Cathedral读后感

Fangyuan Wang 2010201367 Appreciation of modern prose December 26，2011 Reflection on “ Cathedral “ by Raymond Carver “Theres none so blind as those who will not see.“ This ancient proverb is just at the heart of Raymond Carvers “Cathedral “. In Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral “, a man and his wife are visited at their home by an old blind man named Robert whom the wife used to assist. Though apathetic and distant at first, the man eventually opened up to Robert. The unnamed narrator of the story the man himself was insecure, close-minded, and lacks basic communication skills at the beginning of the story. As Robert urged the narrator to begin to have a discussion, the narrator started to rethink not only his prejudice toward the blind, but also his outlook on communication and personal connection. In the beginning, the narrator was not so enthusiastic about the visit for the reason that that blind man made the narrator uncomfortable, especially when the narrator saw his wife staying and taking care of the blind, mainly because the narrator has no real experience with the blind. We can take the following sentences for example. “ Now this same blind man was coming over to sleep in my house.“ “ Maybe I could take him bowling, I said to my wife. She was at the draining board doing scalloped potatoes. She put down the knife she was using and turned around.“ “ If you love me, she said, you can do this for me. If you dont love me, okay. But if you had a friend, any friend, and the friend came to visit, Id make him feel comfortable. She wiped her hands with the dish towel. “ “ I dont have any blind friends, I said. “ “ You dont have any friends, she said. Period. Besides, she said, goddamn it, his wifes just died Dont you understand that The mans lost his wife “ In addition to his uneasiness with the blind, the narrator was uncomfortable with his wife’s relationship with the blind man. His wife and Robert, the blind man, had maintained a close relationship for a long period of time and the narrator finds it unsettling. There is another prove which we can know flawing his character. “ I didnt answer. Shed told me a little about the blind mans wife. Her name was Beulah. Beulah Thats a name for a colored woman.“ “ Was his wife a Negro I asked. “ “ Are you crazy my wife said. Have you just flipped or something......“ “ Im just asking, I said. “ At the end of the story, the narrator opened his mind to robert through the drawing of cathedral . As far as Im concerned, the cathedral in this novel is a magnificent structure that requires cooperation and coordination for its creation. In the novel, there is a contrast between the blind and the narrator. The blind man maintained close relations, as he did with the narrators wife, and had a loving marriage with his late wife. However, the narrator, on the other hand, lacked that spiritual basehe was not close to his wife and he did not like his job and had no friends. Though the man is fully able to see with his eyes, the commentary from his sight is just bland. The blind man and the narrator share their blindness with each other. The narrator is blind to much of the beauty around him. Instead, the blind man often sees this beauty. In the end, the blind man brought him into a new understanding of the physical world. The story shows a single moment which would suddenly become life-altering.