In Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” the main character is the husband. The husband’s personality and thoughts change throughout the story. The narrator judges people, is sarcastically funny, and is a jealous individual, but he also feels pity and sadness.
At the beginning of the story, the narrator seems hesitant of the visiting blind man. He describes the old man the way he has seen blind people in movies; “the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes led by seeing-eye dogs” (94). Immediately, it can be seen in his personality that he thinks in a very stereotypical way. He has never actually talked to or been around a blind person he is just going off the way they are depicted in movies. This behavior also demonstrates how he is quick …show more content…
He talks about how she met the blind man and about her past husband. He never talks about any positive events that happened in her past with her husband, but more about the negative events. He speaks about how she was never happy where she lived. She did not enjoy the military life because they had to move around a lot. She lost a lot of her friends by moving from place to place. He talks about how she tried to kill herself one time because she was so unhappy. He makes her previous husband sound terrible. He also sounds a little bit jealous of her prior relationship. He says, “Why should he have a name? He was a childhood sweetheart, and what does that mean?”. This comment makes him seem like a jealous individual not wanting to even state his name (95). I think the husband also seems jealous about the old man when he touches his wife’s face. The blind man has to use his touch to picture what something or someone looks like, so he touches her face to create a mental image. The husband seems to get jealous of this when his wife talks about it or tries to show him a poem about it. He states, “She told me he touched his fingers to every part of her face, her nose-even her neck!” (94). He makes this sound like a big deal and he does not approve at
At the beginning of the story, the narrator seems hesitant of the visiting blind man. He describes the old man the way he has seen blind people in movies; “the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes led by seeing-eye dogs” (94). Immediately, it can be seen in his personality that he thinks in a very stereotypical way. He has never actually talked to or been around a blind person he is just going off the way they are depicted in movies. This behavior also demonstrates how he is quick …show more content…
He talks about how she met the blind man and about her past husband. He never talks about any positive events that happened in her past with her husband, but more about the negative events. He speaks about how she was never happy where she lived. She did not enjoy the military life because they had to move around a lot. She lost a lot of her friends by moving from place to place. He talks about how she tried to kill herself one time because she was so unhappy. He makes her previous husband sound terrible. He also sounds a little bit jealous of her prior relationship. He says, “Why should he have a name? He was a childhood sweetheart, and what does that mean?”. This comment makes him seem like a jealous individual not wanting to even state his name (95). I think the husband also seems jealous about the old man when he touches his wife’s face. The blind man has to use his touch to picture what something or someone looks like, so he touches her face to create a mental image. The husband seems to get jealous of this when his wife talks about it or tries to show him a poem about it. He states, “She told me he touched his fingers to every part of her face, her nose-even her neck!” (94). He makes this sound like a big deal and he does not approve at