Raymond Carver utilizes his character of the husband, who is also the narrator, in his short story "Cathedral." From the beginning of the story the narrator has a negative personality. He lacks compassion, has a narrow mind, is detached emotionally from others, and is jealous of his wife's friendship with a blind man named Robert. The major theme in Cathedral is learning to accept others differences which can be seen throughout the whole story as you watch the main character transform into a well rounded character by being able to accept Robert for the way he is; being blind. A blind man named Robert is coming to have dinner and stay overnight.
He also realizes the mere fact of why Boo Radley never liked coming out the house which shows his intellectual maturity of realizing that the world is not that great. Jem says “If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I think I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time.
Crooks also has a fake hope that he is protected by his “wrights” but toughs are dashed by his argument with Curlys wife. "S'pose you couldn't go into the bunkhouse and play rummy 'cause you was black...Sure, you could play horseshoes 'til dark, but then you have to read books." This shows that Crooks pities his own circumstances and vulnerability. However on pg73 "his tone was a little more friendly" and pg77 "I didn't mean to scare you" gives us the impression that Crooks has a kind heart under his mean exterior. Crooks brings into perspective the lonely experienced of all the characters in "Of Mice and Men" by saying on pg77 "Books ain't no good.
His children particularly Mayella, have been affected by this lack of empathy, and have developed it as well. After Bob had just saved Scout and Jem's lives, Atticus and Mr. Heck Tate were talking about Mr. Ewell. "He has guts enough to pester a poor coloured woman, he had guts enough to pester Judge Taylor when he thought the house was empty, so do you think he'd met your face in daylight?" (Page 269) - Mr. Heck Tate (on why Bob Ewell went after Scout and Jem). This quote shows how Bob Ewell has no empathy skills whatsoever.
Yes, possibly John is blind and wears those little ZZ Top black glasses or goes free and has a David Paterson squint working for him. However, I would also bet that John Jefferson is not blind but is simply ignorant, as was the narrator in Cathedral. His ignorance was probably not that of hatred or mal content, but simply by his lack of experience with being around a certain subject that is out of the norm for him. We’re constantly seeing the narrator struggle with his uncertain-like attitude. Luckily, Robert, the older blind man in the
He has also lost his senses on how he should act cool in order to give Daisy the fake impression he has been building up in the past five years. Instead of facing Daisy like he face all the other guests, he walk off leaving Daisy in the room alone because he was embarrassed. The quote can also foreshadow Gatsby's death; how he is hollow can also mean the he is lifeless. 'You're acting like a little boy... Not only that, but you're rude.' Nick's dialogue gave himself a mature image, where within this quote, he was the one in control, but Gatsby wasn't, being called 'a little boy'.
“Victor knew that Thomas would remain the crazy story teller who talked to dogs and cats, who listened to the wind and pine trees. Victor knew that he could not really be friends with Thomas, even after all that happened. It was cruel, but it was real.” (Alexie, This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona 882) Is an excerpt from the short story that shows that despite everything that they went through; they were still not really friends. In the film, almost exactly the same thing
I ain't wanted in the bunkhouse and you ain't wanted in my room." He continues by saying that the whites believe he stinks and one can interpret this as a way of saying that the whites would find it a disgrace that a nigger should breathe the same bunkhouse air as them. "S'pose you couldn't go into the bunkhouse and play rummy 'cause you was black...Sure, you could play horseshoes 'til dark, but then you have to read books." shows that Crooks pities his own circumstances and vulnerability. However, "his tone was a little more friendly" and, "I didn't mean to scare you" gives us the impression that Crooks has a kind heart under his blunt exterior.
Robert, the blind friend of Carver’s wife, adopts the literal role of blindness whereas the figurative role of blindness is assumed by the narrator because of his inability to seek and accept people who are different. Literal blindness is considered by most as a major set back for a normal life and a burden for those around them who must acquire a large amount of patience and compassion. Robert, however, seems to have accepted his abnormality. He jokes about his having two different types of televisions and states “but if I turn the TV on, and I’m always turning it on, I turn on the color set. It’s funny, don’t you think?”(727).
In the general society, we avert our eyes or roll them when seeing a homeless person. It can even be worse when they are mentally ill. When I live in Columbus, Ohio there was this one homeless man everyone knew. He was called “Rooster” because he would start crowing for no reason, or so most thought. He was dirty, smelled bad, and would talk to himself.