The Symbolism Of The Narrator In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

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“My eyes were still closed. I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything. It’s really something, I said “(Carver, p.267). Raymond Carver unique story Cathedral brings out the inscrutable meaning of how people look at life. The narrator in this short story faces the reality of seeing the deeper sense of things versus looking at the physical sense. The narrator one of the major character in the story is affected by the friendship of a blind man named Robert and his wife. The narrator opposes everything that is said or did by Robert. Carver allows the narrator to undertake the challenge of the blind man to learn the bigger picture. Cathedral reveals that a person is capable of looking past the disability of a person, seeing the deeper emotional state, while learning that anything is possible just believe. The narrator is classified as a character in this short story. He is also the protagonist. The narrator clearly does not understand his wife relationship with Robert the …show more content…
Robert the blind man and the narrator began to watch television which leads to an engaging conversation.”Cathedrals.” Robert asks the narrator a very personal question about his religion. The narrator answer the question with “I guess I don’t believe in it. In anything. Something times its hard. You know what I'm saying?” (pg. 266). The narrator explains that he does not believe in religion and that he really can not say he believe in anything at all. This allows the cathedral place its important role in the story. Robert comes in and affects the narrator life by helping him believe. Robert says “Draw, You’ll see. I'll follow along with you. It'll be okay. Just begin now like I'm telling you. You'll see. Draw”(pg267). The narrator wonder and began to think that the blind man is out of this mine. By following the simple instruction of Robert the narrator does see that he is helping him believe in the