First Impressions In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

Short stories often give the illusion that there is more to tell from the character than what meets the reader’s eye. When reading a story, people may make assumptions as to what kind of characters are going to be in the story, and how they are going to act throughout. They set the mood for the story. Characters can either leave negative or positive first impressions. In Raymond Carver’s Cathedral, the husband comes off as a very irritated and mean character. When reading the first line of this story, “This blind man,” (Carver 32) not too much thought went into what he actually meant. Although the reader may think he was just brutally honest with everything he said, he continues to surprise with words and actions throughout the story. At the beginning, he makes rude statements such

Disabilities are made out to be this awful thing that has happened to someone, but it’s not. It’s a blessing in disguise because not only do you see, or in Robert’s case, experience the world in a different light, but you get to share your light among the rest of the people of the world. People with disabilities are even more disabled because of society, and the way they are looked down upon. As the reading goes on, it might be thought that the husband could even be jealous of the Robert because of the history his wife has with him, because early in the text, the narrator talks about how the blind man, Robert, “enjoyed her favors, and was her childhood sweetheart.” (Carver 33) Kristen Aldrich from Ladybud has a blind husband and considers their relationship to be stronger than “normal relationships” because of the dependency her husband has on her. This could be why the narrator may be so jealous, and probably insecure about this strange man