Intimacy In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

Another major aspect of this lost search for intimacy is the family view. There is a need for many of his characters to isolate themselves from their loved ones and the rest of society. This aspect is present in the story a small good thing through the main characters Ann and Howard. Ann shows this aspect through her need to get away from all the pain that she has taken on through sitting in the hospital waiting for her son to live or die. Ann deeply wanted to get away “[I] wish [I] were that woman and somebody, anybody, was driving [me] away from here somewhere else, a place where [I] would find Scotty waiting for [me] when [I] stepped out of the car, ready to say Mom and let [me] gather him in [my] arms (411), so she could be removed from …show more content…
Their hopes of gaining intimacy with others is slim which as a results guides people to having any stable relationship and live a productive and happy life inside of societies walls. In many of Carvers short stories commitment is a big issue. Whether it is towered family, a spouse, or even society this timid attribute deters many people from having other healthy human interactions. The false sense of Intimacy can be form of isolation as well. There is a difference between intimacy and sexual appearance. This false identification is shoe in Raymond Carvers short story Cathedral. The main character in the story didn’t have an intimate relationship with his wife he had a sexual attraction “She’d turned so that her robe had slipped away from her legs, exposing a juicy thigh. I reached to draw her robe back, and it was then I glanced at the blind man. What the hell? I flipped the robe open again.” (523) This scene shows how he saw his wife as his “property” and felt it was his obligation to preserve her, but when he remembered the man was blind he let it open. So this scene shows that he really didn’t need to protect her innocence and he had the advantage of getting to look at her at that time. These type of actions set precedent for possible obsessiveness, inappropriate behaviors, and personal isolation. Also, this aspect was present in What we talk about when we talk about love. In this story Nick and Laura are a newley married …show more content…
Common forces that spate any intimate union are violence, cheating, and drinking which can cause the path to possible identity shutdown. Cheating is a big factor in this story which is a big cause for a marriage serration in which would stop the developing of Intimacy. When we think about our identity and who we are much of that contemplation reflects onto who we love. And if a relationship was viewed as a failed intimacy it could lead to self-hatred. Now Alcoholism is present in many of his stories as well and along with cheating it stalls any search for identity as well. It is suspected and stated in many biographies of Raymond Carver that he had an Alcohol problem which could be a valid reason for a lot of drinking throughout his short stories, including; what we talk about when we talk about love. Alcohol in these stories could be a possible tactic to cover up old pain or scars that were caused. In What We Talk about When We Talk About love this is shown through the two couples who use drinking as a mechanism to open up out there ideas of love and reveal secrets that normally would have never come out. Lastly, is the factor of violence that occurs in relationships mostly because of lack of communication or commitment in a relationship. When the only major form of unity breaks down, communication, one of the spouses

Show More

Human Physical Appearance and Raymond Carver Essay

The Narrator In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

Intimacy In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

Related Documents: Intimacy In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

Human Physical Appearance and Raymond Carver Essay

The Narrator In Raymond Carver's Cathedral