Cathedral by Raymond Carver Study Guide
Overview and Analysis of Carver's Short Story
Sep 17, 2009 Jeris Swanhorst
Photo of Cathedral -Morguefile.com
The narrator of Carver's "Cathedral" has an epiphany
when he meets a blind friend of his wife.
Published in 1983, Raymond Carver’s short story
“Cathedral” explores the theme of ignorance through the
first person narrator’s journey from insecurity to openness.
The narrator begins as close-minded and fearful of what he
does not understand; as the story progresses, he begins
to have his eyes opened, ironically with the help of a blind
man.
“Cathedral” Plot Summary
The story’s narrator informs the readers that a friend of his
wife’s, a man who happens to be blind, is on his way to
visit. The narrator is not enthusiastic about the visit
because blind people make the narrator uncomfortable,
mainly because the narrator has no real experience with
the blind.
In addition to his uneasiness with the blind, the narrator is
uncomfortable with his wife’s relationship with the blind
man. The wife and Robert, the blind man, have maintained
a close relationship via tape recordings mailed back and
forth, and the narrator finds this unsettling. Despite the
narrator’s feelings about the visit, Robert shows up, and
the three of them dine together, and Robert and the
narrator get to know each other.
Characters
The Narrator: The unnamed narrator of the story is
insecure, close-minded, and lacks communication skills at
the beginning of the story. As Robert urges the narrator to
open up to discussion, the narrator begins to exit his
comfort zone of nonchalant detachment to forging a real
connection with Robert, thus causing the narrator to
rethink not only his prejudice toward the blind, but his
outlook on communication and personal connection
overall.
Robert: Robert, the blind man, is a long-time friend of the
narrator’s wife. Robert has maintained a close relationship
with the narrator’s wife since she worked for him years ago.
Since then, they have stayed in touch. Robert works hard
to get to know that narrator, too, while he is visiting them,
pushing the narrator to talk and interact with him, bringing
the narrator out of his shell of closed-off ignorance.
The Wife: The narrator’s wife, who is also unnamed, plays
a secondary role in the action of the story, since she falls
asleep while her husband and Robert talk. Readers are
given some of the wife’s background, learning that she was
married before, has attempted suicide, and has trouble
communicating with her husband.
Theme and Meaning
At the end of “Cathedral,” the narrator has a life-changing
moment, or an epiphany, while trying to tell Robert what a
cathedral looks like. The narrator, when first trying to
explain what the cathedral looks like, struggles for the
words. However, upon Robert’s encouragement, loosens
up, and draws the cathedral with Robert, guiding his hand
with a pencil onto paper.
This is a close personal connection and intimate moment
of communication for the narrator, and it impacts him
greatly. The narrator is able to connect with Robert, and
this is the moment where the narrator can put aside his
insecurities and actually interact with someone else. It
changes the narrator; he says, “It was like nothing else in
my life up to now” (Carver 108).
Throughout Cathedral, the boundaries the narrator has
placed on his interaction and communication with others
are eroded by Robert’s patient persistence in getting to
know him. As a result, the narrator confronts his own
insecurities and misconceptions, not just about Robert and
the blind, but also about his own ability to interact with
others.
Carver, Raymond. “Catherdral.” Literature: An Introduction
to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. X.J. Kennedy and
Dana Gioia, eds. New York: Pearson, 2007. 98-108.
Another Raymond Carver Article:
Book Review Cathedral by Raymond Carver
Copyright Jeris Swanhorst. Contact the author to obtain
permission for republication.