"Cathedral"
...he just saw things different than what most people did. Therefore, his blindness wasn’t really considered a struggle. “Cathedral marks a turn toward a fuller prose style and more congenial (if not entirely happy) characters” (Kelly, 8). In the story, Robert has lost his wife, and he is going to visit a lady friend who used to read to him. Robert and this lady have stayed in touch over the years and have become very good friends. The lady’s husband is not thrilled at the fact that Robert is coming to visit. In fact, it seems as though he’s a little intimidated at the fact that his wife has another man in her life. The husband has a problem with the fact that Robert is blind. It seems as though he is very prejudice toward Robert for that very reason. What Robert and the man’s wife try to make the man understand is that Robert is not completely illiterate and helpless just because he is blind. Later toward the end of the story, the husband realizes that Robert is a normal person just like he is. Robert, like the husband, enjoyed sitting around drinking, smoking, and just watching television. The husband just never gave Robert the chance to show him until now. In ways, the story “Cathedral” and the actual life of Raymond Carver remind me of the motion picture “Ray” starring Jamie Foxx. “Ray” is a biographical film about the everyday struggles of the famous Jazz musician Ray Charles Robertson (Ray Charles). Ray Charles, (a blind artist) lost his sight at the age of seven. He, like Robert lived almost his whole life without sight. The difference in Ray Charles and in Robert is that Ray had some idea of what things looked like, where Robert had no idea. In the story “Cathedral”, Robert was treated as a cripple by the husband due to the fact that he could not see. Ray Charles was treated as a cripple almost everyday of his life because he could not see. People tried to take advantage of Ray for the first part of his life, until he became a famous musician. In the movie Ray (Jamie Foxx) made a comment that reminded me of a comment that Robert made in the story. Ray said “My ears are my eyes” (Hackford). This reminded me of the part in the story when Robert and the husband and wife were sitting down to watch television and Robert said, “It won’t hurt me to learn something tonight. I got ears” (Kelly, 18). This shows neither of these men were troubled by the fact that they were blind, because they saw with their ears. Raymond Carver related to these two gentlemen because he, just like them, had struggles in his everyday life. They weren’t just struggles like you and I have though. These struggles were struggles that could put an end to one’s life if they got too severe. Raymond Carver had a problem with alcohol. Alcohol is an addicting drug in many people’s eyes. Ray Charles Robertson relates to Carver’s alcohol problem becaus...