Raymond Carver

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…

In this short reader's response essay I will simply describe or explain why I think, feel, or believe that the short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek" is the best from this week. I think the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek” was the best from this week. This was the the best short story to me because it offers two different types of conflicts and it also has the best plot. It shows that the main character Peyton was experiencing issues within himself as well as with a few members of the…

Love and marriage, as shown in Beginners by Raymond Carver and Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston, is for the satisfaction of their own person, the moment when the we realize the amount of unconditional love our parents give us, we become aware of the power that love holds, but we never really wonder why it has that power, we just take it and go with it. These stories, taken together, prove that love has become physical, it is represented as spiritual, and it has been deprived of selflessness. In the…

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…

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.…

not understand or know. We like what is familiar and comfortable. We dislike changes to our environment that throw us off and we hate feeling out of place, especially in our own home. That is normal human behavior. That is why I understand why Raymond Carver felt uncomfortable at first with this blind man staying at his house. The setting of this essay all takes place in the presence of the author’s home. Whereas most people would find it a tad bit uncomfortable for a stranger to be staying at…

Society normally dictates how we subconsciously feel about people or things that are different from how we appear or normally do things. This now falls in line with the themes of connection, change, control and choice. In, Fat by Raymond Carver the narrator retells the tale of her meeting with a fat man. That meeting then impacted her relationship with her boyfriend negatively in the long run and gave the narrator a new point of view. The narrator has developed a connection with the fat man, as…

In “Feathers” by Raymond Carver, a couple goes to a coworker’s house for dinner, where they encounter a peacock, a plaster mold of crooked teeth, and an ugly baby. Afterwards, the couple has a child of their own. Two symbols in the story are the peacock and plaster mold of crooked teeth. The first symbol in this story is the peacock. Peacocks can be described as “birds of 1,000 eyes,” “birds of paradise,” “very colorful,” and “exotic”. The dictionary defines peacock as, “a person who is vain…

“Neighbors” by Raymond Carver, the main characters of the story, the Millers, seem boring. This trait is one that the Miller’s both feel as well and drives the majority of their actions throughout the story. When Bill and Arlene Miller agree to watch their neighbor’s apartment, they get a glimpse into someone else’s lives and get an idea of their own life. The Miller’s neighbors, the Stones, shine a light on the Miller’s life that they did not want to see. Throughout “Neighbors,” Carver uses The…

When Raymond Carver wrote the story, who would’ve known it would still be as relatable now. The way we view things is nearly the same and it is not hard to know and analyze the problems we read in the story. When we read the story, we get a different setting when people meet up for small talk and drinks. The author introduces to the reader the four characters. They are Mel McGinnis, a cardiologist, Terri, who is his wife, the author, but with the name Nick and his lady friend, Laura. The…