Raymond Carver's Cathedral

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Raymond Carver redeveloped precisionist realism in fiction through his thought provoking work “Cathedral”, which chiefly sheds light on humanistic realism. In Cathedral, Carver wrote in a virile style, where narrator does not realizes his crude gestures and ignorance towards his wife and keeps a stereotyped perception about the blind Robert until he spends quality time with him. While, he was in an impression that he was to show Cathedrals to Robert by dictating and drawing them to him. Robert showed him the world of a blind person, who could use his superlative senses and imagination to see things, which are not visible for average people. The experience was a stark realization moment for the narrator and he seems to learn something about…show more content…
Yet, Carver narrated a tale of an average spouse, who wouldn’t know much or care about his wife’s feelings or acquaintances. One can observe that the narrator has sardonic tone not just for Robert, but for his wife also. He does not input any effort into knowing things and aspects; besides what is visible on the surface. However, he seems to learn and find a change in his perception after meeting Robert (the blind friend of Beulah), and while trying to make him imagine what cathedrals may look. Nevertheless, instead of being an eye to him, he became a seeing-eye himself for the first…show more content…
His biased approach towards disabled and diverse led him to learn little about humanism. Before the stark realizing experience with Robert, narrator was unable to see things because he always looked at them without using his curious and courteous approach to understand them (Kennedy, 209). Like his wife, their relationship, his pessimistic perceptions about disabilities. He was unable to comprehend that there can be a beauty and power in disability. Simultaneously, one could lack a natural gift of vision, but nature equips him with another peculiar ability to overcome the deficiency. This can take any form, it could be sixth sense to predict future, an inner eye to accumulate deceiving people or actions; or a humble compassionate innate quality to see things beyond the surface and know their true nature (ibid, 212). Robert’s blindness enabled him to become compassionate and empathetic to people, who he depended on. Thus, he paid them back with his inner tranquillity and power to belief in betterment. His kind gestures made the receptive person view things and aspects beyond their outer selves. Average people may have no physical flaw, but their need of moral and sentimental companionship and understating cannot be intact at all times. Thus, this is what brought Robert close to narrator’s wife and their bond enabled the physically flawed Robert to see things
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