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Cathedral
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Cathedral
Raymond Carver's Cathedral The Husband’s Enlightenment Raymond Carver’s "Cathedral" is narrated from the point of view of a hostile and ignorant husband, whose wife has invited a blind friend to spend the night. The narrator is, through his forthcoming descriptions of his wife and the blind man, viewed as extremely bitter. However, as the story progresses, the narrator’s tone and demeanor change from caustic to warm and enlightened. The story opens as the narrator explains that "the blind man" is on his way from Connecticut, where "he was visiting the dead wife’s relatives," and that the narrator’s wife has invited the blind man to spend the night. The narrator goes on to explain how his wife’s relationship started, beginning "that summer in Seattle she [when] she had needed a job." The husband seems suspicious of their relationship, and his tone is jealous and demeaning. He describes the blind man’s situation with short, terse sentences; "He didn’t have any money, either. But she was in love with the guy, and he was in love with her, etc." He almost seems to balk at their relationship as his use of "etc." depicts. However, the narrator’s ignorance and his perception of the blind man’s life is obvious. Because the narrator cannot understand life without vision, he assumes that the blind man cannot either, and that anyone that is affected by blindness is unsatisfied. Shortly after the narrator s...
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