Looking Beyond the Surface at Raymond Carvers Cathedral

It seems in life that we often look at things without really seeing them. Raymond Carver demonstrates in â€Å"Cathedral† that looking is associated to physical vision, but seeing involves a deeper level of commitment. The author is making the point when you put yourself into someone elses shoes and allow yourself to see things the way they see them, it can be the most rewarding and eye opening experience. During the exposition, the narrator shows that he has no problems with eyesight and he is capable of looking. The narrator is not blind and thinks that because he can see he is better than Robert. Because of Robert’s physical blindness the narrator thinks that he is not able to have any kind of normal life. The narrator believes that the ability to see is everything, and puts no effort into looking and seeing anything beyond the surface. He looks at his house, wife, television, and at Robert when he arrives. How ironic is it that Robert, the blind man, has the ability to see on a much deeper level than the narrator? For example, even though Robert cannot physically see the narrator’s wife, he understands her a lot more than her husband. He has truly listened to her during the past ten years on the audiotapes she sends him. The only interactions shown between the narrator, the protagonist, and his wife are short exchanges in which he seems to get on her nerves. It is dem onstrated in this conflict by Robert, the antagonist, that seeing involves a lot more than just looking.Show MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Raymond Carver s The Cathedral 863 Words   |  4 Pages One of the Raymond Carver story where we can find a lot of religion symbols; it is â€Å"Cathedral.† The story develops an ironic situation in which a blind man teaches a sighted man to truly â€Å"see† for the first time. 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