Raymond Carvers Cathedral Essay -- Raymond Carver Papers

The teller in Raymond Carvers Cathedral has two fully operable eyes, in which he chooses never to use to their full potential. The eyes of the vote counter argon biased, insecure, jealous, and very limited in what they choose to strike. This inability to adjoin is made apparent when he is forced to meet and converse with a blind man. The fibbers perception of the world around him, and blurred vision, is resolved by a great irony in the story when Roger helps the vote counter see past his prejudice eruptlook on life. The blind man teaches the storyteller how to see.The first few pages of the story reveal the storytellers blurred view of his get life, his wifes life, and the entire world around him. The narrator, Bub, seems to have an unhappy and insecure go up to everyday life. The narrators blurred view of everything that happened in his wifes past life, shows the insecurity that plagues him. When referring to his wifes ex he says, Her officer- why should he have a name? He was the childhood sweetheart, and what more does he Want? -(P721). By treating everyone generically and denying their importance, the narrator is trying to make himself seem more important in the lives of others. He simply calls his wifes first husband the officer(P720) or the man(P720). His refusal to correct use his wifes name while narrating as well as ceaselessly referring to Robert as the the blind man(P720) shows that he has decided to block out the importance of the people around him. He is even less considerate of Roberts wife, whom he refers to as Beulah, Beulah(P721). The narrator chooses not to see everyone around him as individuals, but as a whole group. A group he is scared to look at. The narrators feelings toward Robert are... ...ns up to new possibilities Never thought anything alike(p) this could happen in your lifetime, did you bub? Well, its a strange life, we all know that(P729). This extract shows the narrators limited view on life. By drawing the cathe dral with Robert, the narrators views are expanded and he experiences a revelation. The narrator realizes that he must let go of his insecurity and mental acts of jealousy.The limitations that were holding the narrator back were abolished by dint of a process from which a blind man, in some sense, older a physically healthy man. The blind man cured the narrator of these limitations, and opened him up to a whole world of new possibilities. Robert enabled the narrator to view the world in a whole new way, a way without the heavy weights of prejudice, jealousy, and insecurity holding him down. The blind man shows the narrator how to see.