"Cathedral" by Raymond Carver
AHHHH!! Has anyone else read Raymond Carver's "Cathedral?"
After reading this short story for my English class, I have to say I'm not a fan of how the narrator speaks in the story. I truly disliked this work until the last page. In the story the narrator, whoever it may be, just seems so uninterested in telling the story, which makes me as a reader feel like I don't want to read the story! While, the narrator speaks as though he is truly talking to a friend, I just cannot get behind the way he views things and how he speaks/ tells stories. However, by the end of this short story, his eyes are opened (while they are shut) to a different viewpoint.
In this work, the husband is the main character, and no he doesn't have a name so I shall call him "the husband." But the husband seems to have no friends according to his wife, and he seems very close minded about her friend coming to visit. Her friend just so happens to be blind, and the husband also doesn't know what to do with that. He even suggests taking the man bowling!! The husband, of which I believe is the main narrator of the piece, seems to have no sympathy towards the blind man, and makes rude comments to his wife and about the blind man. This really bothers me! The narrator also is very repetitive in sentences with words like "talk," "tape," "poem" and "told" in paragraphs 3 and 4. He also exaggerates things as if he just can't believe it happened, therefore he must focus on one thing for a while, like the blind man touching his wife's face. He is just so irritating that it's almost funny! The story line also just seems to drag along because the narrator can't get to the point. It is very slow moving in its context and for the majority of the story, there isn't much going on which makes this story even harder to read in my opinion.
It isn't until the end that the husband/ possible narrator seems to build into a rounder character and you get more in depth with his personality. He seems more sympathetic towards the blind man and actually has discussions about cathedrals with him, and they end up drawing one. But in the end when the blind man suggests that the husband close his eyes and draw, the husband understands the blind man more and seems to grow and develop in just that small moment. I enjoyed only that part of the story.
Please some tell me what you think of this story! I realize that by the end, it has a good message and plot, but is anyone else just so irritated at the narrator/ the husband, but I need to know what I am missing here!!
After reading this short story for my English class, I have to say I'm not a fan of how the narrator speaks in the story. I truly disliked this work until the last page. In the story the narrator, whoever it may be, just seems so uninterested in telling the story, which makes me as a reader feel like I don't want to read the story! While, the narrator speaks as though he is truly talking to a friend, I just cannot get behind the way he views things and how he speaks/ tells stories. However, by the end of this short story, his eyes are opened (while they are shut) to a different viewpoint.
In this work, the husband is the main character, and no he doesn't have a name so I shall call him "the husband." But the husband seems to have no friends according to his wife, and he seems very close minded about her friend coming to visit. Her friend just so happens to be blind, and the husband also doesn't know what to do with that. He even suggests taking the man bowling!! The husband, of which I believe is the main narrator of the piece, seems to have no sympathy towards the blind man, and makes rude comments to his wife and about the blind man. This really bothers me! The narrator also is very repetitive in sentences with words like "talk," "tape," "poem" and "told" in paragraphs 3 and 4. He also exaggerates things as if he just can't believe it happened, therefore he must focus on one thing for a while, like the blind man touching his wife's face. He is just so irritating that it's almost funny! The story line also just seems to drag along because the narrator can't get to the point. It is very slow moving in its context and for the majority of the story, there isn't much going on which makes this story even harder to read in my opinion.
It isn't until the end that the husband/ possible narrator seems to build into a rounder character and you get more in depth with his personality. He seems more sympathetic towards the blind man and actually has discussions about cathedrals with him, and they end up drawing one. But in the end when the blind man suggests that the husband close his eyes and draw, the husband understands the blind man more and seems to grow and develop in just that small moment. I enjoyed only that part of the story.
Please some tell me what you think of this story! I realize that by the end, it has a good message and plot, but is anyone else just so irritated at the narrator/ the husband, but I need to know what I am missing here!!
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