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Internal Conflict In Cathedral

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Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” regards the change in a man’s understanding of himself and the world. In this short story, the unnamed main character is hostile and ignorant toward a blind man whom his wife invites over to stay the night. Through the descriptions the narrator provides about his wife and the blind man, the main character is viewed as bitter and selfish; however, as the story progresses his attitude towards them shifts from ill-mannered to open-minded and amiable. The complex conflict of the narrator struggling with his inner conflict and overcoming it is highlighted with the use of first-person narration, characterization, and symbolism.
Throughout the short story, the narrator reveals through his thoughts that the conflict he …show more content…

He is also insolent towards his wife and her past behaviors. This characterization of him emphasizes that he is in conflict with himself. Robert acts the direct opposite of the husband toward the wife by showing her compassion and willingness to engage in an in-depth conversation. The tapes that the two send back and forth are prime examples of communication that the husband fails to have with her. The wife and Robert have sent tapes back and forth for years, while the husband finds it difficult to have quality time with her. He longs for some sort of communication because he states, “Every night I smoked dope and stayed up as long as I could before I fell asleep. My wife and I hardly ever went to bed at the same time,”(Carver 34). The man may have started smoking weed, along with his heavy drinking, as a way to cope with his longing for communication from his wife. It is Robert who eventually shows the husband some form of communication and helps him to overcome his conflict with openmindedness and self-awareness. After the wife falls asleep, Robert and the man share conversations about what was showing on the tv. Robert suggests to the man that they should draw a cathedral together after the tv shows a program about them. The man was very eager to get something to draw on and with for the blind man showing how he has begun to be comfortable with Robert’s presence.

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He takes note of the simple things, like the awkward silence at dinner, where “we ate everything there was to eat on the table,” (Carver 45), and how they “got up from the table and left the dirty plates,” (Carver 45). Nothing too exciting happens, aside the narrator, when he “asked if he wanted to smoke some dope with me,” (Carver 55). Carver creates a very relatable story that mainly showcases ordinary people doing ordinary things. Although seeming to be anticlimactic for the majority of the story, these dull moments lead to a very important event. Robert and the narrator sit on the couch after the wife has fallen asleep, watching TV, when a documentary about cathedrals comes on.

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