The Cathedral By Raymond Carver - 1294 Words

Most of us live our life without truly living. We follow the path handed down from generations of social conformity. We are taught to aspire to a marriage, house full of descendants, and stable job that supports the aforementioned. Besides the majority leading a constraining lifestyle, there are few who sincerely enjoy their lives and celebrate their individuality. The renowned psychologist Abraham Maslow discusses that people live a fulfilling life because of self-actualization in his study â€Å"Self-Actualization and Beyond† in 1967. He notes that with self-awareness, a person â€Å"comes to know what [their] destiny is, who [their] wife or husband will be, what [their] mission in life will be† (Maslow 440). In the cases of those who aren’t aware†¦show more content†¦The narrator chooses to hold himself back from achieving any progression towards self-actualization with making close-minded judgments in regards to his wife’s blind friend Robert, such as â€Å"Was [Roberts] wife a Negro† (Carver 301) and â€Å"But [Robert] didn’t use a cane and he didn’t wear dark glasses† (Carver 303). These are clear indications that the narrator has kept his mind closed to keep himself safe whilst choosing to hinder his progression to actualization by â€Å"being afraid.† The absence of interests in the narrator is another prevention of progression that Maslow advised against in his eighth behavior to self-actualization: â€Å"finding out who one is, what he is, what he likes, what he doesn’t like, what is good for him and what bad, where he is going and what his mission is – opening oneself up to himself [†¦] It means identifying defenses, and after defenses have been identified, it means finding the courage to give them up.† The narrator has yet to indulge in any activities, like a sport or hobby, to give full concentration to, to explore his likes and dislikes. His defenses were possibly taught through the â€Å"introjected voice of the Establishment, [†¦] or of tradition,† (Maslow 439) to live a quiet life with a stable job, a woman in his home, and basic necessities. The narrator’s environment enforced these social patterns to maintainShow MoreRelated`` Cathedral `` By Raymond Carver992 Words   |  4 Pages â€Å"Cathedral† is a short story that was written by Raymond Carver in 1981. Raymond Carver is most well known for his short stories and is even an writer credited with reviving the then dying form of literature. A part of a collection of short stories, â€Å"Cathedral† was the last to be published and was included in 1982’s Best American Short Stories. â€Å"Cathedral is different from the other works of Carver due to the humanistic realism that is given to his characters, which had not been seen before in hisRead MoreCathedral (by Raymond Carver)1131 Words   |  5 PagesCathedral: A Lesson for the Ages Raymond Carver s short story, Cathedral, portrays a story in which many in today s society can relate. We are introduced from the first sentence of the story to a man that seems to be perturbed and agitated. As readers, we are initially unsure to the reasoning s behind the man s discomfort. The man, who seems to be a direct portrayal of Raymond Carver himself, shows his ignorance by stereotyping a blind man by the name of Robert, who has come to stay withRead MoreThe Cathedral By Raymond Carver Essay937 Words   |  4 Pages â€Å"Cathedral† Born on May 25, 1938 in Clatskanie, Oregon, Raymond Carver was destined to be a writer. He was a son of a sawmill worker and grew up working hard majority of his life. He married year after he finished high school and had two children with his wife at the time. He raised and supported his children with normal working class jobs such as delivering, janitorial and gas station services. Carver discovered his interest in writing after taking a creative writing course in collegeRead More`` Cathedral `` By Raymond Carver1027 Words   |  5 Pagesfirst, I thought she was ridiculous, and I laughed at her. But later, I realized that she was suffering a hard disease and that was the reason she had lost her hair. I felt bad myself because at the end I was the ridiculous. In the story, â€Å"Cathedral† by Raymond Carver the narrator was thinking wrongly about Robert because Robert was a blind man. The narrator was accustomed to what we usually watch on TV about blind people. He thought that Robert was one of those who walked slowly accompanied by a dogRead MoreThe Cathedral By Raymond Carver978 Words   |  4 PagesIn â€Å"The Cathedral† by Raymond Carver, a man named Robert is coming to spend the night at the narrator’s house. Robert is a friend of the narrator’s wife who happens to be blind, which doesn’t sit well with the narrator. Robert and his wife have a ten year relationship which started with her working for him. Since then they’ve stayed in contact by sending audiotapes to each other. When Robert reaches the house, the narrator is a bit uncomfortable. The first reason being because the man is blind, andRead MoreThe Cathedral By Raymond Carver1202 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Cathedral† written by Raymond Carver is a short story that unfolds as a first-person narrative of the main character named Bub. The story beautifully depicts the process of an individual who transforms from a person with lack of knowledge a nd ignorant towards knowledgeable soul, due to an encounter with his wife’s blind friend Robert, to an individual that is enlightened. The cathedral, in this story, is a mere subject brought up at the end of this story which becomes the object of his enlightenmentRead MoreThe Cathedral by Raymond Carver1281 Words   |  5 PagesThe Cathedral by Raymond Carver is an exemplar of a literature with the use of realism in which a realistic, non-ideal, ordinary life of an individual is depicted to represent a wider meaning in life or the society. The anecdote is narrated through the narrators point-of-view about a blind man, Robert, who is a friend of his wife. A theme is presented using a foil, Robert, or a character whose traits are ideal and contrast with the protagonists to highlight some qualities in the central characterRead MoreThe Cathedral By Raymond Carver1758 Words   |  8 PagesIn Raymond Carver’s â€Å"The Cathedral†, the unnamed husband narrators th e tale of his wife’s old blind friend Robert coming to visit after not seeing each other for years. They had remained in contact through audiotapes, but the husband seems to not understand the significance of their relationship, showing distaste with the visit for the majority of the story, due to his uncomfortableness. In this story, the writer displays his tale and its morals; by using the narration of the husband; Carver showsRead MoreThe Cathedral By Raymond Carver1280 Words   |  6 Pages Raymond Carver’s short story â€Å"The Cathedral† is one that was published with a collection of other books in 1983. This particular short story is one that presents multiple views, including real life ethical and stereotypical situations correlating with the specific time this story was published in. Through these ideas and also the symbols created through the characters one receives a vital message. This message that the author is trying to convey is to look furt her past what one may see at yourRead MoreCathedral Raymond Carver Analysis1212 Words   |  5 PagesIn â€Å"Cathedral,† Carver’s use of visualization and climactic change of character emphasizes the theme that looking and seeing are two very different things. When Raymond Carver had his wife’s blind friend, Robert, join them for a few days, he should’ve been more understanding and empathetic with Robert’s blindness instead of just avoiding it or brushing it off as if it’s not there. Carver did very well in changing his ways and learning to accept and understand Robert. Carver also did a good job of