In Raymond Carver’s short story, “Cathedral,” Carver shows that people can change throughout time. Upon meeting the blind man, the narrator undergoes character development throughout the story, going from a very philistine, insensitive, blunt character to a polite, interested, perceptive man. Before the narrator met the blind man, he was a very impudent and narrow-minded person, but when he met the man it was as though a switch flipped, and he was opened to a different lifestyle. Our first interaction with the narrator is when he tells us about the blind man and we find out that he is coming to visit. The narrator tells us that he “wasn’t enthusiastic about [the blind man’s] visit,” which is okay in hindsight, however a little insensitive …show more content…
We learn the blind man’s name is Robert upon meeting him and at first the narrator is a little hesitant toward Robert, not knowing what kind of questions to ask. The narrator asks what side of the bus Robert sat on, as though it mattered, but after a little the narrator warms up to him. While the three of them ate dinner, the narrator “watched [Robert] with admiration,” because he was amazed at how fluid everyday activities were for him (paragraph 45). In the beginning of the story, the narrator was very blunt, but we see that once he meets Robert, he starts to think a little before asking things. The narrator even seems slightly unsure about things when he answers questions. At one point Robert asks the narrator if he is religious and in his answer, the narrator says “I guess I don’t believe in it,” saying I guess as though he is unsure whether or not it is true (paragraph 104). The narrator in Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” undergoes a vast character change. When the narrator meets Robert, the blind man, it is as though he sees the world with a different perspective. Before meeting Robert, the narrator is an impudent, blunt, insensitive racist, but once he is introduced to the blind man and gets to know him a little bit, he become a politer, more perceptive