The Role Of The Narrator In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

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Sight is a gift, that that some, unfortunately, do not get to possess. However, the lack of visual aid does not influence how a person can perceive and appreciate their sightless and un-noticed world. The Narrator, in the short story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, undergoes a revelation about his life, provided by Robert, a blind man. Throughout the story the narrator undergoes a transformation from a stale husband, living a humdrum life, into a man who truly acknowledges his life and the beauty of understanding. The narrator, in the beginning, is presented with a situation, brought on by his wife, a blind man will be their guest eating, sleeping, and interacting with the narrator and his wife. The narrator opens with pessimistic and ignorant …show more content…
A friend of the narrators wife is coming to stay for a visit, the only caveat is that he is blind. The narrator is off put by this unusual visitor and is reluctant to take him in. the narrator accounts that “his being blind bothered [him].” (Carver, 1) being sightless is very uncommon for the narrator, he has lived a normal, boring life and has not really explored out of his comfort zone. The only perception of blind people he has “came from the movies,” (Carver, 1) the only information the narrator has ascertained about blind people is from a, very likely, warped views from the media which clouds his judgment. The narrator comes from a very dull life, where “[he doesn’t] have any friends” (carver, 3) this isolation from social experimentation has placed the narrator into a bastion of ignorance and refusal to experience. When the blind man reaches his home, the first aspect that the narrator notices is “feature this… a full beard” (Carver, 4) the narrator is taken by surprise by the facial hair of this man. For the narrator has conceived that a beard is a unique trait particular to those who are ‘normal’ in his eyes. The narrator is marked by ignorance and prejudice in the start of his transformation, these views of the blind man will change through the story, and will ultimately lead to the revelation that the blind man brings
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