In Raymond Carver’s short story Cathedral, he establishes an ignorant narrator, dependent on alcohol and fixated upon physical appearance. He juxtaposes the narrator to a blind man who feels emotion rather than sees it. Through indirect characterization and first person limited point of view, Carver foils the narcissistic narrator to the intuitive blind man while utilizing sight as a symbol of emotional understanding. He establishes the difference between looking and seeing to prove that sight is more than physical.
Through the juxtaposing characterization of the husband and the blind man, Carver establishes the opposing views on emotional relationships. The husband’s narcissistic personality enables him to view his wife as an object, while the blind man, Robert, treats her as a friend and a confidant, highlighting the difference between looking and seeing. The narrator’s …show more content…
The husband does not view art as valuable due to his lack of worldly understanding, yet Robert regards it as an important form of self-expression, even though he cannot see what is being created, establishing the difference between emotional and bodily sight, proving that vision is more than physical. When the wife shows the husband her artwork, he admits that he “[doesn’t] think much of the poem…. [he doesn’t] understand poetry” (Carver 1). Rather than treating his wife’s poetry as a visual form of individualism, he views it as “her chief means of recreation” (Carver 1). The narrator’s inability to treat art as a form of self-expression causes him to disregards his wife’s art, therefore, he disregards her emotions. By nullifying his wife’s art, he is invalidating the legitimacy of her emotions, which exemplifies his lack of emotional sight. The wife uses poetry and audiotapes to convey the feelings that she cannot express to her husband through words due to his inability to understand or care for
Through the juxtaposing characterization of the husband and the blind man, Carver establishes the opposing views on emotional relationships. The husband’s narcissistic personality enables him to view his wife as an object, while the blind man, Robert, treats her as a friend and a confidant, highlighting the difference between looking and seeing. The narrator’s …show more content…
The husband does not view art as valuable due to his lack of worldly understanding, yet Robert regards it as an important form of self-expression, even though he cannot see what is being created, establishing the difference between emotional and bodily sight, proving that vision is more than physical. When the wife shows the husband her artwork, he admits that he “[doesn’t] think much of the poem…. [he doesn’t] understand poetry” (Carver 1). Rather than treating his wife’s poetry as a visual form of individualism, he views it as “her chief means of recreation” (Carver 1). The narrator’s inability to treat art as a form of self-expression causes him to disregards his wife’s art, therefore, he disregards her emotions. By nullifying his wife’s art, he is invalidating the legitimacy of her emotions, which exemplifies his lack of emotional sight. The wife uses poetry and audiotapes to convey the feelings that she cannot express to her husband through words due to his inability to understand or care for