Sophie Guerra
Allies, LIT1000
Analysis paper
10/21/16
Raymond Carver’s Cathedral is a seemingly straight forward short story telling of man who can see, a man who is blind, and the night they spend watching television after drinking and the narrator’s wife has fallen asleep. However, as the story goes on and is examined further, we find that it is full of themes, some more obvious than others, but all equally important when it comes to fully understanding the story. It is a story of deep understanding, that is realized though understanding that while one may see the world clearly, it does not mean that they see the world for what it truly is, or the people who live in it; and often, those who are not able to fully see the goings-on, and …show more content…
He is so sure about the way he sees things, because of what he watches or reads about them. When the narrator turns on the television, he apologizes but Robert pays him no mind, “Whatever you want to watch is okay. I’m always learning something. Learning never ends.” (Carver 39.). This immediately shows a difference between the narrator and Robert, and ultimately switches and brings the two together. As stated before, when faced with the task of verbally explaining the cathedral to Robert, the narrator is only able to do so poorly, it is only when Robert asks him to draw as he tactilely follows along, is the narrator able to do so. Robert, who had said he was always willing and ready to learn, is able to teach the narrator, a man sure of what he does and does not know, how to really see what is right in front of him. By having the narrator close his eyes, Robert teaches him that the most important things in life are not always seen, sometimes they are done. “Then he said, “I think that’s it. I think you got it…take a look, what do you think?” (Carver 42). The narrator does not open his eyes in the end of the story, choosing to stay in the dark with Robert once he is finished drawing. He is turned from a man who hadn’t “believed in anything” (Carver 41) to a man who found some deeper meaning in a simply drawing of the cathedral, and it would perhaps translate into a deeper understanding of the world happening around him. Robert teaches the narrator that sometimes the only way to truly see the world, and understand the little people in it, is to look at it through a blind
Allies, LIT1000
Analysis paper
10/21/16
Raymond Carver’s Cathedral is a seemingly straight forward short story telling of man who can see, a man who is blind, and the night they spend watching television after drinking and the narrator’s wife has fallen asleep. However, as the story goes on and is examined further, we find that it is full of themes, some more obvious than others, but all equally important when it comes to fully understanding the story. It is a story of deep understanding, that is realized though understanding that while one may see the world clearly, it does not mean that they see the world for what it truly is, or the people who live in it; and often, those who are not able to fully see the goings-on, and …show more content…
He is so sure about the way he sees things, because of what he watches or reads about them. When the narrator turns on the television, he apologizes but Robert pays him no mind, “Whatever you want to watch is okay. I’m always learning something. Learning never ends.” (Carver 39.). This immediately shows a difference between the narrator and Robert, and ultimately switches and brings the two together. As stated before, when faced with the task of verbally explaining the cathedral to Robert, the narrator is only able to do so poorly, it is only when Robert asks him to draw as he tactilely follows along, is the narrator able to do so. Robert, who had said he was always willing and ready to learn, is able to teach the narrator, a man sure of what he does and does not know, how to really see what is right in front of him. By having the narrator close his eyes, Robert teaches him that the most important things in life are not always seen, sometimes they are done. “Then he said, “I think that’s it. I think you got it…take a look, what do you think?” (Carver 42). The narrator does not open his eyes in the end of the story, choosing to stay in the dark with Robert once he is finished drawing. He is turned from a man who hadn’t “believed in anything” (Carver 41) to a man who found some deeper meaning in a simply drawing of the cathedral, and it would perhaps translate into a deeper understanding of the world happening around him. Robert teaches the narrator that sometimes the only way to truly see the world, and understand the little people in it, is to look at it through a blind