Raymond Carver Cathedral Essay

The short story Cathedral, written by Raymond Carver, is a story displaying a consequential distinction between ‘looking’ and ‘seeing’. The tale is that of a man and his wife who take in a blind man into their home for a night after the death of the blind man’s wife. The wife had once worked for the blind man and they developed a strong friendship. It goes on speaking about how the husband is a tad uncomfortable and bewildered, by the reality that the blind man is being brought into his home. The story then goes on to portray irony because the husband himself, is the one who is blind. The husband can look, but fails to see, where the blind man can see but is unable to look.

The husband does not realize he is blinded to seeing because he …show more content…
The husband speaks of the blind man’s wife and of how she would have never seen herself in the point of view of her husband, however, the blind man knew and so did his wife, that ones’ appearance was not always the way to see one for who they were; how beautiful they are. They knew that the appearance is not who a person is at all. The blind man listened deeply, he enjoyed small talk, and he wanted to picture what was being said. He could see how content his wife was, without physically viewing a smile on her face. The blind man knew that looking can sometimes never completely see or understand the bigger picture.

In this short story, the words ‘look’ and ‘see’ have the same concept, however, they have different meanings. To look is to open your eyes and see the physical aspects of things, whereas to see is to really open your mind, look beyond the surface and expand your understanding. Although the husband begins the story with the ability to look, he also ironically finishes the story discovering he is the blind one. The husband learns not only to look, but to really see, as taught by a blind