The primary conflict in “Cathedral” is
the narrator’s interior conflict over his feelings of loneliness, prejudice, and inferiority
.
What is the climax of the story Cathedral?
The climax occurs
when the narrator and Robert draw the cathedral together
. After this, the falling action takes place when the narrator’s wife wakes up and questions what they’re doing. The narrator keeps his eyes closed although Robert asked him to open them.
What tensions occur in Cathedral?
In “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, the conflict is
man vs self
. Robert, an old blind friend of the narrator’s wife is coming for a visit. His wife has recently died. The narrator is angry that the man is coming and is hostile toward him.
What is the plot of the Cathedral?
“Cathedral” is a short story by Raymond Carver that
describes the narrator’s initial jealousy of and eventual bonding with a blind man named Robert
. The narrator learns that his wife has been corresponding via cassette tape with Robert, a former employer of hers.
What is the moral of the story Cathedral?
The main theme of “Cathedral” is
that human connection occurs in various forms and degrees
. The characters illustrate that people have different ways and abilities to connect and relate to others; some are more successful than others.
What does the ending of Cathedral mean?
“Cathedral” concerns the change in one man’s understanding of himself and the world, and Carver ends the story at exactly the moment when this change flickers in the narrator’s mind. … In fact, the narrator’s final words, “
It’s really something
,” reveal him to be the same curt, inarticulate man he’s always been.
What is the setting of the story Cathedral?
First published in 1981, “Cathedral” is set in the days when the switch from black and white to color television was in its early stages, and when cassette tapes were a cutting edge technology. The basic setting of the story is
a middle-class home somewhere in New York, over a single evening.
What is the theme in Cathedral?
The main theme of “Cathedral” is
that human connection occurs in various forms and degrees
. The characters illustrate that people have different ways and abilities to connect and relate to others; some are more successful than others.
What is the structure of Cathedral by Raymond Carver?
The short story is
structured around a single event in the characters’ life
– a visit by the narrator’s wife’s blind friend to the couple’s home. The story is structured as a first-person account. It lacks a traditional plot line and has a zero-ending (which does not look like an ending or a resolution).
Why does the blind man tell the narrator to close his eyes while he is drawing?
He asks the narrator to close his eyes while he draws in
order to help him free his imagination from the confines of line and shape so he can feel the essence or spirit of the cathedral
. By not looking at the lines being drawn on the paper, the narrator isn’t limited by the image he is drawing.
What defines a cathedral?
cathedral. noun. Definition of cathedral (Entry 2 of 2) 1 :
a church that is the official seat of a diocesan bishop
. 2 : something that resembles or suggests a cathedral (as in size or importance) a cathedral of business the sports cathedral.
Why isn’t the narrator happy that Robert is coming?
Robert’s wife has recently died, and he’s coming to visit the narrator and his wife. The narrator isn’t happy about this.
He thinks blind people are sad and depressing
. … She told him she wasn’t happy with her life as an officer’s wife.
What does the narrator realize at the end of Cathedral?
Through helping Robert to draw and be able to “see” the Cathedral, the narrator has an almost religious experience of his own, finally realizing
the value of seeing people and things from multiple points of view
.
What does blindness symbolize in Cathedral?
In “Cathedral,” blindness has a two-fold meaning. It represents both
Robert’s lack of sight and the narrator’s more intangible failures of perception
: his inability to understand other people’s feelings and his inability to find meaning or joy in his life.
What is the symbolism of Cathedral by Raymond Carver?
The cathedral in Raymond Carver’s story “Cathedral” symbolizes
an opportunity for the narrator and his guest to discover common ground and “see” things in a new light
. While Robert gets a clear impression of what a cathedral looks like, the narrator gains an understanding of what it means to be empathetic.
Why does the speaker keep his eyes closed at the very end?
As he keeps his eyes closed,
he experiences something of Robert’s permanent condition
, and at the same time undergoes a kind of epiphany where he feels that he is not “inside anything.” Ironically, the narrator moves from finding blindness an incomprehensible condition that he mocks to embracing it and finding a sense …
