only one set to make sure that he was not offended by her husband’s choice (Carver 7). She asked him if he had, a television set at his home and in reply; he told her that he had one colored and a black and white one. This triggers the question how he knew the difference between colored and not colored when he could not see. She fell asleep and left the two together. For sometimes they did not have anything to talk about. However, after some time the TV aired a program in cathedral that caught their attention, and they started discussing what each understood about them in Paris and Italy. They made a comparison of Portuguese’s cathedral with the Italian and French (Carver 10). The storyteller wanted to discern Robert understanding of cathedral. This led them to converse and seem together and free than ever when Robert asked him to bring a pen and a paper for them to draw together (Carver 12-13). The author seems a down to earth individual who does not ask many questions. He is open to follow direction given by anyone even if he or she is a stranger, “…just begin now like am telling you…”( Carver 12-13). Carver’s topic story ‘cathedral’ seems vague and unidirectional. This is evident by the fact that two-thirds of the short story shows the relationship that exists between the three characters. It explores the relationship that seem to exist between the “blind man’ and his wife. He contends that the relationship is more than a friendship. In his story, the narrator expounds on how the two met, what brought them together, his conclusions on their conversation and the analysis of their behavior. He also analyzes the phrases used by the’ other man’ to refer to his wife “Do I look distinguished, my dear” (Carver 5)? From the story, we can get information that both the blind and the officer’s wife had a close affair. This was before she got married and that the blind had an affair to any female employee he had after ‘her’ and still had an interest in each other. As noted by the narrator, “Beulah had gone to work for the blind man the summer after my wife had stopped working for him” (Carver 3). “Pretty soon Beulah and the blind man had a church wedding” (Carver 3). It is evident from this statement that the blind man had no work ethics. This is simply because of having affairs with his employees. The narrator seemed unhappy and reluctant when he first met Robert. This is because he knew so well that the ‘blind man’ as he is referred was just coming to see his old sweetheart before he got married to Beulah, who had just died from cancer. They had kept in touch even after they were both married, and this made him to become jealous. He had heard praise of the good moments they had with his wife before him. The protagonist of the story shows that Robert, who is the blind man, shows the narrator direction on how to draw the cathedral. In real sense, the narrator is the one supposed to show Robert how to draw “Press hard,” he said to me. “That’s right. That is good…Sure. You got it, bub. I can tell. You did not think you could. But you can, can’t you?”(Carver 12-13). In conclusion, this short story by Carvers tries to educate us that we should not look down upon people who in the real sense seem challenged. This is because, they are in one way or the other gifted in other areas better than us and sometimes in life we could even need their help. For example, Robert helped the narrator draw a cathedral but he did not have the sense of sight. We should always be positive in everything if we have to change our perspective in life. Our direction is always determined by the way we carry ourselves in presence of others. The narrators trait of jealousy if not controlled would have hindered him from knowing the positive part of the ‘blind man’. Given that Robert and the narrators wife were ones sweethearts. It is evident that one’s first love have more weight as compared to the other and disability does not put a boundary to who one can love or not. Works Cited Carver, Raymond. “Cathedral.” 1-14. Read More