Blind Willow

Raymond Carvers short story “Cathedral” is centered around a man, his wife and her blind friend Robert who comes to town to stay with them. The narrator holds himself high while treating his wife disrespectfully and judging Robert based on his disability. Carver shows the differences between the two men and how Robert ultimately awakens something in the narrator who he calls “Bub.” Conflict, characterization and irony are used by Carver to give life to the theme of this story which is seeing…

other characters present in the story. His wife’s first husband is dismissed with the statement, “Her officer—why should he have a name? He was the childhood sweetheart, what more does he want (p. 300)?” Robert, is referred to only as, “the blind man” or “this blind man” throughout most of the story, and his wife’s name is never revealed and the little background info provided is scattered and…

for the wife and how she talked about the blind man, Robert, she knew for years, but the narrator’s dialogue gave the readers a negative feel towards his ignorant attitude: “A blind man in my house was not something I look forward to,” (Carver 84) and “Beulah! That’s a name for a colored woman” (87). Also, the narrator is very possessive of his wife, even though throughout the whole story there seemed to be a stronger, emotional connection between the blind man and the wife than between the…

The blind woman represents the Japanese population ignoring the problems of the workers. Kitsune says, “The woman never speaks to us, no matter what questions we shout at her” (Russell 28). There is no hope for these girls because there is nobody that is willing to stand up to the agent and save the girls. The blind woman is clueless to what is happening with the girls. They are being completely mistreated and forced to do labor that violates human rights. The blind woman is representative…

the monster is literate and can speak eloquently. In an attempt to find some kind of connection with a person, the monster decides to befriend the blind man in the small house. The blind man is specifically chosen because he can’t see how grotesque the monster appear. The monster waits for the rest of the De Lacey’s and Safie to leave so that the blind man is alone. The monster goes inside, and begins to conversate with him. However, not too much is said between the two because Safie and the De…

often taken for granted as it is in "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver. The title suggests that the story deals with a cathedral, but it is really about two blind men; one physically, the other mentally. One of the men is Robert, the blind friend of the narrator's wife, and the other is the narrator himself. The narrator is the man who is mentally blind, and unknowingly describes his own prejudice. Carver writes the husband as a man with a very narrow mind. Two instances in particular illustrate this…

ironically, a blind man soon helps him see. This character, never actually given a name, is also the narrator. Carver’s decision to withhold his name is intriguing since he gives the blind man a name, Robert. The narrator in “Cathedral” himself produces an antisocial, prejudiced personality for others to interact with, but shows the greatest amount of change throughout the story. The narrator seems not to show intimacy as he struggles to understand his wife’s emotions with the blind man and…

self-centered, and even prejudice. Also even though he is not described as being blind himself, he does seem to be blinded to his wife’s thoughts and feelings, as well as to things he does not understand. The main character lacks intimacy, and seems to be condescending at times. But what makes this story so interesting, are the changes he is able to make with a simple gesture of trying to describe to Robert the blind man, what a cathedral looks like. Robert’s character in this story is key to…

connections however, this hinders the narrator's ability to connect with people as he is not able to see below their superficial attributes. Because of his insecurity and lack of understanding, the narrator is constantly criticizing and making Robert, the blind man, feel inadequate. This is because the narrator feels threatened by Robert’s ability to make meaningful relationships with people. The narrator expresses his insecurities by obsessing over his“ wife’s word, inseparable (Carver, 88)”…

In Raymond Carver's "Cathedral", the narrator seems to have a small minded approach towards life. In the beginning, the narrator ridicules his wife's past lover, and Robert's (the blind man's) wife, Beulah. When the narrator begins to explain the story behind Robert's wife, he states that there wedding "was a little wedding—who’d want to go to such a wedding in the first place?—"( page 3). In this, the narrator is seen to be negative and bitter towards Robert. Similarly, the narrator ridicules…