In the short story " Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, the author shows that having physical sight does not mean the person can truly see. When the narrators wife invites an old friend to stay with them for a little while, the narrator is not only upset that it’s a man but also because he is blind. Through the actions and words the narrator uses, it is evident that Robert (the blind man) can see more than Bub ( narrator) can. The narrator character is not a nice one. From the first sentence readers can see that he is judgemental, apathetic, sarcastic, jealous, ignorant and scared. When talking about Robert he does not say his name but calls him" this blind man.." (3). This shows that he defines people by their physical appearance. When he explains
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Almost every single event that he explains seem to have little to no significance to him. The story he tells of his wifes attempt of suicide does not seem to concern him in anyway. He compares her death attempt to her " ...g[etting] sick [and] thr[owing] up" (3). The only time he openly shows emotion is when he speaks about his wifes past lover, like Rob he does not mention " her officer- why should he have a name? He was the childhood sweetheart, and what more does he want?..." (3). He is not mad at the fact that his wife use to love this man, but because the officer had sex with her before he did. He is not loving towards his wife and doesn’t care about what she does (unless it involves another man) or says but gets mad when another man (Rob) gives her the attention she craves and needs. He shows his sarcasm and ignorance when he talk to and about Rob. He suggested to his wife that he should " maybe... take him bowling" (3) and when he asks Rob about his trip he asks him " which side of the train did [he] sit on..." (4) knowing that he is a blind man and most likely did not know. Something must of happened to him in the past because every single night he smokes weed and drinks alcohol to stay up
Almost every single event that he explains seem to have little to no significance to him. The story he tells of his wifes attempt of suicide does not seem to concern him in anyway. He compares her death attempt to her " ...g[etting] sick [and] thr[owing] up" (3). The only time he openly shows emotion is when he speaks about his wifes past lover, like Rob he does not mention " her officer- why should he have a name? He was the childhood sweetheart, and what more does he want?..." (3). He is not mad at the fact that his wife use to love this man, but because the officer had sex with her before he did. He is not loving towards his wife and doesn’t care about what she does (unless it involves another man) or says but gets mad when another man (Rob) gives her the attention she craves and needs. He shows his sarcasm and ignorance when he talk to and about Rob. He suggested to his wife that he should " maybe... take him bowling" (3) and when he asks Rob about his trip he asks him " which side of the train did [he] sit on..." (4) knowing that he is a blind man and most likely did not know. Something must of happened to him in the past because every single night he smokes weed and drinks alcohol to stay up