What does the Cathedral symbolize to the blind man?
The cathedral that the narrator draws with Robert represents true sight, the ability to see beyond the surface to the true meaning that lies within. Before the narrator draws the cathedral, his world is simple: he can see, and Robert cannot.
What was the blind man doing as the man drew Cathedral?
This blind man, an old friend of my wife’s, he was on his way to spend the night. His wife had died. So he was visiting the dead wife’s relatives in Connecticut.
What is Raymond Carver’s Cathedral about?
Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” centers around two men, one blind and one who can see. When the sighted man tries to explain what a cathedral is like to the blind man, he finds that words fail him. Though both men speak English, one relies on vision to communicate, the other does not.
How does Carver describe characterize the blind man in the Cathedral?
This blind man was late forties, a heavy-set, balding man with stooped shoulders, as if he carried a great weight there.
What does the ending of cathedral mean?
“Cathedral” concerns the change in one man’s understanding of himself and the world, and Carver ends the story at exactly the moment when this change flickers in the narrator’s mind. The narrator has not become a new person or achieved any kind of soul-changing enlightenment.
Why is the story cathedral called cathedral?
Cathedrals don’t make an appearance in this story until the third section, and then it’s fairly obvious why the story is called “Cathedral.” Cathedrals are the subject of the television documentary and of the narrator and Robert’s drawing. A cathedral is a cathedral is a kind of church.
Where is the blind man going to visit his dead wife’s relatives in the beginning of the story?
He is visiting his deceased wife’s in-laws who live in the region. How did the narrator’s wife meet Robert? She was hired by Robert to read to him after responding to a help wanted advertisement.
What does the blind man do for the first time with the narrator and his wife?
When they arrive, he watches his wife laughing and talking with the blind man as she leads him by the arm to the house. The narrator is shocked to see that the blind man has a full beard. The wife introduces the narrator to the blind man, whose name is Robert. They all sit in the living room.
What does the ending of Cathedral mean?
What did the narrator’s wife do after the blind man touched her face?
He says that on the last day of her job there, the blind man touched her face and she wrote a poem about the experience. The narrator then describes his wife’s past. She married her childhood sweetheart and became an officer’s wife.
How does the blind man in Cathedral impact the narrator’s perspective?
Carver’s use of a first-person narrator is especially effective in these scenes because it makes Robert seem abnormal, even alien, because the narrator has no concept of what a blind man can and cannot do. Likewise, once Robert becomes more human for the narrator, he takes shape for us as well.
Why is he so threatened by the idea of that visit Cathedral?
According to the narrator, he “wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit” (32) and “being blind bothered him” (32). The narrator is so hostile to the idea of a visit from Robert because he is blinded by jealousy, anger, and confusion.
What did the blind man say did it to the man?
“It was the strawberry pie,” the blind man said. “That’s what did it,” he said, and he laughed his big laugh. Then he shook his head.
What is the opening of Cathedral by Raymond Carver about?
Cathedral, a short story by Raymond Carver, is an immense realization of this. to say the least. The story opens with the narrator mentioning a visit from a friend of his wife, one whom he does not seem to particularly like, considering that he is blind.
What does a blind man look like?
This blind man was late forties, a heavy-set, balding man with stooped shoulders, as if he carried a great weight there. He wore brown slacks, brown shoes, a light-brown shirt, a tie, a sports coat. Spiffy. He also had this full beard. But he didn’t use a cane and he didn’t wear dark glasses.
What did the blind man do with his ashtray?
The blind man had another taste of his drink. He lifted his beard, sniffed it, and let it fall. He leaned forward on the sofa. He positioned his ashtray on the coffee table, then put the lighter to his cigarette. He leaned back on the sofa and crossed his legs at the ankles. My wife covered her mouth, and then she yawned.