Raymond Carver Cathedral Essay

The short story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver is about the relationship between a blind man and an arrogant man who narrates the story. The narrator cannot see past the blind man’s disability; he dismisses him in the way a white bigot might dismiss a black person. Carver expresses symbolisms through the way a blind man named Robert is able to open the eyes of the narrator by means of showing empathy and compassion. Robert’s kind heart and willingness to work with the heartless man represents his open view of life and others. At first the narrator shows no compassion toward Robert, but because of Robert’s loving heart he is able to open up the narrator’s mind and show him that all people are equal; Robert is blind but, symbolically, he sees …show more content…
The narrator and his wife sit down for dinner and the narrator sits and watches as Robert eats with a knife and a fork (366). The narrator is without a doubt impressed that Robert can eat like a normal person, and he therefore gives Robert recognition for accomplishing this task. This event is key because this is when the narrator first starts to see Robert for who he is inside instead of just seeing his handicap. However, when Robert and the narrator watch TV together a picture of a Cathedral comes on Robert asks what does a Cathedral look like (370-371). The narrator does not know who to respond to that question in return Robert suggest the narrator draws out a picture of one. As the narrator and Robert draw together, Robert asks the narrator to close his eyes and continue drawing. At this moment, the moment of transformation, the narrator sees as the blind man sees. At this point, the narrator truly realizes that seeing has nothing to do with having eyesight. Robert asks him to look at the drawing, but the narrator keeps his eyes closed, as if he sees better without sight. He sees the drawing the way Robert sees the drawing, and he is speechless (372-373). Robert displays empathy toward the narrator and shows him how to open his eyes metaphorically. At first the narrator could not connect with Robert, but with empathy and way Robert deals with the narrator’s negativity this proves he is even more human than the

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