Cathedral Theme

Klemantyne Paffgen

Cathedral

We want, therefore we are human! Raymond Carver paints an elaborate picture in the short story Cathedral about acceptance and the nature of human relationships. Carver uses characterization, communion imagery, shifts, and word choice to communicate the idea that being human is a shared experience, and it is something that all can relate to.
The narrator’s manner in the beginning of the story is blunt and incredibly ignorant. In the first paragraph he says right out that he is completely uncomfortable with having a blind man in his house and it “was not something [he] looked forward to.” (223) Describing the blind man’s dead wife, he uses the word “goddamned woman” (225-6). Carver shows that he is not an intellectual by adding that the narrator doesn’t “understand poetry… not the first thing [he reaches] for when he picks up something to read.”(224) His thought process is very monosyllabic and laconic. When he tells the story of his wife’s attempted suicide, he is factual and quick, almost without emotion or sympathy. Asking about the Beulah, the blind man’s wife, he is disrespectful and pokes fun by asking “Was his wife a Negro?” (225) By setting up the main character’s though process as such— the shift that occurs is greatly emphasized because his behavior is completely transformed.
When everyone begins feasting, the story is plunged into another world for a moment. A very strong communion image comes up as Carver vividly describes every aspect of how they ate. His word choice makes their dinner carnal and sexual, using words like “scarfed,” “tear,” and “admiration.” When they finished, they “sat as if stunned. Sweat beaded on [their] faces.” (228) By comparing eating, which is a shared experience of all living things, to intercourse, another thing that all humans share, Carver clearly draws a parallel to the fact that all humans share the desire to live, as well as the desire to love and be loved. Communion is an act of acceptance and friendship, whilst intercourse is an ultimate act of consensual love (most of the time). For someone like the main character of this story, this is unthinkable— especially with a blind man. After this obvious act of communion, another is introduced by the main character. He offers Robert, the blind man, some pot. This is no different than their feast, expect for the fact that the main character was the one who initiated it. Sharing drugs is also an act of acceptance and friendship, and the character is evidently showing signs of change.
By the end of the story, he takes a step into Robert’s shoes and closes his eyes while drawing the cathedral for him. Even when Robert tells him to look, he doesn’t, and says that “’It’s really something.’” (234) He is experiencing what it is like to be blind, and he appreciates it. Starting with not wanting a blind man in his home and ending with becoming “blind” is vital to the theme of this story. If there is anything to show that one has become tolerant, or even open-minded, is to put oneself into another one’s shoes.
Carver’s commentary on human relationships and common desire to live is a strong message that shines through the pages of Cathedral. The main character was truly the blind one in the beginning when refusing to accept anything other than what he perceived was normal. After talking, eating, and sharing marijuana with the blind man— all things that he considers ordinary activities of human life— he welcomes the blind man by seeing what life is like through the eyes of the blind man. Needless to say, it was an eye-opening experience.