Threatening Relationships in Carver’s Cathedral Essay

Threatening Relationships in Carver’s Cathedral Although many critics have written numerous accounts of Richard Carver’s Cathedral as being about revelation and overcoming prejudice, they have overlooked a very significant aspect: the unfolding of marital drama. The story tells of how a close outside friendship can threaten marriage by provoking insecurities, creating feelings of invasion of privacy, and aggravating communication barriers. The close outside friendship between the narrator’s wife and Robert, the blind man, provokes the narrator’s insecurities. This friendship has lasted for ten long years. During those years, they have exchanged countless voice tapes wherein they both tell each other what has happened in†¦show more content†¦In addition, the narrator’s insecurity worsens when his wife shows Robert extra attention (28). Not only did the narrator feel insecure, he also feels that Robert’s arrival into their home is an invasion of his privacy. Critic Richard Eder said, In ‘Cathedral’ a husband who has long resented his wife’s devotion to a blind man grudgingly puts up with the blind man’s visit (103). The husband resents the thought of the blind man sleeping in his house (Carver 1054). Studies in social psychology show that people can react strongly to trespassers on their personal space. The narrator’s home encloses that personal space and thus he feels that Robert is intruding his privacy. Furthermore, the narrator is plagued with preconceived notions about blind people. For example, he thinks blind people do not smoke, should have dark glasses, and carry a cane (1056). Therefore, to have another man—blind at that—who is close to his wife and sleeps in his house is just too much for him to bear. Through the narrator’s eye, Robert is an intruder not only to his personal privacy but also an intruder to his supposed private relationship with his wife. Could the narrator be threatened by the history shared between his wife and the blind man? After all, Robert came into the wife’s life long before the narrator met her. Therefore, one could begin toShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Raymond Carver s Cathedral1696 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction: Everyone has ghosts in their closets; something they are running from, or trying to bury alive. Cathedral, written by Raymond Carver, takes place in the early 1980’s. Originally published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1981. Carver slightly revised the story and re-released it in 1983. At a time when the blue collar working class lived paycheck to paycheck, working hard for newfound luxuries such as color television, this short story is humorous and eye-opening for the reader. For adultsRead More Raymond Carvers Cathedral Essay6977 Words   |  28 Pages In quot;The Compartment,quot; one of Raymond Carvers bleakest stories, a man passes through the French countryside in a train, en route to a rendevous with a son he has not seen for many years. quot;Now and then,quot; the narrator says of the man, quot;Meyers saw a farmhouse and its outbuildings, everything surrounded by a wall. He thought this might be a good way to live-in an old house surrounded by a wallquot; (Cathedral 48). Due to a last minute change of heart, however, Meyers chooses