Thematic Analysis of Cathedral

Running head: THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF CATHEDRAL
Thematic Analysis of Cathedral
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Author’s Note:

1THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF CATHEDRAL
Introduction
The “Cathedral”, a short story written by Raymond Carter was published in September,
1983. The story has gained the honor of being Carver’s best anthologized story because it had
been drawn from an original real life story. This short story had been the third and the last of
Carver’s major publications. The story is all about an unnamed narrator who finds it hard to
interact with his surroundings, especially his new visitor. The main idea that the story depict sis
that human connections have various degrees and forms and that everyone have different
abilities to relate to one another. The conflict that Raymond has effectively etched in the story is
that of man versus his own self. This is the reason that the thematic analysis of the story is
extremely important.
Discussion:
The prime theme that Raymond Carver deals with in the story of Cathedral is that of
blindness or the difference between seeing and looking. Although the art of looking and seeing is
related to the physical vision in the story, the it is implied not only literally but also symbolically.
The narrator portrays his full capability of looking as he sees Robert when he arrives. Robert on
the other hand is blind, cannot see and this makes the narrator feel superior to him (Ning).
However, on a deeper sense, the narrator just sees things on the surface and has no ability to look
deeper. He is blinded by his own prejudice. On the other hand, Robert despite his blindness is
insightful and has the ability to see into things more deeply. Bruhn discusses that he is the one
who helps the narrator to overcome his blindness and opens his eyes to his surroundings. The

2THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF CATHEDRAL
narrator says, “I remember having read somewhere that the blind didn’t smoke because, as
speculation had it, they couldn’t see the smoke they exhaled. I thought I knew that much and that
much only about blind people.” (Carver)
Another theme that exists in Raymond Carver’s Cathedral is that of Art that appears as an
insight. The drawings, storytelling and the poetry gives the characters in the story insight and
they seem to find their meaning of life from their own experiences. The picture of the cathedral
gives the narrator insight that he can gain greater knowledge and deeper understanding of
himself by looking at the picture inwardly (Bruhn). Irrespective of the fact that Robert was blind
and he was unable to see, he was also gaining insight by looking at the picture of the cathedral.
Moreover, by telling the story of his epiphany, the narrator makes sense of his surroundings.
While being repetitive and harsh in his narration and often interrupting himself to make a
derogatory statement, he brings the story out, transmitting few of his insight to the readers of
the story. The narrator had said , “I stared hard at the shot of the cathedral on the TV. How could
I even begin to describe it? But say my life depended on it. Say my life was being threatened by
an insane guy who said I had to do it or else” (Carver). When he regained his composure and
drew the cathedral the narrator doesn't completely understand what had happened, but he realized
that it was an unusual experience.
The theme of jealousy prevails throughout the entire story. The narrator had been envious
of his wife’s association with Robert, the blind man. It is suggestive to the readers that he might
have been jealous of his wife’s first husband as well (Bernardo). This can be understood by the
fact that even though he had the occasion of telling the readers about her first husband, he never
does so. Thus a sense of insecurity overpowers the narrator as he is even insecure about Robert.
It is noticeable since he refuses to listen to the tapes of Robert’s. It seems as if the protagonist