English 100-050: Story Theme Analysis of Cathedral

This essay offers a detailed theme analysis of Raymond Carver's 'Cathedral,' examining the protagonist's transformative interaction with a blind man, Robert. The essay explores themes of vision, empathy, listening, intimacy, isolation, and the secular and sacred, highlighting the protagonist's evolving perceptions and the impact of human connection. Through analyzing the characters' interactions, the essay demonstrates how the author uses these themes to comment on human behavior, societal conduct, and the human condition. It also addresses the story's lessons about life and the author's criticisms regarding human experiences, ultimately emphasizing the power of empathy and understanding in fostering meaningful relationships and personal growth. The essay draws upon textual evidence from the story and other sources to support its analysis and conclusions.

Running head: ANALYSIS OF CATHEDRAL
ANALYSIS OF CATHEDRAL
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Cathedral, written by Raymond Carver, concerns a man whose wife invites a blind
man named Robert. The protagonist, that is the husband felt reluctant to meet the visually
impaired man, but later they developed a friendly relationship. The husband eventually
realizes a new way to perceive the society and the world around him. Raymond Carver’s
Cathedral can be perceived as a story that explores the husband’s intimate and transformative
interaction with the blind man. The essay delivers an in depth theme analysis of the story of
Cathedral by Raymond Carver bringing out the life truth and its important lessons that the
story teaches regarding life and the criticisms that the author addresses through the meaning
of human experiences (Carver).
The paragraph follows the theme of vision through the course of interaction, the
narrator evolves from the personality of someone who does not delves deeper into any
aspects of life. Initially, the narrator thinks Robert to be pathetic and strange. The narrator’s
crude attacks on the disability of Robert points out that he lacks the ability to understand
someone and empathize with the person’s inner struggles. For instance, when the narrator
turns on the television, even being aware of Robert’s disability. The narrator through his
behavioural aspects reveals his dominance over Robert (Carver). However, as time grew
longer the narrator gradually extends his own perception by viewing things through Robert’s
perspective. When the narrator intended to exclude Robert by turning on the television,
Robert surprisingly appreciates the television and the fact that he enjoys television by
listening. Following him, the narrator’s act of watching is shifted to listening, assembling
himself according to Robert’s convenience. For instance, when the narrator says, “he and I
listened to the weather report and then to the sports roundup”, And further, the narrator
begins describing the Cathedral on the television so that Robert can understand what is
showing on television (Carver). The narrator puts efforts in delivering the right essence and

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picture of the Cathedral in Robert’s mind. Thereby, it is clear that through the course of
interaction, Robert changes the perception of narrator towards life.
The story reveals the theme of empathy and listening as the narrator meets Robert.
Robert’s persona is shaped up in accordance with the emotional lives of others, as he is a man
of emotion and an empathetic listener, while the narrator struggles in retaining his
relationship with his wife (Carver). The author, therefore, through their life experiences
carves out the configurations of empathy through the act of listening as a mode of perception.
The problem between the narrator n the wife is witnessed as he explains his wife’s attempt to
suicide, pointing out the narrator’s lack of understanding his wife’s emotions (Carver). He
further belittle his wife’s poem that were based on her life’s most crucial moment. But on the
contrary, when his wife was appreciated by Robert, the narrator appeared to be envying their
friendship along with the realization that it is Robert who is the empathetic listener. Robert’s
behavioural pattern reveals that he is warm hearted gentleman. And the fact that the
friendship of Robert and the narrator’s wife relies on the communication through audiotapes
across the country (Carver). Thereby, the narrator’s rudeness and unwilling attention towards
the guest magnifies more. But he could not retain the deflection and hatred any more, the
moment when Robert shows respects and kindness (Carver). Following his unexpected warm
responses, the narrator undergoes an effective spiritual transformation that further turned him
up to be more kinder and empathetic individual.
The story of Cathedral reflects the theme of intimacy and isolation at the very
beginning. It is evident when the narrator’s wife remarked that her husband does not have any
friends. The magnification of the narrator’s alienation magnified more when he heard that his
wife’s friend is visiting their place (Carver). He envies their bond of pure friendship provided
with the fact that his wife receives appreciation for every things she does (Carver). As the
story proceeds, it is observed that Robert’s kindness wins over the narrator. The scene

