Raymond Carver 's short story, "Cathedral", the narrator goes through a major personal transformation. At the beginning of the story, the narrator who lacks insight and awareness things around him. The struggles and failures he faces limit his social life which leads him to isolated from society. His wife 's blind friend Robert, pulls him out of his comfort zone which allows his attitude and outlook on life start to changes. The narrator in Raymond Carver 's "Cathedral" develops from being a blind to anyone else but himself and his own perspective to able to open his eyes to see life through difference perspective because of the help of blind man.
The narrator, though not blind like Robert, is completely unaware and lacks insight to the world …show more content…
When the narrator offers him marijuana, he agrees to try it, reasoning that" There 's a first time for everything. But I don 't feel anything yet (Carver,95)." Robert 's openness to new ideas and knowledge is further exemplified when he tells the narrator that anything on TV would be fine to watch because he 's always learning something. Robert tries to make the most of his experiences by making them personally meaningful. In contrast, even though the narrator doesn 't have any handicaps, he feel that his life is empty because nothing significant to him. " Every night I smoked dope and stayed up as long as I could before I fell asleep(Carver, 96)." the narrator spend all his time drinking and smoking. The narrator narrow minded which leads him to an unsatisfactory life. The climax of the story comes when the narrator attempts to explain to Robert what a cathedral is but finds that he is unable to give a good description. In response, Robert tells him to draw a cathedral with his eyes closed. In the end, with his eyes closed, not at all focused on what he has been drawing but rather on something he can 't comprehend, the narrator feels free "I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn 't feel like I was inside anything(Carver,100)". When he was forced to use his imagination to draw the cathedral, he found that he became more creative and enjoyed it more than when he was stuck in his earlier mindset. He is not trapped and isolated in his own body and situation, but rather part of a greater existence. This sense of liberation represents the opening of his mind to new ideas and
The narrator, though not blind like Robert, is completely unaware and lacks insight to the world …show more content…
When the narrator offers him marijuana, he agrees to try it, reasoning that" There 's a first time for everything. But I don 't feel anything yet (Carver,95)." Robert 's openness to new ideas and knowledge is further exemplified when he tells the narrator that anything on TV would be fine to watch because he 's always learning something. Robert tries to make the most of his experiences by making them personally meaningful. In contrast, even though the narrator doesn 't have any handicaps, he feel that his life is empty because nothing significant to him. " Every night I smoked dope and stayed up as long as I could before I fell asleep(Carver, 96)." the narrator spend all his time drinking and smoking. The narrator narrow minded which leads him to an unsatisfactory life. The climax of the story comes when the narrator attempts to explain to Robert what a cathedral is but finds that he is unable to give a good description. In response, Robert tells him to draw a cathedral with his eyes closed. In the end, with his eyes closed, not at all focused on what he has been drawing but rather on something he can 't comprehend, the narrator feels free "I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn 't feel like I was inside anything(Carver,100)". When he was forced to use his imagination to draw the cathedral, he found that he became more creative and enjoyed it more than when he was stuck in his earlier mindset. He is not trapped and isolated in his own body and situation, but rather part of a greater existence. This sense of liberation represents the opening of his mind to new ideas and