Love as seen in "Cathedral" and "Shiloh"

Paper Summary:

In this paper, the author compares how the theme of love is represented in two stories, "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, and "Shiloh" by Bobbie Ann Mason. One story describes how love builds between two spouses while the other shows how love can fall apart. The author cites additional sources to describe the theme in the two works. The paper concludes by stating that both stories show the incredible epiphanies associated with love, and the destructive force of emotional pain.

From the Paper:

"In his article in "eThoughts.com," Travis Gibbs asks the question, "Is love some absolute, a fact of the universe that can be discovered and copied onto and into human lives? (Gibbs). The two stories, "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, and "Shiloh" by Bobbie Ann Mason, illustrate that love is constructed in dissimilar ways. Carver constructs love as a positive manifestation of growth and understanding in an unlikely setting, while Mason shows us love destroys itself, as manifested between two people who fit into a normal "construct," that is, being man and wife."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Carver, Raymond "Cathedral" Cathedral, stories by Raymond Carver, Alfred A. Knopf, New York: 1983.
• Gibbs, Travis. "Love as a Construct: Just because it may be basic to the universe, doesn't mean it doesn't manifest in many forms" eThoughts.com. http://www.travisgibbs.com/chapter/72.html
• Hamilton, Jane A Map of the World. Doubleday, NewYork: 1994.
• Mason, Bobbie Ann "Shiloh" Shiloh and Other Stories. Harper & Row, New York: 1982.
• Morrison, Toni The Bluest Eye. Penguin Group, New York: 1994.

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• Analytical Essay # 135587 : "Narrative in "Cathedral" and "Stones"
• Analytical Essay # 3991 : "An Analysis of Social Construction as seen in Ibsen's, "A Doll's House"
• Essay # 137351 : "Negative Power of Love Seen in Apollo and Aphrodite"

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