Monday, April 22, 2013
Raymond Carver
"Cathedral" by Raymond Carver seems to me to be a story of a man that learns to accept and understand others who are not like him. The husband has issues about meeting this man from the very beginning of the story not only because he is a male friend of his wife but because he is a blind friend of his wife. The husband feels uncomfortable even when making conversations with this man during the beginning but slowly starts to change after smoking some weed and getting in a different mind zone. After conversing with the blind man throughout the night he begins to see the man as man and not a blind man. After getting more into the conversation the husband wants the man to understand whats going on on the tv, and the blind man suggest he draw him the Cathedral. I think this is the pivotal point in the story when the husband puts himself in the shoes of the other man. The moment the husband closed his eyes and "sees"what the other man sees, is the moment that i feel shined a light on the husband.
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I agree with you that a pivotal moment occurs when the narrator begins describing what's on the TV for Robert. At this point, the barrier of mistrust and unfamiliarity is broken. It's only upon describing the cathedrals to Robert that the narrator begins to see his own ineptitude, and see Robert more as a relatable human being, leading eventually to a major, almost existential breakthrough at the very end.
ReplyDeleteWhile the speaker for the majority of the story does not seem very likeable, I think he's very relatable. In "Cathedral" we're offered an opportunity to see inside the head of man who's life experience leads him to judge this blind man before even meeting him. We all are guilty of this in some way or another, based on the fact that we have grown up in American culture and have been constantly told by parents, siblings, the media, and even schools to be afraid of certain people, or that abnormality is negative. It's only when we're actually put in a immediate situation with someone of a different nature that we see these fears surface. The speaker in the story is able to overcome that, and realize that this experience with the blind is less about the blind man and more about himself.
The speaker or narrator has a problem with his wife's blind friend but finds himself being blinded by his bias opinion. The story is set up in such a way that the reader knows the narrator's bias toward the the blind man. All the narrator knows of the blind man is what his wife's recollection. Robert, the blind man, is coming to visit his friend but in reality the narrator has set up a bias toward him. Maybe that is the narrator's blindness, his inability to place himself outside his own views. At the end of the story the narrator is trying to get Robert comfortable at his home but is having a difficult time connecting with him. In order for the narrator to connect with Robert he has to enter his world. He needs to enter the world where sight is not used but uses other senses in order to viewed the world. The story's two pivotal events are the Robert's touching the narrator's wife face in order to see it. The second pivotal moment of the story is when the narrator is placing himself outside his biased world, and into the Robert's shoes while trying to described the seeing world to the blind mind.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to me why Raymond Carver chose a blind man, or blindness, as the subject of the narrator's close-mindedness. The typical victims of prejudice we hear of are race, gender, sexuality, religion, etc. In my opinion, these classifications are hated because they are (supposedly) actively doing something wrong. As in, no one hates someone for the color of their skin, but what that represents. In the case of the blind, there is no negative association, but rather an underestimation. This in turn can result in a devaluation of that person. While I feel like the realization the narrator has is obviously a breakthrough, I did feel like it was overstated. But i guess that is how literature goes.
ReplyDeleteI actually really enjoyed reading this story. I agree it was definitely a revelation for the narrator when he finally drew the cathedral for the blind man and in that moment when he could have opened his eyes yet chose to sit there with them closed because he felt he could "see" what the blind man could see. Finally putting all of his bias aside and being a decent accepting human being it was a crucial point in the story. I also agree with you, Nathan. I was also interested that he chose the wife's long time friend to be blind, I believe it symbolized something because who just has it out for blind people? You've definitely seen hate for different races, sexuality, religions, genders etc but not so much people with disabilities. I believe that the blindness was symbolizing the narrators blindness as well. Although he could see and the blind man could not, the blind man appeared to be happier and definitely more enlightened than the main character.
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