The narrator in the story “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver is a stubborn man. The narrator constantly takes shots at Robert’s blindness while he has his own issues seeing. The narrator is not necessarily blind but does not see the limits he has put on himself. The narrator does not have the sight in the wonder of things, potential, and humanity in general. The narrator is a mean yet glib individual that has a sense of dark humor to him. He is really talkative though and clever. The glibness disappears at the conclusion of the story though when he is able to recognize how he has been. He is also detached from himself and feels as if he is in control. Constant drug use and alcohol is an easy way to understand this. Also throughout the story he does not ever mention jealousy he has of Robert and the former relationship that he had with his wife. “I heard my own name in the mouth of this Stanger, …show more content…
“I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything” (Carver 40). This is how it felt for the narrator when he had his eyes closed, drawing a cathedral with Robert. Moments before it was obvious that the narrator withdrew for his detached personality and could not retreat from the new way he was feeling even though he was trying. The story is not necessarily religious but can be easily connected to Christianity. Robert views a cathedral as a place of community and sees the place exists only through the dedication of generations of people that would not see the finished product of their work. Also, Robert does ask if the narrator is a religious person, which he admits that he is not. This could be used in a later conversation to convert the narrator to Christianity. Robert can also be viewed as a priest or higher religious figure in the moment where he is giving his own time and energy to the benefit of another person