literary analysis essay for cathedral

Cathedral’ by Raymond Carver Literature Analysis Essay

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Introduction

Insensitive, works cited.

This is a character analysis for specific personality traits of the protagonist, the unnamed narrator in the Cathedral by Raymond Carver.

The unnamed narrator who is the protagonist of the story is an antihero because of some of his undesirable character traits. Hence, many critics have considered the narrator as an antihero when referring to him because he drinks lots of alcohol, smokes marijuana, blinded and insensitive to others. The narrator makes of fun about the blind man. Moreover, he is a mean person who is also jealous and lacks social grace.

Traditionally, writers have often included individuals with various traits in their literary works to reflect aspects of everyday life in society. In the Cathedral , Carver aims to depict a regular life of working-class individuals, who are stuck in jobs they do not like but are unable to quit because of hard economic conditions.

However, the narrator is also the story’s hero. The narrator reflects flawed character traits as he strives to survive. At the same time, one must recognize that the narrator undergoes transformation by the end of the story and acquires some desirable traits unlike other characters in the story.

From a critical point of view, one can observe the narrator’s inability to express his frustration through effective communication. This situation makes him downright mean and jealous. As a result, he becomes a character who is socially mean and cannot be happy. In this manner, the narrator is trapped in a self-destructive life. Hence, he is a blind character who is unable to see the truth and live a happy life.

Many readers may claim that the narrator lacks much love. The narrator is in a rut and fails to realize the truth. Instead, he develops wrong notions about blind persons. At this point, one may wonder whether the narrator is being honest with the readers. However, the narrator asserts that his, “idea of blindness came from the movies” (Carver 1.1), and he has, “never met, or personally known, anyone who was blind” (Carver 1.31).

Although the narrator states that jealousy is his main problem, his fascination with the blind Robert takes a center stage in the story. Therefore, readers can assert that the narrator is symbolically blind when the story begins because he cannot see the ‘real’ Robert, his own wife or see his true self. The narrator is blind to obvious opportunities and happiness of life.

The narrator changes when he meets Robert and empathizes with his blindness. There is a physical contact, which creates the positive intimacy between the two characters. All along, the narrator has been afraid to understand the relationship between Robert and his wife. During the encounter, the narrator realizes that Robert and his wife are just friends.

This encounter changes the narrator’s views about blindness and jealously. He embraces Robert and wants to prove that he loves his wife. In addition, the narrator also finds unique chance to evaluate his notion about the blind. The narrator wonders whether Robert can indeed imagine a cathedral before they start to draw it. This interaction develops a deep sense of empathy and love in the narrator.

The narrator is an extremely insensitive husband, but he seems involved with his wife. Although the narrator is in a rut and cannot derive happiness from his marriage, he does not indicate any negative traits of his wife. The narrator introduces readers to his wife earlier in the kitchen before they can meet her. From his description, the narrator likes his wife.

However, the narrator’s wife talks about Robert before he arrives, which makes the narrator jealous of Robert. Carver draws the issue of vulnerability in the blind Robert, who has just lost Beulah and how the narrator depicts his wife as vulnerable too. He notes that his wife is sensitive, loving, a poet and probably suicidal.

While the narrator gets readers to sympathize with his wife, he, on the other hand, shows the readers that he may lack desirable traits. The narrator wants readers to see his wife through his eyes. However, readers understand the narrator is jealous of the blind Robert.

The narrator uses blindness as a red herring and distracts readers from the truth about his jealousy. One can observe that the narrator has developed a general mistrust for blind people, particularly when he depicts aspects of the relationship that exist between Robert and his wife. The narrator’s assumption about blind people shows that he is insensitive.

Jealousy depicts negative aspects of a relationship. However, the narrator wants to show love to his wife in a different manner. Thus, his wife says, “If you love me, you can do this for me. If you don’t love me, okay. But if you had a friend, any friend, and the friend came to visit, I’d make him feel comfortable” (Carver 1.8).

This statement changes the narrator. The narrator proves that he loves his wife and makes the blind Robert feel at ease. Therefore, the narrator loves his wife just like she loves him when she says , “ because I love you I’d be nice to your friends” (Carver 1.8). This is a loving relationship with abound challenges, which emanate from the narrator’s insensitivity and jealousy. Initially, the narrator says, “ In the poem, she talked about what she felt at the time, about what went through her mind when the blind man touched her nose and lips.

I can remember I didn’t think much of the poem” (Carver 1.4). This revelation shows that the narrator did not pay much attention to his wife’s relationship with Robert. However, this situation changed over time. Readers understand that the blind Robert is a lovable, outgoing and friendly person.

Consequently, he had a positive impression on the narrator’s wife. Perhaps, the narrator uses blindness and Robert as means of escaping his marital problems. On the other hand, the narrator’s wife assumes that the narrator does not love her when he shows contempt for anything that relates to Robert.

Robert’s blindness plays a critical role in the life of the narrator. Initially, the narrator was insensitive and lacked social grace. However, the encounter between the narrator and Robert changes him to a sensitive, compassionate and tolerant man. Robert helps the narrator to discover himself and show intimacy to him as they grow closer and work on the drawing of a cathedral together. Moreover, through interaction with the blind Robert, the narrator discovers that he can sketch a cathedral and show his artistic capabilities.

This experience marks the climax of Carver’s story. At this point, the narrator must overcome his inhibition and sketch the cathedral with Robert. This is a memorable, unique opportunity for the two men. The two men share their visions and capture vision of people who built the cathedral several centuries ago. The collaboration and understanding between them show that the narrator can change and become sensitive to others.

At the end of the story, the narrator has become a better man and a friend of Robert. He learns that Robert is compassionate and kind. He also acknowledges the friendship between Robert and his wife. The narrator experiences a change that transforms his life in several ways.

