From the first paragraph of the story, it is already apparent that the narrator of Cathedral by Raymond Carver has a limited perception of the world. Initially shown by his reaction to the blind man coming to stay at his house, the narrator judges him solely on his uncontrollable handicap. He does not know this man, nor has he personally seen a blind person before, yet “his being blind bothered [him]” (106) and he bases his opinion off of stereotypes from movies. That opinion is all he needs to decide that he is uncomfortable with a blind man staying in his home. Whether stemming from jealousy, insecurity, or sheer ignorance, the narrator's is mind is completely closed to any of his wife's fond memories of this visitor transforming her, completely …show more content…
Furthermore, the narrator is jealous and oblivious to all of those in his life at the beginning of the story. As he recounts his wife's suicide attempt, he shows no empathy towards her depression she suffered. When pondering the love life of Robert and Beulah, he cannot understand their relationship, seeing as Robert cannot. He feels bad for the wife and the “pitiful life” of “a woman who could never see herself as she was seen in the eyes of her loved one” (108), showing that he is unable to sympathize with their intimate bond that was beyond just physical. This mirrors his lack of ability to connect with his wife the way that Robert has. He dehumanizes Robert by calling him nothing more than 'the blind man', as well as purposely disregarding his wife's first husband. His jealousy is prevalent when he describes the poem his wife wrote about the day Robert touched her face and the tapes they would send to each …show more content…
While Robert and the narrator are enjoying some liquor and a joint, they were watching a television program about cathedrals, when Robert asks what a cathedral looks like. As the narrator describes what he had just seen, he loses faith and believes he is not doing a very good job. Robert asks if the narrator is religious, to which the narrator responds “I guess I don't believe in it. In anything.” (114) As he slowly started to open up, he realizes that Robert is more than just a blind man who cannot see. Further, Robert convinces the narrator to draw a picture of a cathedral so he can feel the lines. As the two men draw a picture together, the narrator began to see life in a different way, from the inside out, rather than the outside in. He is able to see life in a new perspective and feels emotions in a way he could have never fathomed, all with his eyes closed. This is made obvious to the reader when he keeps his eyes closed for an extra few seconds and says “I didn't feel like I was in anything” (114). He truly begins to