Reflection on Cathedral
Working on cathedral assignment was an illuminating experience for me. This is because the story itself is a very interesting one, with a subtle sense of humor and an approach to issues in life such as disabilities and marriage that is a good break from what I have been used to. The narrator in this story is not as uptight as the other that I have encountered in works by Raymond Carver. It was interesting to note the narrator fall jealous of the mellow descriptions he was given by the wife regarding the expected visitor, the blind man. It was further comical to note how the narrator felt excluded from the conversations that the wife had with the blind man while at the same time struggling to make the visitor comfortable in his house. Moreover, the story gets more interesting after the wife falls asleep and the two men create a rapport that makes the wife feel uncomfortable. The use of weed and the resultant change of events and attitudes on the part of the narrator left me with a smile.
Coming up with a good research question for this short story analysis was not easy. This is because it is so rich in material and content that I was spoiled for choice. I however, wanted to choose an approach that would dwell on the narrator, since it is the narrator that makes the story become alive. He is fond of making ironic statements and is not afraid to show how disconcerting it is that the woman, his wife, has not written an affection poem for him. He is not afraid of expressing his discomfort at the coming of a person that he has no idea on how to interact with, one that he has no earlier interaction with. I felt that the narrator was a person that is outspoken, and this paper had to focus on the narrator. Coming up with the conclusion that this is a casual narrative was not hard, as the narrator has expressed his concerns regarding the blind man and the wife’s past in a manner that would be considered uncouth, but acceptable in an informal setting. This is the factor that makes this story interesting for me. There are no boring parts in the story for me, and I really enjoyed the end of the story where the blind and the narrator had fun in making the wife feel left out. My opinion is that she had enjoyed too much attention from both earlier on.