cathedral- raymond carver

characters the narrator, the narrator's wife, the blind man



previous knowledge people with disabilities were discriminated against throughout history and many people treated them with a negative bias because of the malfunction.



what i imagine that isnt outlined i can imagine the confusion that the narrators feels when his wife is confiding in the blind man about life and not him. i can also imagine how awkward the blind man may feel at dinner when they dont even talk.



thoughts about the reading the reading was good because the narrator had an epiphany about blind people or people with disabilities after drawing the cathedral with him. it showed that you shouldnt judge a book by its cover without walking in its shoes first.



feelings about the reading i felt a little angry with the narrator because he didnt seem to care about anyone but himself. i felt sorry for the blind man because he couldnt help his problem, yet the narrator still discriminated against him. i felt pity for the narrators wife because no matter where she went, she seems to pick husbands who didnt really care what she had to say and feel.



what i want to know more about i want to know more about why raymond carver picked a cathedral to tie all the ends of the story together. was it a religious implication that showed we are all equal and that people with disability are no more inferior than we are to God????



my reaction to the experiences if i were the blind man i probably would have left because of the narrator being so distant and unwelcoming. if i were the wife i would have told the narrator to stop acting like that because it was rude. if a blind man came into my house i would have no problem dealing with his way of life and him being in my prescense.



related to my life my nephew is deaf so i know how people discriminate against those with disabilities. he has a much harder way of learning, but at the same time, he is absolutely brilliant in other ways as well.



***after class discussion***



about the author raymond carver incorportated realism into his writing and was a recovering alcoholic. much of the writing he did was controversial and that made him even more determined to continue with the sort of style he portrayed.



favorite section my favorite section is when the narrator finally accepts the blind man as a person. when they drew the cathedral together, it was exciting to see how someone's perspective can change in a matter of seconds when given the chance to look through another persons "eyes."



summary the narrator and his wife invite a blind man over to talk after the blind man's wife dies. the narrator is awkward throughout the whole night to the blind man. they all have dinner, drink, and smoke pot yet the atmosphere is still heavy. later in the evening the blind man and the narrator sit down and watch a documentary on cathedrals. they decide to draw the cathedral so the blind man can picture it. the narrator has an epiphany and sees that the blind man is a good person.



recommendation i would reccommend this to anyone who discriminates against people with disability because it will show them that everyone is equal and just because someone has a physical impairment, doesnt mean that they are "freaks."