Cathedral Raymond Carver

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Raymond Carver “Cathedral” Raymond Carver uses a minimalist style in his 1982 story “Cathedral” to develop his main character, and take the character through a journey to self realization. The minimalist style helps to create a main character that is a very minimal person. The main character in “Cathedral” is a very basic man with prejudices against his wife’s friend Robert who is blind. The narrator who is the main character does not know how to have deep meaningful relationships. He is simply existing. In this story of one night at the home of the main character with his wife and his wife’s fiend the main character comes to a spiritual realization. Through a minimalist style, tone, and diction Carver creates a story of self realization and human connection. The story is minimal in many aspects. There are only three characters; the narrator or main character, the main character’s wife, and the blind man, Robert, who is the friend of the wife. The setting and time line of the story are also very minimal. The story takes place at the home of the narrator and his wife over the period of a night. There is not much plot or many characters to get in the way of the development of the main character throughout the story. The minimal elements help to create a minimal main character. The main character does not do much with his life other than drink, smoke weed, and eat, “Every night I smoked dope and stayed up as long as I could before I fell asleep. My wife and I hardly ever went to bed at the same time”(222) he is only existing living a lonely minimal life. The main character only has feelings that are skin deep. His wife is much more complex character, and the main character is jealous that his wife can develop relationships with people. The wife and Robert would send tapes to one another and developed a close relationship to one another. The main character’s
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