In Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” the title of the story plays a major part in the story that you wouldn’t expect until you have read the whole story. The narrator of the story is very judgmental and rude because he feels he is better than everyone else. Throughout the story, we see the narrator start to change little by little to start to accept the blind man for who he is as a person. As they are eating dinner together there is a documentary in the background playing called the “cathedral”. This documentary makes the narrator realize what it is like to be blind. Robert asks what is being shown on the screen, and the two of them draw a picture of the “cathedral”. The title helps show the narrator what blindness is truly like and shows the important
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Robert is only asking a simple question about what the television show is about that is playing in the background, but this opens the narrator’s eyes to see what it is truly like to being blind. Robert asks the narrator to describe what is being shown on the television. The narrator can’t successfully describe the image because he doesn’t fully understand the true meaning behind the building which is the cathedral. The cathedral also symbolizes his realization that the whole world does not revolve around him. Throughout the story he is constantly putting others down for several reasons, but once he sees what it is truly like to be blind it changes his life. Robert and the narrator decide to draw out a picture of what a cathedral looked like, that it is the moment when he knew he had to change. The cathedral leads the narrator to be open to new people in his life and not judging people based on what they have or don’t …show more content…
Robert says “Let me ask you a simple question. But ask if you are in any way religious? You don’t mind my asking?” (Carver 44), Narrator responds with “I guess I don’t believe in it. In anything. Sometimes it’s hard.” (Carver 45) The narrator doesn’t believe in religion but he might start to believe he needs someone else besides himself. The narrator didn’t have any religious beliefs so the cathedral didn’t mean anything special to him, but when he closes his eyes “didn’t feel like he was inside anything” (Carver 46). The narrator has an epiphany of what the meaning of life is to him because he closes his eyes to see so special that he would never be able to see with his eyes open. The cathedral is open to everyone to find peace in whatever they need, it opens a door to the narrator to see what is not always immediately visible. A cathedral is a symbol of faith, conversion, strength and symbol that is directly related to the narrator. The author tends to focus on the conversion aspect of the cathedral by converting the narrator into a changed man even though he is not
Robert is only asking a simple question about what the television show is about that is playing in the background, but this opens the narrator’s eyes to see what it is truly like to being blind. Robert asks the narrator to describe what is being shown on the television. The narrator can’t successfully describe the image because he doesn’t fully understand the true meaning behind the building which is the cathedral. The cathedral also symbolizes his realization that the whole world does not revolve around him. Throughout the story he is constantly putting others down for several reasons, but once he sees what it is truly like to be blind it changes his life. Robert and the narrator decide to draw out a picture of what a cathedral looked like, that it is the moment when he knew he had to change. The cathedral leads the narrator to be open to new people in his life and not judging people based on what they have or don’t …show more content…
Robert says “Let me ask you a simple question. But ask if you are in any way religious? You don’t mind my asking?” (Carver 44), Narrator responds with “I guess I don’t believe in it. In anything. Sometimes it’s hard.” (Carver 45) The narrator doesn’t believe in religion but he might start to believe he needs someone else besides himself. The narrator didn’t have any religious beliefs so the cathedral didn’t mean anything special to him, but when he closes his eyes “didn’t feel like he was inside anything” (Carver 46). The narrator has an epiphany of what the meaning of life is to him because he closes his eyes to see so special that he would never be able to see with his eyes open. The cathedral is open to everyone to find peace in whatever they need, it opens a door to the narrator to see what is not always immediately visible. A cathedral is a symbol of faith, conversion, strength and symbol that is directly related to the narrator. The author tends to focus on the conversion aspect of the cathedral by converting the narrator into a changed man even though he is not