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 Cathedral symbolize?
Just as a cathedral offers
a place for the religious to worship and find solace
, the narrator’s drawing of a cathedral has opened a door for him into a deeper place in his own world, where he can see beyond what is immediately visible.
Why is the story called Cathedral?
Cathedrals don’t make an appearance in this story until the third section, and then it’s fairly obvious why the story is called “Cathedral.” Cathedrals are
the subject of the television documentary and of the narrator and Robert’s drawing
. A cathedral is a cathedral is a kind of church.
What is the turning point in Cathedral?
The Turning Point in “Cathedral”:
The turning point of the story is
the moment of highest tension in the plot of a literary text
.
What does Robert Call the narrator?
Calling the narrator “
Bub”
suggests the kind of casual familiarity Robert might have for a favorite nephew or other young person under his charge.
What is the irony in Cathedral?
There is situational irony in Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral.” That is, there is an
incongruity between what is expected to happen and what does
. In “Cathedral,” the narrator and his wife are somewhat estranged, mainly because the narrator/husband is unsociable and withdrawn.
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 difference between a church and a Cathedral?
The cathedral is a much larger place of worship than a church and
is run by a bishop
. … A church is run by a group of clergymen or priests. The bishop usually resides on the cathedral premises.
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 main idea in the poem the Cathedral by Kofi Awoonor?
This poem,
an indictment against modern civilization’s inclinations to destroy tradition
, employs several literary devices to construct a tone of condemnation. The tree in this poem is symbolic of tradition. It has stood long enough that it towers over the crops stretched out beneath its branches.
What is the style of the story Cathedral?
Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” (1981) is written in
a minimalistic style
. … Carver’s story provides a straightforward plot which most readers do not find difficult to understand. Carver also uses simplistic and realistic language so as not to complicate the story or the characters.
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 type of character is Robert in Cathedral?
Robert is
an insightful, compassionate man
who takes the time to truly listen to others, which helps him to “see” them better than he could with his eyes. Robert and the narrator’s wife have been listening to each other for the past ten years through the audiotapes they send back and forth.
What did the narrator’s wife do after the blind man touched her face?
He says that on the last day of her job there, the blind man touched her face and she wrote a poem about the experience. The narrator then describes his wife’s past. She married her childhood sweetheart and
became an officer’s wife
.
Who Can Robert See?
Robert can
see much the narrator cannot
. The narrator was very close-minded and did not want Robert to visit. Robert, through his other senses, is able to “see” things. He can trace the outlines of someone’s face, for example, and picture his or her face in his mind.
What makes the narrator’s comments about the marriage in Cathedral ironic?
They were devoted to each other—“inseparable,” the wife says. … What’s ironic about the narrator’s observation is
that he himself can see, yet he fails to make his own wife happy
. The narrator assumes that he is more capable of making his own wife happy than Robert simply because he can see.
