Stereotypes In Cathedral

Carvers Cathedral deals with the misguided perception of disabled people that come from what they see ‘‘in the movies’ . The narrator is faced with his own bias towards Robert and deal with the emotions that occur because of Roberts disability. In causing the narrator to face his own perception, Carver forces the audience to question their own. The anonymity of the narrator creates a space for the readers own perception. Sentences are key way to convey the emotional state of the narrator. Carver uses it to convey a series of emotions; from discomfort to anger. In Cathedral, the narrator feels violated at having a stranger in his home, especially one he can’t understand because of his physical disability. This is clarified evidently; …show more content…
Similarly, to a blind man, he has lost his direction, ‘I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn’t feel like I was inside of anything’ . What he knows and what he feels have become opposites leaving him unsure of his surroundings. Robert has slowly been able to convince the narrator to understand what he must deal with, and this reality leaves the narrator unnerved and confused as his perspective. What he knows about the blind man has changed. He no longer just sees him as another blind man ‘in the movies’ but as someone who sees more than the narrator does. In looking at life from the perspective of a blind man, his own perspective has shifted completely. This leaves him blind and confused as he tries to comprehend the new world that he does not ‘feel’ inside of. Everything he thought he felt and understood is now alien. This shows the narrators growth of …show more content…
Although we see the narrator’s growth in character and his change in attitude; the distinct lack of adjectives makes it difficult to decipher any attributes about the narrator. His physical attributes and character are hidden with his actions, so it is from his actions that the audience must create the narrators image. Moreover, as continuously seen throughout this essay, the narrator has no name. This encourages the audience to create their own narrator and define who he is. Also, it makes the audience question their own opinions and perspective. It makes the audience think about their own perception of physical disabilities and whether their idea of blindness is from ‘the movies’ as well. The narrator is anybody they decide as Carver’s lack of guidance creates a space for their own construction. The lack of adjectives further creates a void that needs to be filled by the audience’s imagination – encouraging them to change their perspective like how the narrator changes his in the Cathedral. The reader is forced to grow like how the narrator