"Cathedral"

This is Lena Gruber.

     The two short stories, "Brownies," by ZZPACKER, and "Catherdral," by Raymond Carver, both have an important theme. We talked about them in class; it is what is left after the reader finishes the the story. "Cathedral" is written in the first person. The sentences are very short and to the point. This already shows a lot about the narrator. He is a very simple and to the point man and doesn't bother to really observe what goes on around him. The reader understands this because of the lack of description and detail in the narration. The narrator explains his dislike towards the blind and that he is actually meant to spend time with a blind man who is a friend of his wife. There is a present contrast between the narrator and the blind man. The way the narrator talks about him shows that he feels superior to the blind man; however, his wife seems to like the blind man more than her own husband. The narrator is in denial but can't help but subconsciously question why his wife would prefer a man who is blind, someone who lacks something, over someone who can see and who is normal. This is where the theme becomes clear, when the narrator is asked by the blind man to describe the cathedral shown on the tv but is unable to do so. The narrator may be able to see but can he really see. A blind man teaches him to really see and that is the theme of this short story. He sits down with the blind man and attempts to draw this cathedral. Now, the cathedral may not look like the actual, physical cathedral, but that is not the point, the point is that he learned, not to see, but to experience and really observe.