First, the narrator realizes that his wife has been right about Robert and their relationship. Second, the narrator’s wife discovers that the narrator indeed loves her. Third, the couple finds a common friend, which their relationship has lacked. Therefore, the narrator has achieved positive gains because of his physical interaction with Robert. Consequently, he may also develop a good relationship with his wife.

Carver presents a protagonist who is antihero and insensitive in the Cathedral . However, the narrator undergoes a series of transformation to become a better man when he encounters the blind Robert.

His experience may generate some critical questions for readers. For instance, one may question if the narrator’s encounter with the blind Robert will have far-reaching impacts on his life. Carver shows that men are able to change their narrow experiences about life and embrace inabilities of others in order to realize their own potential and improve their relationships. However, readers must continue to assess whether a change in the narrator’s life will have any real-life impact on his relationship with others and his world.

Carver, Raymond. Cathedral. New York, NY: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1989. Print.

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Bibliography

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A Summary and Analysis of Raymond Carver’s ‘Cathedral’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Cathedral’ is perhaps the most widely studied of all the short stories of Raymond Carver (1938-88). The story is narrated by a man whose wife has invited her friend, a blind man named Robert, to come and stay with them. Although he is initially uncomfortable and even scathing about their guest, the narrator eventually bonds with Robert and comes to realise something valuable.

You can read ‘Cathedral’ here before proceeding to our summary and analysis of Carver’s story below.

‘Cathedral’ : plot summary

The story is narrated by a man whose wife has been friends with a blind man named Robert for years, even longer than she has been married to the narrator. The narrator tells us that his wife has invited Robert to come and stay with them, after he has visited his late wife’s family in Connecticut.

The narrator outlines some of the history between Robert and his wife: how she had taken a job which involved reading to a blind man, in order to earn some extra money while her boyfriend, who later became her first husband, was going through officers’ training school. Then he tells us how, when his wife’s first husband graduated and was posted to various places around the country, his wife kept in touch with Robert, with the two of them sending audio tapes to each other which shared their latest news.

He also tells us how, in time, his wife’s first marriage broke down and she got divorced from her army husband. He also hints at a home-administered abortion, which implies that his wife was already having doubts about her long-term future with her husband. She also wasn’t enjoying the places where her husband was being posted to, and life as an army wife clearly didn’t suit her. Eventually, she met the narrator and now they are married.

Meanwhile, her friendship with Robert became stronger and stronger. Robert himself married a woman named Beulah, who died. The narrator is quite naïve and mocking about Robert and his blindness; he appears to be jealous of the close bond Robert and his wife have shared over the years. When Robert shows up, his wife is very friendly and welcoming towards him but the narrator doesn’t quite know how to interact.

However, during the course of the evening, over dinner and whiskey, the narrator and Robert slowly start to bond. When his wife goes upstairs, the narrator offers to roll a joint for himself and his guest, and Robert, keen to try something new, agrees to smoke with him. When a documentary programme about European cathedrals comes on the television, the two of them start to discuss it.

The narrator tries to describe a cathedral to Robert, who, being blind, has never seen one. But he realises that he cannot find the words to offer a good description. Robert proposes that the narrator get a sheet of paper and a pencil and that he tries to draw a cathedral. The narrator agrees to this, and as he is drawing, his wife returns downstairs and asks that they are doing.

Robert tells the narrator to close his eyes as he finishes his drawing, and then to open them and tell him what he sees. But the narrator suddenly feels different and doesn’t open his eyes. When Robert asks him if he is looking, the narrator keeps his eyes closed, but replies, ‘It’s really something.’

‘Cathedral’ : analysis

Raymond Carver’s work is often associated with the term minimalism, a literary technique marked by a simple descriptive style (often utilising short, clipped sentences) and spare dialogue. Carver himself expressed a dislike for this term, but we can certainly see a line between someone like Ernest Hemingway and Carver’s own short stories. And ‘Cathedral’ is as notable for what it doesn’t tell us as for what it does, and the narrator’s account of his evening spent with Robert and his wife invites us to ponder further questions.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the ending to the story, which is where most critics and students of ‘Cathedral’ focus the majority of their analysis (and speculation). While watching the programme on cathedrals and talking to Robert, who cannot see the images on the screen, the narrator comes to realise how little he has observed of the world around him. His moment of deepest insight comes at the end of the story when he closes his eyes while finishing the drawing of a cathedral.

Obviously this drawing cannot be for Robert’s benefit, as he cannot see it. Instead, inspires the narrator to realise how little he really sees of the world he lives in. Ironically, it is only by closing his eyes and ‘seeing’ as Robert does that he can realise this: it is only by closing his eyes, in other words, can he truly ‘see’.

The final words of the story, ‘It’s really something’, are neatly double-edged: on the face of it, the narrator is lying to Robert and pretending to be looking at the picture he has drawn, but of course the words carry another meaning. There is a suggestion that the narrator, having bonded with Robert and then closed his eyes, has had some sort of epiphany : a realisation or sudden coming-to-consciousness, whereby he comes to recognise something new about himself and the world.

In this case, then, what he has recognised is what it must be like for Robert. Or at least, that is one way to analyse and interpret the end of Carver’s story. But although epiphanies in fiction often involve characters reaching beyond themselves and discovering a new sense of connection and empathy with others, sometimes they are more complex and ambiguous than this.

In James Joyce’s fiction, for example, characters’ epiphanies are often more undecidably poised between generosity and self-absorption; between realising one’s connectedness to the rest of the world, and merely self-dramatising this realisation. In ‘Cathedral’, too, we may question precisely what the narrator has become aware of at the end of the story. Has he realised that he should appreciate things more, including his gift of sight? Has he realised he should be kinder to Robert and respect his wife’s friendship with this man?

There are obviously some interesting parallels between the two men. Robert had a wife he was close to but he lost her; the narrator has a wife, but in many ways he is more lonely than Robert, despite this. Both men like whiskey and, it turns out, smoking weed. They obviously have the narrator’s wife in common as the most important woman – now Robert’s wife has died – in each of their lives.

We might also question the cause of this change in the narrator. It’s possible that it’s through talking to Robert and realising how his blindness has shut out so many experiences from him that the narrator gains an awareness of how lucky he himself is to have sight, and how far he has fallen short of using the sense he is lucky to have. What point is there having sight when you are happy to go through life without ever noticing or appreciating the beauty and majesty of a medieval cathedral?

Alternatively, and perhaps more probably, it is not just Robert’s blindness – and the narrator’s realisation of how little he himself has appreciated his gift of sight – that causes this shift in the narrator at the end of the story. The narrator tells us that he does not enjoy his job. His wife reveals that he doesn’t have any friends. He is, in short, quite a lonely figure who spends his nights sitting by himself watching television and smoking weed.

It is also clear that, his own initial mockery of Robert’s disability notwithstanding, his wife is not especially sensitive to his insecurities regarding her close and longstanding friendship with Robert. It seems likely, then, that Robert is the first person in the narrator’s life, at least for a long while, who actually takes an interest in him and treats him kindly and encouragingly. The act of drawing the cathedral at the end of the story is the pinnacle of this.

In summary, then, all that is clear from Raymond Carver’s story is that the narrator undergoes some kind of change at the end. But how generous and outward-facing, as it were, and how introspective and self-motivated, this change is, remains to be decided. Carver deliberately leaves it open to us to decide.

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“Cathedral” by Raymond Carver: An Analysis

“Cathedral,” a short story collection by Raymond Carver originally published in 1981, masterfully explores the lives of ordinary people yearning for meaning and connection.

Introduction: “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver

Table of Contents

“Cathedral,” a short story collection by Raymond Carver originally published in 1981, explores the lives of ordinary people yearning for meaning and connection in life. One of Carver’s most celebrated and widely studied story,i resonates deeply due to its writing style and exploration of isolation, prejudice, and empathy. Carver’s signature minimalism and sharp detail illuminate the inner worlds of his characters, leaving readers with a lingering sense of hope in life’s everyday struggles .

Main Events in “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver

Prejudice and the arrival.

• Apprehension & Arrival: The narrator fixates on preconceptions about blindness, setting a tone of discomfort as he awaits the arrival of Robert, his wife’s blind friend.

An Uneasy Evening

• Awkward Hospitality: Dinner conversation remains superficial; the narrator focuses on surface observations rather than connecting with Robert.
• Intimate Connection: The narrator witnesses a deeper, more natural communication between his wife and Robert, unsettling his sense of security in his own relationship.

Late-Night Revelations

• Breaking the Ice: With his wife asleep, alcohol loosens the narrator’s inhibitions, and he engages Robert in a discussion about the experience of blindness.
• The Cathedral Question: Robert’s surprising request for a verbal description of a cathedral challenges the narrator’s understanding of both sight and communication.

Shifting Perspectives

• Beyond Words: The narrator grapples with the inadequacy of language to convey the visual essence of a cathedral, revealing his own limitations as well as Robert’s.
• Tactile Collaboration: Robert suggests a unique solution: drawing a cathedral together, guiding the narrator’s hand over his, offering a sensory bridge between their experiences.
• A Moment of Change: This shared act breaks down the narrator’s prejudices, opening him to a genuine connection with Robert.

Transformation and Connection

• Witness and Epiphany : The narrator’s wife awakens to observe the men’s unusual activity, drawn into the experience.
• Transcending Barriers: The narrator finds a newfound empathy, symbolized by his refusal to let go of Robert’s hand even when his wife joins them.
• The Power of Empathy: The story ends on a note of transformation, underscoring the potential for understanding and connection that exists beyond perceived differences.

Literary Devices in “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver

Characterization in “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver

Protagonist.

• The Narrator : The central character and the voice through which the story is told. Initially, he embodies discomfort and harbors preconceptions about blindness, which serve as driving forces for the narrative. As the story progresses, he undergoes a transformation, leading to greater understanding and connection.

Primary Supporting Character

• Robert : The blind friend of the narrator’s wife. Robert’s openness and unique perspective act as catalysts for the narrator’s transformation. Through his interactions with the narrator, he challenges preconceived notions and fosters empathy and understanding.

Secondary Supporting Characters

• The Narrator’s Wife : Serving as a bridge between the narrator and Robert, she demonstrates a more empathetic and understanding viewpoint towards Robert’s disability. Her presence highlights the evolving dynamics between the characters.
• Beulah : Robert’s deceased wife. Though physically absent, her memory serves to underscore Robert’s character and experiences, adding depth to his interactions with the other characters.
• The Narrator’s Wife’s Ex-Husband : A minor character briefly referenced, providing additional context for the narrator’s wife’s past and contributing to the narrative’s background.

Major Themes in “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver

Writing St yle in “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver

• Minimalism : Carver’s signature style employs short, simple sentences and understated prose. This creates a sense of emotional distance, reflecting the narrator’s internal state.
• Implied Meaning: The reader is actively engaged in filling the gaps left by the spare style. This encourages deeper analysis of themes like perception, isolation, and fear.
• Tension and Engagement: The lack of overt explanation generates a sense of tension and uncertainty, drawing the reader deeper into the story.
• Emotional Resonance: Despite the minimalism, Carver’s writing evokes powerful emotions, culminating in the story’s impactful and satisfying ending.

Literary Theories and Interpretation of “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver

Questions and Thesis Statements about “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver

Thematic analysis of “cathedral”.

1. Isolation vs. Connection

• Thesis Statement: Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” examines the complexities of isolation and connection, showcasing how two seemingly disparate individuals find common ground and forge a profound bond that challenges their initial separateness.

2. Critique of Toxic Masculinity

• Thesis Statement: “Cathedral” offers a subtle critique of toxic masculinity, revealing how the narrator’s insecurities and resistance to vulnerability obstruct his ability to connect meaningfully with others.

3. Reader-Response Theory

• Thesis Statement: Reader-response theory illuminates how individual experiences and perspectives significantly shape the interpretation of “Cathedral.”

4. The Role of Symbolism

• Thesis Statement: Symbolism enriches “Cathedral,” with elements like the cathedral itself representing the human desire for connection and transcendence, emphasizing deeper thematic layers.

5. Postmodernist Perspective

• Thesis Statement: “Cathedral” aligns with postmodernist notions of fragmented reality, demonstrating how the narrator’s biased worldview illustrates the subjective and constructed nature of our understanding.

Short Question-Answer “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver

• Who is the narrator in “Cathedral” and what is his relationship with the blind man?

The narrator in “Cathedral,” a middle-aged man, is dismissive of Robert, his wife’s blind friend. His early descriptions focus on Robert’s physical blindness (“his beard had nicks… his eyes were the same color as his beard — a frosty blue”) rather than seeing him as a whole person. Their relationship drastically shifts, culminating in a moment of deep connection as they draw the cathedral together, their hands intermingling on the page.

• What is the significance of the title “Cathedral”?

The title “Cathedral” directly references the act of drawing, where the narrator and Robert bridge their differences. This symbolizes a shared yearning for connection and transcendence. While the narrator has difficulty visualizing a cathedral initially, Robert’s verbal cues (“Try drawing it”) guide him towards discovering a new way of “seeing.”

• How does “Cathedral” reflect the theme of perception and prejudice?

“Cathedral” exposes the narrator’s ingrained prejudices about blindness. He admits, “A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to.” This initial perception prevents him from appreciating Robert’s personality and experiences. His transformation begins by listening to Robert’s tapes, and later, when Robert guides his hand during the drawing, the narrator transcends his limited perspective, gaining a new understanding.

• What is the significance of the ending of “Cathedral”?

The ending of “Cathedral” shows the narrator’s profound shift after the drawing experience. Initially skeptical of Robert’s ability to understand without sight, he undergoes his own epiphany. With his eyes closed, guided by Robert, he states, “It was like nothing else in my life up to now.” This ending underscores the power of overcoming barriers, forging genuine connections, and the possibility of seeing the world through a different lens.

Suggested Readings: “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver

Scholarly articles.

• Burkman, Katherine H. “The Houses of ‘Cathedral.'” The Iowa Review vol. 19, no. 1, 1989, pp. 74-84. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40427232
• Gentry, Marshall Bruce. “The Eye and I in Raymond Carver’s ‘Cathedral.'” Studies in Short Fiction vol. 31, no. 4, 1994, pp.769-776. Project Muse, [invalid URL removed].
• Saltzman, Arthur M. “The Figure in the Carpet: Minimalism, Masculinity, and Mediation in Raymond Carver’s ‘Cathedral.'” Contemporary Literature vol. 33, no. 1, 1992, pp. 25-47. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1208626.

Essays and Online Resources

• Nesset, Kirk. “Seeing and Believing: on Raymond Carver’s ‘Cathedral'” The Story and Its Writer, 9th ed., edited by Ann Charters, Bedford St. Martin’s, 2015, pp. 589-593.
• The Poetry Foundation: “Raymond Carver” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/raymond-carver (Includes brief biography and links to further analysis).

Book Chapter

• Stull, William L., and Maurie P. McInnis. “Cathedral.” Raymond Carver (Critical Insights), edited by William L. Stull and Maurie P. McInnis, Salem Press, 2009, pp. 252-271.

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Cathedral by Raymond Carver

Unveiling the transformative power of connection | A masterclass in literary revelation

Title: Cathedral

Author: Raymond Carver

Genre:  Short Story

First Publication: 1983

Language:  English

Summary: Cathedral by Raymond Carver

It was morning in America when Raymond Carver’s Cathedral came out in 1983, but the characters in this dry collection of short stories from the forgotten corners of the land of opportunity didn’t receive much sunlight. Nothing much happens to the subjects of Carver’s fiction, which is precisely why they are so harrowing: nothingness is a daunting presence to overcome. And rarely do they prevail, but the loneliness and quiet struggle the characters endure provide fertile ground for literary triumph, particularly in the hands of Carver, who was perhaps in his best form with this effort.

Review: Cathedral by Raymond Carver

“Cathedral” is a widely anthologized short story written by Raymond Carver first published in 1983. The story centers around an unnamed narrator, his wife, and a blind friend of hers named Robert. The narrator is prejudiced against blind people and uncomfortable with Robert’s visit, but over the course of the evening, his attitudes and perspectives change as he connects with Robert in an unexpected way.

The story opens with the narrator telling us that a blind friend of his wife’s, named Robert, is coming to visit them. The narrator makes it clear from the opening paragraph that he is not looking forward to this visit, saying bluntly, “ I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me. ” This establishes the narrator as being prejudiced against blind people and not open to this experience or getting to know Robert.

The narrator then gives some background on his wife and how she met Robert. We learn his wife worked briefly for Robert years ago, reading reports and books onto tape. This was ten years earlier, and the narrator never met Robert, but his wife has maintained contact with him primarily through audiotapes they exchange. The narrator again emphasizes Robert’s blindness and his discomfort with it, saying he does not know many blind people and asking, “ What could a blind man ask of me? ” This continues to build his character as narrow-minded about people different from himself.

As the narrator tells the story of how his wife met Robert, he reveals that his wife had marital troubles in the past. We learn she was married once before but divorced her husband after she discovered he was cheating on her. This brief detail shows the narrator is her second husband and suggests trust issues she may have struggled with in relationships. The narrator seems unaware of what significance this past betrayal may still hold for her, as he brings it up casually.

The evening of Robert’s visit arrives. The narrator describes watching his wife prepare various foods, anticipating how Robert will manage eating dinner without being able to see the food. This continues to show the narrator’s preoccupation with Robert’s blindness. When Robert arrives, the narrator carefully notes his dark glasses and walking stick, fixated on these symbols of his blindness. His descriptions suggest Robert looks capable and confident in navigating the world despite his blindness.

Over dinner, the narrator begins telling the story of how his wife and Robert first met through her past job. His wife interrupts, perhaps annoyed that her husband is telling Robert about his own life or concerned that he’s focusing too much on her ex-husband’s hurtful actions. This small moment shows potential friction in how the narrator and his wife relate to each other. As the evening goes on, she seems interested in connecting with Robert, while the narrator continues to keep a distance.

After dinner, the three move into the living room, where the narrator and Robert share a couple of drinks together as the narrator’s wife falls asleep watching TV. As the narrator continues describing interactions with Robert, he moves from blunt statements about his blindness to more nuanced observations about Robert managing life without sight, perhaps reflecting his growing understanding. The narrator feels Robert looking closely at him, even without sight, and senses an insightfulness that makes him self-conscious.

Robert asks to see, or experience, the narrator’s face with his hands. This request takes the narrator by surprise and makes him uncomfortable. However, he agrees. As Robert moves his hands over the narrator’s face and hairline, the narrator has a powerful moment of connection with someone quite different from himself. The sensory description slows down as, for a moment, the narrator tries to imagine what it might be like to navigate life without sight. He observes acute details, like how long Robert’s fingers are. No longer preoccupied by judgments about Robert’s blindness, the narrator begins to observe Robert more openly.

In this intense moment between two very different men, the TV show switches on just then to a late-night documentary about cathedrals in Europe. Both men are absorbed by the soaring architecture and shadowy mystery of the cathedrals. When Robert asks him to describe what he sees on TV, this opens up a surprising opportunity for a connection between them.

As the narrator tries to describe the cathedral images for Robert, he follows Robert’s guidance to describe the visual details more thoroughly. We sense the narrator being drawn into a fuller way of seeing and describing his world as he connects with Robert’s way of experiencing that world. Robert also shares his limited understanding of cathedrals based on what he thinks they are like through touch, showing the narrator how he builds an understanding of things like cathedrals from gathering many small sensory details about them over time.

This opens the narrator’s mind as he tries to bridge their differences in perspective to really communicate with Robert about what he sees. As the story concludes, the narrator is still trying to find the words to capture the soaring majesty of the shadowy cathedrals and convey their awe-inspiring beauty to his new friend Robert. Their connection through their different experiences of cathedrals transcends the blindness that separated them earlier.

Throughout the story, we see the narrator transform from someone closed-off, judgmental, and self-absorbed into someone willing to connect beyond surface differences. While earlier he was preoccupied by how blind people get around, by the end he enters Robert’s world, trying to translate visual beauty into tactile experience. This unexpected connection challenges all the narrator’s prejudices, showing how we can find common ground with people very different from ourselves.

Some key themes emerge in this deceptively simple story about a blind man’s visit for dinner. On the surface, the story critiques superficial biases like the narrator’s initial prejudice against the blind. But at a deeper level, this story explores broader themes like isolation versus connection in modern life, the limits of communication between very different people, and finding meaning across life’s divides through empathy.

Carver was known for his spare writing style, which relies on everyday details and understated emotion to drive home deeper truths. Raymond Carver does this masterfully in “Cathedral,” using an ordinary dinner invitation to reveal the transformation that becomes possible when we open ourselves to understand someone quite different from us. The story’s emotional power comes from this revelatory bridging of differences where two isolated individuals find a surprising connection.

The spare realism of Carver’s straightforward prose style is on full display here. He uses no overt symbolism. Cathedral works through the accumulation of precise, resonating detail—the brandy and ginger ale over ice, the narrator’s hand-drawing demonstration of cathedrals, the cathedral documentary’s discussion of naves and flying buttresses.Out of specific, familiar things, Carver builds a quiet profundity.

Within this realist style, narrative perspective is key. Telling the story strictly through the narrator focuses all events and details through his limited first-person consciousness. This frames the narrator’s transformation over the course of the evening as the central storyline, rather than a message about blindness itself. Through the narrator’s evolving perceptions, innumerable small details take on cumulative thematic significance in terms of communication, connection, and overcoming prejudice across divides.

For example, early on, the narrator expresses discomfort with Robert’s blindness, saying he prefers silence to the sound of the rolling skateboard Robert uses. Later, though, while watching the cathedral documentary, he is absorbed by the deep silence within the soaring cathedrals, paying closer attention to Robert’s experience. Contrasts like this subtly underscore the narrator’s shift in consciousness even before the climax, where he lets Robert trace his face with his hands.

The story also hinges structurally on three primary sections: the introductory buildup focusing entirely on the narrator and his prejudice, the middle transitional section where he observes Robert over dinner, and then the intimate denouement with the “seeing” his face moment and the cathedral documentary climax. This simple, rising action helps pivot point by point from distance to understanding.

The title “Cathedral” holds several layers of meaning. On one level, cathedrals symbolize the sublime, ineffable beauty in the world that the narrator struggles to convey to a blind man. But cathedrals also took on a broader cultural meaning in the 1980s as the AIDS crisis confronted society with death, stigma, and suffering—not unlike blindness. The story can be read more politically as bridging divides in understanding around homosexuality and illness. Ultimately, “Cathedral” suggests connections possible across many kinds of unfamiliar experiences.

Within its spare realism and precise detail, this widely resonant story tackles isolation, communication gaps, biases, and the struggle to move beyond superficial differences towards connection. The narrator’s small but extraordinary moment of intimacy and insight with a blind man opens subtly outward into larger questions of meaning, empathy, and the sublime that arise amidst the ordinary. Carver leaves these layers of significance implicit within the simple situation of an awkward dinner invitation, trusting readers to connect the larger threads. The result is a quiet masterpiece of revelation trimmed down to the lean essentials.

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Cathedral by Raymond Carver: Analysis

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Published: Jun 9, 2021

Words: 1105 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Works Cited

• Carver, R. (1983). Cathedral. In Cathedral: stories (pp. 3-22). Vintage Books.
• Dowling, J. (2001). Raymond Carver and the grotesque. MFS Modern Fiction Studies, 47(3), 609-635.
• Ford, R. (1999). The landscape of absence: Robert Stone, Raymond Carver, and the reinvention of masculinity. Contemporary Literature, 40(4), 614-648.
• Gallagher, T. (2009). Conversations with Raymond Carver. University Press of Mississippi.
• Lentricchia, F., & Zeitz, L. (Eds.). (1995). After the New Criticism. University of Chicago Press.
• Lye, J. (1996). Some notes toward a definition of minimalism. Style, 30(2), 210-226.
• O'Connor, F. (1992). A good man is hard to find and other stories. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
• Pugh, A. J. (2001). Sound and symbol in Raymond Carver's 'Cathedral'. Style, 35(4), 637-655.
• Runyon, R. (1990). The compulsive storyteller: Raymond Carver, audiocassette, and the hygiene of reading. The Georgia Review, 44(3), 670-681.
• Stull, W. L. (1985). The eye of the story: Raymond Carver and the cathedral. Studies in Short Fiction, 22(3), 313-317.

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Raymond Carver

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In “Cathedral,” the lives of a married couple are disrupted when the wife ’s blind friend, Robert , comes to visit. While the husband , who is the story’s narrator, initially believes that having Robert in the house will be inconvenient and unsettling, he comes to realize that blindness is not simply a deficit—Robert’s fine-tuned perception adds to the narrator’s own appreciation of the world.

Initially, the narrator imagines that Robert will be strange and…

Empathy and Listening

While the narrator is able to see the physical world, he struggles in his relationship with his wife . Robert , on the other hand, is blind , but he seems to be quite attuned to the emotional lives of others because he is an empathetic listener. Carver, therefore, configures empathy via listening as a mode of perception that is perhaps more intimate than sight.

The narrator seems to have a difficult relationship with his…

Intimacy and Isolation

At the story’s start, the narrator is alienated from other people. He and his wife have a tense relationship and they quarrel before her friend Robert , who is blind , is scheduled to arrive at their house. In this fight, the narrator’s wife remarks that the narrator has no friends, and this seems true—he never mentions any, and when Robert arrives at the house, the narrator has trouble holding a conversation. He even struggles…

The Secular and the Sacred

The tension between the secular and the sacred is an animating force of Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral,” the very premise of which—a blind man healing a man who can see—inverts a popular Bible story in which Jesus heals a blind man. Carver’s story often explicitly and implicitly references religion, which is how many people find meaning in their lives, but Carver argues that a person does not need religion to find meaning—spirituality can be secular, and…

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Literary Analysis of Cathedral by Raymon

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Dirty Realism is a literary movement which arose in the USA during the 70’s and 80’s. It aims at showing some of the worst aspects of Western society during the postmodern era. Dirty Realism reaches readers mainly through the novel and short story. Its characters are not heroes, they are regular people who struggle with current life, its problems and challenges. It is not clear where Dirty Realism comes from, but it seems to be closer to American Naturalism. Dirty Realism has as one of its goals to critique the postmodern society, nevertheless, it does not offer any political critique. Charles Bukowski is one of the writers whose work we will analyze. He tells his own life in the novels, he wrote and talked about his current problems by using an alter ego. Raymond Carver is the other writer we will approach. He wrote short stories, we can find in there characters who deal with their current problems but they do not know how to fix them. Both writers want to criticise the society where they lived. However, they do not offer any solution. Carver and Bukowski belonged to the same movement, but also present some differences as we should be able to prove at the end of this project.

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—Generally speaking, the narratives are divided into two categories; those written by men writers and those written by women writers. In other words, some narratives are narrated by a male narrator who employs distancing strategies and some are narrated by a female narrator using engaging strategies, which are respectively employed by men and women writers. This is what Warhol, the feminist narratologist, proposes while she bases her ideas on Genette's narratological theories concerning the narrators and a 'distance' they create between the readers and the story which is told in the narrative. Carver's "Cathedral" is an exception. "Cathedral" significantly represents a narrator whose gender changes throughout the narrative. Though, the whole narrative is recounted by a first person narrator, by a man, his gender changes from a male to a female narrator. Investigating Carver's aim of using this method, this paper probes the male and female interventions in the narrative.

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This article explores several elements of Raymond Carver’s oeuvre and its various applications to ESL and remedial English literature, comprehension, and composition classes. Due to the difficulty inherent in teaching ESL students literature featuring advanced verbiage and complex grammatical structure, a modern, minimalist writer like Carver and his condensed, easy-to-read short stories is a natural choice for an instructor of literature. Advanced instruction of dialogue and meaning, themes and symbols, and even the process of editing writing in order to improve meaning and reduce “clutter” can be instructed using Raymond Carver’s Collected Stories. Moreover, this article gives instructors certain teaching methods to aid the ESL student on his journey from a superficial understanding of grammar to a deeper understanding of meaningful, literary English. KEYWORDS: Raymond Carver, ESL, American literature, instruction

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How Dysfunctional Families Trap Individuals

Each story concerns, in some way, the breakdown of a marriage or a family. In most cases, the couple stays together, resigned to the choices they make despite feeling trapped. Jack, the narrator of “Feathers,” feels that his wife is changed by the end of the story, but he does not see any option other than to stay with her and remain silent. Sandy’s marriage (“Preservation”) falls apart when her husband loses her job, and as she watches him give in to hopelessness and fear, she no longer finds him attractive. In “Bridle,” both Betty and Marge are trapped in different types of miserable marriages. Betty feels bound to her husband and his kids, no matter how far he drives the family into destruction. And Marge is stuck in a limbo of indifference where her husband does not seem to notice or respect her.