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suggests that the intimacy in the friendship along with emotional vulnerability has the power
to transform the rigidness of any aspect into favourable and flexible one. For instance, when
the narrator deeply regrets for changing the channels indecisively, he experiences the state of
vulnerability for the first time (Carver). And following it, he apologizes for his rude act.
However, Robert consoles him gently and says that he is happy and fine with any programs
whatever the narrator prefers (Carver). Thereby, through the conversation between Robert
and the narrator, the isolation, witnessed in the case of the narrator, eventually got dissolved.
The theme of intimacy is explored when the narrator begins to explain the features of the
Cathedral displayed on the television. The narrator puts efforts to make Robert feel and
understand the real picture of the Cathedral and even the narrator further attempts to draw
with his eyes closed as Robert does (Carver). The scene suggests that these two individuals
have found a new deep connection through the new exploration of empathy and
understandings and also through the establishment of their new bond, the narrator now
understand the value of true friendship that exists between his wife and Robert.
The theme of The Secular and the Sacred is established in Carver’s Cathedral through
the animating force of Raymond Carver’s Cathedral, that is, a blind man fixing the lacking
traits of the man who can see and also building up the man’s ability to see through variant
aspects of life of a man. Throughout the entire story of Cathedral, Carver reveals the religious
references due to which people finds their way to visualize the wide spectrum of life
(Carver). However, Carver argues that an individual does not need a religion to depend on
and find meaning of the true aspects of life, that is, he meant to convey the message that
spirituality is secular and religion is the essential factor with respect to the variant community
(Carver). The theme of religiosity magnifies through instances like when the narrator the
watches the program of Roman Catholic Cathedral on Televison, he says that the program is
about the churches and Middle ages (Carver). The narrator calling the Catholic church “the

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church”, reveals that the narrator must be a lapsed Catholic and the fact that he has been
unable to find the meaning from that theological tradition. The cynicism of the narrator even
extends when he says that he does not believe in anything. However, Cathedral provides a
significant meaning pointing out that close human connection can facilitate a secular
fulfillment, which is not similar or familiar to what religion provides (Carver). Thereby, the
author conveys the value of relationship that is built through the depiction of Cathedral and
further finds a moment where they find the true meaning of life through the interaction.
From the above discussion, it is concludes that through the course of interaction, the
narrator evolves from the personality of someone who does not delves deeper into any
aspects of life. However, the deeper and further involvement in the interaction established the
other side of the one’s understanding towards the true meaning of life, developing far better
insights of aspects of life.

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Work cited:
Carver, Raymond. Cathedral. Vintage, 2015.
Gale, Cengage Learning. A Study Guide for Raymond Carver's Cathedral. Gale, Cengage
Learning, 2015.
Hall, Gary. "The purpose of cathedrals." Anglican Theological Review 96.4 (2014): 727-36.
Nayabpour, Karam. "Activation of Empathy Feelings in Raymond Carver’s A Small, Good
Thing." Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 38 (2017): 265-278.
Volchkova, Margarita. "Metamorphosis of the Inner Self (based on the novel" Cathedral" by
Raymond Carver)." МИРОВОЗЗРЕНЧЕСКИЕ ОСНОВАНИЯ КУЛЬТУРЫ
СОВРЕМЕННОЙ РОССИИ. 2017.
Halfon, Sibel, and Lissa Weinstein. "Literary and analytic transformations of trauma:
Repetition, revision and rebirth in two stories of Raymond Carver." Psychoanalytic
Psychology 33.S1 (2016): S120.
Ning, Y. A. N. "Fullness out of Minimalism—Interpretation on the Narrative Style of
Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral”." Sino-US English Teaching 12.10 (2015): 795-801.