Blindness In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

In the short story by Raymond Carver, known as “Cathedral,” the narrator is shown by Robert the blind man that he is blind figuratively as much as Robert who is literally blind. The story seeks to demonstrate how there are different aspects of blindness.
The narrator shows his blindness to the world through his stereotypical ideas and assumptions before he truly meets Robert. “In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed” (76). “Sometimes they were led by seeing eye dogs” (76). The narrator in the story based his assumptions solely on a highly stereotypical view point which clouded his judgment and prevented him from seeing the blind man for his true attributes. “I’d always thought dark glasses were a must for the blind (79). Having never met a blind man and allowing himself to follow …show more content…
While spending some time alone with the blind man, he realizes Robert perceives things much more differently than what he anticipated. “Whatever you want to watch is okay” (82). “I’m always learning something. Learning never ends. It won’t hurt me to learn something tonight. I got ears” (82). After the narrator asks Robert about his knowledge of cathedrals, he explains how his point of view in relation to the symbolism the cathedral felt meaningless. Towards the end, the narrator eyes have been opened for the first time when Robert told him to close them, which soon lifted his figurative blindness. He said, “Don’t stop now. Draw” (85). “So we kept on with it. His fingers rode my fingers as my hand went over the paper. It was nothing else in my life up until now.” (85) This specific quote helps to explore how the essentially the narrator becomes more like Robert. “My eyes were still closed. I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything”