Essay on The Blind Heart in Carver’s Cathedral - 1245 Words

The Blind Heart in Raymond Carvers Cathedral A person’s ability to see is often taken for granted as it is in Cathedral by Raymond Carver. Although the title suggests that the story is about a cathedral, it is really about two men who are blind, one physically, the other psychologically. One of the men is Robert, the blind friend of the narrator’s wife; the other is the narrator-husband himself. The husband is the man who is psychologically blind. Carver deftly describes the way the husband looks at life: from a very narrow-minded point of view. Two instances in particular illustrate this. The first is that the husband seems to believe that the most important thing to women is being complimented on their looks; the second is†¦show more content†¦And the husband’s vulnerability is shown is shown in his hostility to the blind man, whom he rightly suspects of having a psychologically more intimate relationship with his wife than he, with all his emotional blindnesses, is able to have. As the story continues it exposes the many things that the husband fails to realize. For example, the husband neglects to recognize that Robert can feel. Robert commented about the train ride from the city that he’d nearly forgotten the sensation (1055). The husband does not understand that what blind people cannot see they can experience by feeling and hearing. The husband does not see what is underneath the skin or what is behind a face. The husband sees people and things at face value; he doesn’t look beneath the surface. In contrast, the blind man sees things with his ears, his hands, and his heart. Robert does not let the fact that he is handicapped affect how he perceives people and the things around him. Carver illustrates this when the husband observes, The blind man has 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 (1057) He did this just as anyone could have done. He doesn’t let the fact that he isShow MoreRelatedAlcohol and Marijuana in Catherdral by Raymond Carver Essay963 Words   |  4 Pagesefforts from imposed laws: people feel the need to consume these substances and encage in behaviors out of the ordinary. Drugs and alcohol are used in the story â€Å"Cathedral† but also they are used in Raymond Carver’s personal life. Carver began drinking heavily in 1967 and was repeatedly hospitalized for alcoholism in the 1970’s. Carver’s minimum wage jobs, the demand of parenting and the need to bring money home led to his addiction to alcohol. Alcohol became a problem because carver was saddledRead MoreAnalysis Of Raymond Carver s The Cathedral 863 Words   |  4 Pagesfind a lot of religion symbols; it is â€Å"Cathedral.† The story develops an ironic situation in which a blind man teaches a sighted man to truly â€Å"see† for the first time. 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