The narrator saw the blind man Robert as he thought blind people were because of the stereotypes he has heard on TV. Come to the end of the short story we see that the narrator sees that the blind man is a normal person even with the disability he has the narrator comes to respect him for who he is. When the blind man told the narrator to close his eyes and “see” the world like Robert does and when the narrator did this he took life differently and changed his perspective towards the blind
The narrator’s original point of view is that Robert is from his wives past so he must be a threat to him, so jealousy is appealed, “This blind man, an old friend of my wives … I wasn’t enthusiastic about the visit”(88). He also assumes that blindness was such a major weakness that Robert was completely inferior to himself. “My idea of blindness came form the movies … A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to”(88). This is the narrator’s ignorance at play. He also thinks blind people cant smoke cigarettes.
The movies that the narrator had seen with blind people in them have given him the impression that dark glasses are a necessity for all blind people, but that is clearly not the case. Another prejudice that the narrator has towards blind people is that they must not be able to eat their food like normal people. He “watched [Robert eating] with admiration as he used his knife and fork on the meat” (32). He was amazed that Robert was able to use his utensils by himself and did not need anybody’s help so that he could eat. Throughout the story, Robert is slowly putting prejudices of blind people to
In conclusion, Carl Matt is similar to the Osprey in many ways, from the start of the book to the end. They’re both similar because they’re both weak and scared to stand up for themselves and in the Start, the osprey is injured, similar to Carl Matt, you can say he is injured as well and caged like the osprey because he scared to defence himself and show his fleshy bulges but at the end when the osprey is free, Carl Matt is free. It is fair to say that Carl Matt and the Osprey are similar because they are both like preys; they both can’t stand up for themselves and they both listen to anyone even if it ruins there life. For example, in my first argument i was talking about how Carl Matt is like the prey and Bruce is like the predator because Bruce teases and makes fun of him and he does nothing. 2nd argument he is scared to take is top off because he is ashamed of his fleshy bulges and scared if someone picks on him because he can’t stand up for himself and in 3rd argument Aunt beryl blames Carl for what Harley did and makes him pay the fine and Carl just listens even though it will ruin his life and he doesn’t even stand
The dialog was about how the narrator did not have in blind friends and with sarcasm he says, “Maybe I could take him bowling,” (Carver) the author shows the narrator lack of understanding of his wife friendship with the blind man. Maybe because of his limited experience with a blind person and understand where he is coming from. This lack of understand by the narrator gives the reader a little insight on the relationship be him and his wife. Where the husband feels like an outsider when Robert is joined them for the night. Due to the fact, he did take the time to understand his wife and her
Micro Critique Cathedral by Raymond Carver Casey Bodtker January 25, 2012 English 104 Terrance Millet Cathedral by: Raymond Carver Dear Mr. Carver, I believe the heart of your story is the husband understanding and acceptance of the blind man, Robert. The reason the heart seems to center around this aspect are: In the beginning of the story, the husband has preconceived notions about blind people as we see in the passage, “My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they were led by seeing-eye dogs.
Robert, an old friend from his wife teaches the narrator a great lesson about life and how “learning never ends.” Robert opens the eyes of the narrator. The short story “Cathedral” is about “the blind leading the blind” in the sense that Robert, a physically blind person, leads the narrator, a spiritually blind person, to a greater understanding about life. One of the reasons the narrator is consider a spiritually blind person is because he displays lack of understanding towards blind people. The reader is able to see that the narrator is prejudice towards blind people. In the story, the narrator says “and his being blind bothered me.” The narrator is a reflection of prejudice and the stereotypes in society.
The Brownie’s plan of attacking the other troop falls through. It’s on the way home from camp that the girls are discussing the things that happened on the duration of their stay. They are poking fun at the girls who were different from them, making wise cracks and poor imitations of Troop 909. After her fellow Brownies bore of the subject of Troop 909, Snot tells the story of a Mennonite family who once did work for her father. She remembers her father saying “it was the only time he’d have a white man on his knees doing something for a black man for free.” Though she doesn’t agree with what her father did, she begins to understand his reasoning behind it.
Theme and Narrative Elements in Cathedral Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” explores the power of communication. Meaningful insight is displayed by the symbolism of a blind man helping our narrator discover more than what he sees. A well put together story in which a narrowly focused man is placed within a situation where his jealousy and obsession are obstacles which are put aside for his enlightenment. Revelations pertaining to the narrator’s perspective are opened up when he stops explaining all the relevant details and accepts the lens in which the blind man sees the world. A fair amount of the back story is set up in “Cathedral”, we are told at length about the wife’s history with both Robert, her blind friend, and with her ex-husband.
A mean and scary person wouldn’t do this. In the book Scout narrates, “I looked down and found myself clutching a woolen blanket…” (Lee 71-72).When Scout saw the blanket and realized that it was Boo Radley’s she thought of him as more nice and kind. Not a scary monster. Boo Radley saves Scout and Jem from Bob Ewell when he attacks them. Boo is not a monster as quoted “I looked from his white hands to his sand-stained khaki pants; my eyes traveled up his thin frame to his torn denim shirt.