"Cathedral"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how, in the short story, "Cathedral", by Raymond Carver, the narrator referred to as 'Bub' learns a lesson in being human from the stranger who visits him and his wife. It looks at how, from the first thought, it is clear that Bub is bitter toward the blind man for a number of reasons, since Bub is a man who is not as observant as he believes and who has long failed to understand his own blindness. It shows how, by the end of the story, that bitterness has evaporated as Bub metaphorically walks in the other man's shoes and learns a valuable lesson in perception.

From the Paper:

"Bub is in many ways an unpleasant man throughout most of this story. He is bitter to the blind man even before he arrives. He is somewhat unreasonable about it to his wife, because the blind man is her friend and should be treated with more respect just for that reason. Bub does not like to have his routine interrupted and is even rude to the man directly once he arrives. Bub seems to take it offensive that the other man is blind, and yet as the story progresses, we discover that the man who cannot see with his eyes can "see" better than Bub as far as having an understanding of the world and the people in it."

More papers on "Cathedral":

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• Essay # 36352 : "Chartres Cathedral"
• Essay # 71190 : "Blindness in "Cathedral"

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