In some stories, the marriage breaks up, but the two people continue to return to each other. Wes and Edna (“Chef’s House”) had a very rocky relationship, and Wes’s alcoholism ended their marriage. Yet Edna returns to him and tries again, choosing Wes over a healthier relationship. Similarly, Lloyd’s alcoholism (“Careful”) destroys his marriage to Inez, but Inez still feels obligated to help him with his ear blockage and gives her number to the landlady in case Lloyd has an emergency. The narrator in “Where I’m Calling From” also destroyed his marriage with alcoholism, but as he works to get sober, he starts to call his wife in hopes that she will let him return home. For Carlyle (“Fever”), his wife won’t return but calls him repeatedly to interfere with his life.

Amid these damaged marriages, there are dysfunctional relationships with children, children as collateral damage, and children who disrupt their parents’ marriage. Jack (“Feathers”) never wanted children and finds that he has little affection for the son that his wife convinces him to help her create. Edna and Wes’s children (“Chef’s House”) stay away from their parents, uninterested in their reunion because they know that the relationship is unhealthy. Myers (“Compartment”) blames his son for turning his wife into an alcoholic and thus decides that he doesn’t really care for his son or want to see him. Holits (“The Bridle”) and Carlyle’s (“Fever”) children are abandoned by their mothers, leaving fathers to fill the void. For the characters in these stories, living difficult lives takes a toll on their relationships, but most are unable to see any better options than living unhappy lives.

Working-Class Dissatisfaction

Most of Carver’s characters belong to the working class. They labor at jobs that don’t pay enough to allow them to thrive and offer no chance for real advancement. Jack and Fran (“Feathers”) dream about financial success, but Jack knows that those dreams are unrealistic. The baker (“A Small, Good Thing”) becomes so miserable in his never-ending daily grind that he takes it out on a mother who forgot to pick up a cake, never imagining that her son died. For the narrator in “Vitamins,” his job is so meaningless to him, and he is so invisible as an employee, that he often shows up drunk. And while his wife Patti achieves a measure of success selling vitamins, that success reverses and causes intense stress and anxiety. The narrator in “Cathedral” answers Robert’s polite questions about his job by saying that he doesn’t enjoy it but sees very little chance that he will leave it for something more fulfilling. Throughout the story collection, work is simply a means to an end

For these blue-collar characters, unemployment is particularly devastating, often costing them everything. Although the characters usually have little passion or interest in their work, over time they define themselves as providers for their families. Sandy’s husband (“Preservation”) works in roofing, and when he loses his job, he cannot find work in the one area in which he has training and experience. Without his job, Sandy cannot see her husband the same way she once did. J.P. (“Where I’m Calling From”) decided immediately after high school that becoming a chimney sweep was his life’s path, but alcoholism makes it impossible for him to work. However, his wife still describes him to the narrator as being the best at his job. Holits and Betty lose their farm when Holits attempts to break out and get rich through horse racing. In the end, the responsibility falls on Betty to feed the family by working double shifts at a job she hates.

Disengagement and Loneliness

Most of the characters in the collection feel stuck in their circumstances and desperately alone. Some, such as the narrator of “Vitamins,” grow numb and disaffected. He views his job, cheating on his wife, and his wife’s suffering without emotion or concern. In “Cathedral,” the narrator expresses his unhappiness with his life through sarcasm and a refusal to take his wife’s emotions seriously. Myers (“The Compartment”) distances himself from the world after his divorce, and when he has the chance to reconnect with his son, cannot bring himself to feel any affection for him. Marge’s husband, Harley (“The Bridle”), disengages with his marriage and doesn’t notice or care that Marge is terribly lonely and dissatisfied. For these unhappy characters, alcohol and endless labor become coping mechanisms for their hopeless and dreamless lives.

Other characters respond to their lives by becoming emotionally raw, deeply aware of their own loneliness and desperate for human connection. In “A Small, Good Thing,” Ann’s life changes when her son is in a coma, causing her to feel separate and alone in her pain. Ann feels a kinship with Franklin’s family, as they also wait to learn if their child will survive. But the family is together, lost in their shared grief. Ann finds relief when she realizes that her husband shares her pain. The baker begins the story with a sense of disengagement, feeling justified in harassing a mother for ordering a cake that she doesn’t pick up. But when he learns that they have lost their child, the baker reengages and connects to the grieving parents. In a similar way, the narrator in “Cathedral” learns to reengage through his interaction with Robert.

Most of the characters remain unresolved in terms of their loneliness and sorrow. Patti (“Vitamins”) ends the story in a panicked waking dream about her stress at work while her husband, irritated, tells her to go back to bed. Miss Dent (“The Train”) experiences something enormous and potentially traumatic, but just as she steels herself to open up to the older woman’s prodding, the train arrives, and they go their separate ways. The three characters and the other train passengers are all too absorbed in their own lives to give more than passing notice to others. In Lloyd’s encounter with his ex-wife (“Careful”), she treats him like an obligation and then leaves him alone. He consoles himself by drinking and giving in to the ever-increasing loss of control. These characters who dwell on their loneliness and pain remain trapped in a perpetual cycle of disconnectedness.

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Cathedral essay questions.

Discuss the theme of sight in "Cathedral." What does the narrator come to see? What does he learn about sight?

The narrator's epiphany at the end of "Cathedral" comes with his ability to 'see' outside of himself, to imagine himself as part of something bigger. The irony is that he is taught to 'see' by a blind man, and he 'sees' only through refusing to open his eyes and behold the drawing he has made. The narrator's attitudes about sight at the beginning of the story exhibit his close-mindedness: he judges Robert for blindness, even though he himself is 'blind' to the truth of what blindness is (he admits he only knows it through TV). What he learns about sight is that it can be limiting when turned only to the particulars of one's own life, instead of directed outwards to how we are all connected to something greater.

Why do you think Jack and Fran are so affected by their visit to Bud and Olla's in "Feathers"? Use specifics to explain your thoughts.

