Cathedral

   The story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver takes us through the narrator's journey of "truly" being able to see. In the beginning of the story he is very close-minded and judgmental but through the guidance of the blind he was able to open his perspective on things and account for the totality of all factors. The narrator was not excited for the blind man to visit because he didn't know him and also him being blind bothered him. This showed how ignorant he was and how influenced he was by other things, which also made him appear very naive. I believe it is possible to read the experience the narrator's wife had of Robert touching her face as an experience of being "seen" by him because this was a way for Robert to encounter in a more personal way because he simply can't just look at her. Her writing of poetry is related to her desire to be seen because she wrote a poem based on the encounter she had with the blind man and also later on about her life as a Air Force wife and her struggles with. The first poem talks about her feelings towards finally being seen where as the second poem talks about her wanting to do more with herself and her life. What it means to receive another's friend is to respect and care for another person based on the standards and compassion that another person that you care about has for them. I do think that that Robert "saw" Beulah. Even though he might have not been able to see his wife physically, I believe he saw Beulah at her core for who she really was. Him not being able to see I'm sure allowed him to see more clearly her heart and more over, her desires. The characters smoke pot to distract or reduce their desire and because this it reveals that their desires are limitless. Churches reveal how passionate and serious the culture thinks about God. The narrator has difficulty describing a cathedral because he isn't use to describing things in detail and also because he is not religious which makes it hard for him to truly explain the religious meaning behind a cathedral. He could barely explain the structural parts of the cathedral. At the close of the story, the narrator is finally able to see reality, a broader sense of reality and more over his desires.