Essay Database

Raymond Carver's Cathedral The Husband’s Enlightenment Raymond Carver’s "Cathedral" is narrated from the point of view of a hostile and ignorant husband, whose wife has invited a blind friend to spend the night. The narrator is, through his forthcoming descriptions of his wife and the blind man, viewed as extremely bitter. However, as the story progresses, the narrator’s tone and demeanor change from caustic to warm and enlightened. The story opens as …

…situation: he is not part of the relationship between Robert and his wife’s life because he cannot be. However, later when the wife is not as active in the story, and Robert and the husband begin to draw, the husband become enlightened. His is finally able to understand what his wife was feeling and finally able to open up to a new set of ideas that before were unable to flow through his mind.