Jack and Fran are affected by experiencing the strangeness of Bud and Olla's life. Jack's narration paints their lives as comfortable but bland. They don't have friends and Fran knows little of Jack's life at work. They don't dine with others frequently, as seen in their difficulty deciding what to bring. The strange qualities of their hosts – in a house marked with an X on a map, they find plastered teeth, an ugly baby, and a peacock – shake them and make them change their minds about having a child. One could also describe their epiphany as inspired by the warmth of Bud and Olla's, the way they speak to one another and are accepting of their baby's ugliness, since it's just one stage before "another stage."

At the end of "A Small, Good Thing," Scotty's parents have a type of communion with the baker. What in the baker's confession do the parents relate to?

Ann and Howard, through Scotty's hospitalization, become closer to one another and more aware of how alone they truly are. Their general perspective throughout the tragedy is how far the rest of life is from their monumental pain – the doctors and nurses are essentially distanced, and images like cars in the parking lot have a disproportionate effect on Ann. The baker's confession about his long-standing loneliness is something they are able to empathize with, having realized the tragedy of how little their pain can be controlled or stopped.

What does Portland mean for the characters of "Vitamins"?

Portland becomes a symbol of escape from desperation in "Vitamins." After Sheila first tells the narrator she is going to Portland, he is taken with the image, suggesting the city as a means of escape to Donna even though he knows nothing about it. It illustrates how truly desperate the characters are; Portland is an arbitrary destination, as any change will do. The arbitrariness also illustrates how unhappy they are.

What does J.P.'s story teach the narrator of "Where I'm Calling From?"

J.P.'s story illustrates two points about the narrator's state of mind. The first is how much he wants diversion from his own life, and how little he wants to focus on himself. He asks J.P. to tell the story at such length partly because it's a distraction – he says he was interested in the story, but that he would have been interested in horseshoes. But it affects him anyway, as it is a story about action, in which J.P. goes after Roxy and wins the girl, before drink takes him over. The narrator asks Roxy for a kiss in hopes of also acquiring the agency to confront his own problems, which he begins to do by deciding to call his girlfriend.

Discuss how alcoholism affects the characters of any three stories in the collection.

Alcoholism is sometimes the cause, sometimes the symptom, and sometimes a symbol of a character's problem, depending on the story. In "Chef's House," it is a symbol of Wes's desire to be someone different. When he realizes that his vacation at Chef's will not make him someone else, Edna realizes his battle with drink is over, and that drink has won. In "Vitamins," it is a symptom of the characters' greater unhappiness with themselves. In "Careful," it seems to be the cause of Lloyd and Inez's separation. In "Where I'm Calling From," it is so involved it can be described as all three. In "Cathedral," it is a symptom of the narrator's blindness and separation from others.

Explain the symbol of the cathedral in "Cathedral."

The symbol of the cathedral helps to understand the epiphany. It is a symbol of a process that continues past the end of any individual's lifetime, as Robert observes. In the same way, self-discovery is something that must continue; as Robert says, he learns something new every day. Its spiritual quality is also important; while the story might not be overtly religious, it is about a transcendence that can be discussed in spiritual terms.

Explain the symbol of the bridle in "The Bridle."

A bridle is used to control a horse for maximum effect. Placed into a horse's mouth and controlled by the rider, it is an extreme way to force restraint on the part of a wild horse. And yet it produces results. The bridle then represents the thematic conflict between restraint and impetuousness. While Marge's restraint in taking control of her life only isolates and stifles her, so is impetuousness seen as the source of destruction, both in terms of Holits's gambling and his accident.

What does the wax in "Careful" symbolize?

Lloyd's ear buildup helps to illustrate his inability to take action and listen to others. His alcoholism has helped cause the end of his marriage, and yet he deludes himself about this fact, unwilling to realize that his alcoholism is keeping him from closeness with his wife as much as the wax keeps him from hearing her speak. He cannot hear Inez throughout the story; his problem is too deep-rooted. Even after the wax is removed, he finds himself ignoring her words and without any sense of what time it is. He will not experience the pleasure of release from his larger problems until he learns to 'hear' them, to look them straight in the face.

Explain the role Mrs. Webster plays in Carlyle's recovery in "The Fever."

Mrs. Webster personifies dependability for Carlyle. He is growing progressively more anxious about his difficulty finding a babysitter. But she offers him far more, in the same way that his problem is far broader that the immediate need to take care of the children. Carlyle is unable to truly get over Eileen because he is fixated on the past, and the impossibility of reconciling his memory of the good parts of his relationship with Eileen with the way the relationship ended. This manifests in a physical fever, and Mrs. Webster, both through her tenderness and her confession about her own vulnerability in the world (her age has required her to move), inspires Carlyle to confess and thereby find the courage to move on.

Cathedral Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Cathedral is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What is the nature of the world?

In context, the nature of the world would be defined as the way so many people look without seeing.... the detachment.

what we talk about when we talk about love

Love is not just a word. Love is more than you can describe in words. For all people, love has different means. To better describe this, you can buy custom papers for college on Paperial service and get the best answers to your questions. Love...

In a good story, a character doesn’t suddenly become a completely different sort of person. Find details early in the story that show the narrator’s more sensitive side and thus help to make his development credible and persuasive.

Which section of Cathedral does this question pertain to?

Study Guide for Cathedral

Cathedral study guide contains a biography of Raymond Carver, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Cathedral
• Cathedral Summary
• Character List

Essays for Cathedral

Cathedral essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Cathedral by Raymond Carver.

• Blind Freeing the Blind: Transcendence in "Cathedral"
• Metaphors of Blindness in "Cathedral"
• Epiphanies of ‘Ugly’ Mrs. Turpin and the ‘Blind’ Narrator
• Sweet Poison: The Use of Intoxication in Carver's Short Stories
• Raymond Carver's Cathedral of Irony

Lesson Plan for Cathedral

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Cathedral
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Cathedral Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for Cathedral

• Introduction