The short story, "The Cathedral" by Raymond Carver is about a woman whom invited a blind acquaintance from her past to stay with her and her husband. The husband, technically, has normal vision but; he is blinded by a plethora of his discriminatory choices. Through the husband's words and actions when he is dealing with Robert, the blind man, its evident he doesn't understand what Robert’s blindness affects his life. When Robert first arrives at the house it makes the husband uncomfortable. As the story moves on we can see that the attitude changes. The husband, is finally starting to understand the blind man. One example that shows the husband is "blind," comes towards the beginning of the story, before Robert arrives. When the married
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Not only is the husband oblivious to this blind mans attributes but he made a terrible host. An excellent example of this after dinner when they all go to the living room .He starts asking offensive and stupid questions. Such as, “'How was the train ride?' I said. 'Which side of the train did you sit on?'” (38). The husband knows that Rob cannot see anything. The man is blind! When the wife comes to the blind mans aid the husband replies “' I just asked.'” (38) This portrays that he doesn't know how to relate to Robert. Both of these quotations prove that he doesn't know how to relate to him because he only sees Robert’s handicap; he is incapable of seeing him as a …show more content…
The television is on. A story about the Middle Ages, and their churches is showing. Robert, the blind man, doesn't know what a cathedral looks like. The husband couldn't explain what a cathedral looks like “'to save his life'” (44), but Robert comes up with an idea. He suggests that the husband illustrates the picture, by drawing, with Robert's hands on top, following every stroke of the hand. While they're drawing the cathedral together, the husband is being encouraged by Robert every step of the way. When they are done, Robert wants the husband to look, but he has his eyes closed because he "'thought it was something [he] ought to do'" (46). This is when the husband is no longer "blind" because he finally sees that Robert isn't just someone with a handicap, he's a friend, a fellow
Not only is the husband oblivious to this blind mans attributes but he made a terrible host. An excellent example of this after dinner when they all go to the living room .He starts asking offensive and stupid questions. Such as, “'How was the train ride?' I said. 'Which side of the train did you sit on?'” (38). The husband knows that Rob cannot see anything. The man is blind! When the wife comes to the blind mans aid the husband replies “' I just asked.'” (38) This portrays that he doesn't know how to relate to Robert. Both of these quotations prove that he doesn't know how to relate to him because he only sees Robert’s handicap; he is incapable of seeing him as a …show more content…
The television is on. A story about the Middle Ages, and their churches is showing. Robert, the blind man, doesn't know what a cathedral looks like. The husband couldn't explain what a cathedral looks like “'to save his life'” (44), but Robert comes up with an idea. He suggests that the husband illustrates the picture, by drawing, with Robert's hands on top, following every stroke of the hand. While they're drawing the cathedral together, the husband is being encouraged by Robert every step of the way. When they are done, Robert wants the husband to look, but he has his eyes closed because he "'thought it was something [he] ought to do'" (46). This is when the husband is no longer "blind" because he finally sees that Robert isn't just someone with a handicap, he's a friend, a fellow