Theme Of Communication In Raymond Carver's Cathedral

In the Raymond Carver stories “Cathedral” and “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” communication plays a major role in developing the story. In this essay I will analyze how the theme of communication plays both similar and different roles in developing the meaning of these two stories to further understand how communication effects the characters. Communication is an important part of the story to understand because it gives the reader a better understanding of the moral of the story as well as important life influences of the author. “Cathedral” and “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” are excellent to stories to compare their theme of communication because communication gives each story a unique meaning, but both stories use communication in different ways to do so. By exploring the different types of communication in these two stories it will be easier to understand the moral meaning of the stories but also how different types of communication can be more effective than verbal communication. In “Cathedral” a lack of communication between the narrator and his wife

In “Cathedral” Robert who is a piece of his wife’s past is putting up a major communication block between the stubborn, uncompassionate narrator. In “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” alcohol, pride, and a relationship that doesn’t seem to have much love get in the way of a couple attempting to communicate to one another and their peers what they believe love is creating a more distant relationship. Both of these stories tell the reader that being an open-minded person will benefit a person in being an effective communicator. The differences in how the two stories do this is important because it gives the reader two different scenarios of how much can be communicated to one another when both parties are open to any type of