Cathedral by Raymond Carver - Short Story Summary, Analysis, Review

Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! Today we're looking at "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver. Our first look at Dirty Realism.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
0:00 Introductions
0:41 Publication Info
3:26 Plot Summary
5:02 Analysis
17:45 Wrap Up and Ratings
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====Copyright Info====
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[@TheCodeXCantina]

Raymond Carver Playlist: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJ7CnJSOfbuBhrc TABLE OF CONTENTS: 0:41 Publication Info 3:26 Plot Summary 5:02 Analysis 17:45 Wrap Up and Ratings

[@TheNerdyNarrative]

To be truly SEEN by someone who means something to you is massively important. (At least to me) When I say ‘seen’ I don’t mean with your eyes either. I freaking love this story and the discussion of it. When the blind friend touched the wife’s face - when he finally ‘saw’ her completely - BEAUTIFUL! It seems the narrator only uses his sight superficially. (What a turkey)

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Wasn't there a movie with "I see you" as a line?

[@TheNerdyNarrative]

@@TheCodeXCantina there are probably 800

[@jefft9729]

I think there absolutely was an epiphany experienced by the narrator. First step in the (positive) redemption process. One of the most touching endings of any short story I’ve ever read.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing

[@marypladsen5231]

I'm not a Carver fan. I should be because I am from the uneducated deep woods myself but often I just don't see anything in his stories. I listened to this story last night here on youtube and I felt about it the way I've felt about his other stories, but I like what you guys had to say. I see you seem to be helping teachers decide what to teach. Good job.

[@BookishTexan]

I wonder if the fact that I have no friends explains why I had some sympathy with the narrator.🤓My desire for the narrator to have some kind of redemption limited my view of this story. You guys killed it on this one.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

You're never friendless when you're married.

[@RobertoPersivale]

In a sense I believe we may all have these type of experiences where a really connected and caring persona ( the blind man) teaches us what we lose from our daily experiences when one carries on with your life without presence and intentional consideration to our partner.

[@normawaldthausen8880]

Thank you so much you add very good elements in the análisis.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

My pleasure!

[@shawnbreathesbooks]

Kryptedral 🤣🤣🤣. Looking forward to watching this - my favorite Carver short story and one of my very most favorite short stories ever!

[@TheCodeXCantina]

I learn more about you every day!

[@bighardbooks770]

Great analysis. This might be my fav all time short story (maybe). I had Ray Carver's autograph on a chapbook of his story, "The Pheasant" (long lost). What gets me is the blind man smoking: How can one "enjoy" the act of _smoking_ w out "seeing" the smoke? Just me. Good one, fellows 😄 I'd like to see more discussion of his poetry, too. _Aqua Marine_ my fav.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Lol, fun point on the visuals of smoking

[@richardwest6245]

This story is a great example of Carver's sense of humor! Every time I read it I laugh through the whole story. Carver's stories are worth a life time of study.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

That's a great point.

[@Jay-du1ms]

I really love your channels ❤❤❤

[@TheCodeXCantina]

🙏

[@feverandfret]

I enjoyed this analysis. I just offered my own take on Cathedral as well.

[@shanzeali3144]

How can we analyse this short story by applying theoretical frame work???

[@Starscreamlive]

If you haven't read the entire short story collection of the same name, it's definitely worth seeking out. It was my introduction to Carver a few years back. 7/10 for the short story 8/10 for the entire collection

[@TheCodeXCantina]

What was your favorite from the collection?

[@Starscreamlive]

@@TheCodeXCantina the one that immediately comes to mind is "A Small, Good Thing".

[@Rajathon]

I guess I could see someone saying that all cathedrals look alike. In my experience though the details are where the differences are seen and appreciated.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Bingo! Nail on the head with that one.

[@SlowedEuphoria]

Podcast makes literature really interesting..

[@TheCodeXCantina]

🙏

[@marypladsen5231]

I'd like to know what the wife was reading to the black man? Also - once I took a chair to be caned to a school for the blind - and realized that blind people 'see' much - it's a term they use, obviously to see is to understand.

[@marypladsen5231]

Redemption would have been the strawberry pie.

[@chasityyuniquee3896]

I hate to say it but the guy on the left sounds almost exactly like Derek Shepherd from Grey’s Anatomy

[@TheCodeXCantina]

He probably gets paid a lot more than I do. Cheers.

[@emmagutierrez1408]

I do agree with what you said about the narrator's inability to communicate and voice his experience of even ordinary, everyday life things: right at the end of the story, it even gets worse since he has no idea how to express what is happening to him. He keeps using words like 'something', 'anything', which also mirrors the reader's own incapacity to express some intense, new inner experiences. It makes me think of that moment in Gatsby when the narrator is talking about Gatsby's first kiss with Daisy. There is no way for him to express what he felt with words, so this thing 'remained incommunicable for ever'. Words aren't adequate.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Indeed, both communicate and understand too. I need to read more Carver to broaden my perspective

[@tangostorm4907]

You guys should check out "Too Stubborn To Die" by Alex Mars, great read - Dirty Realism book.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Thanks for the recommendation

[@truecrimescotsman]

"how is a blind man going to shave? of course he's got a beard!".....physician heal thyself.

[@lostinabookcase3796]

what would a kryptedral look like?? XD

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Hold my hand....

[@Brandi.Nicole]

Probably isn't a time in your life when you have been in a relationship with a jealous, alcoholic male? I suppose a little of R probably came out in each of his characters. This is in fact how a man full of toxic masculinity acts when he is jealous. They don't want anything usually but as soon as someone else gets their lovely ladys' attention it is like they digress back to 15 years old again. Rich or poor I have seen this bitter animosity (Note: he is just trying to find some kind of silly fault - mostly because it is the mind of an alcoholic ehem - narrator) I keep thinking machismo but since that word is more rooted in cultural definition the closest thing I could estimate would be Chauvinism. Chauvinism: unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group of people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. But in essence, it comes from the pain and shame he feels inside because he knows he failed his wife.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Thanks for sharing. I have told my recording partner that we need to do more Carver as he, as a writer, is far from my own life experience. I’ve come to reflect more on this story over time with the help of commenters and readers and I want to try more of his stories with a different level of empathy as there are still more things i have to learn.

[@Triumph2024.]

Bub goes from small minded assumptions against blind people to an intimate experience with Robert which is really transformative. Once he experiences the epiphany of the cathedral drawing, we see the beginnings of a new man who's dropped his prejudice and now has empathy where there was none. By the end of the story, we can even imagine 'Bub' doing nice things for the blind man. Like, for all we know, maybe the next day he took the blind man to the barber shop to get his ridiculous full-beard shaven off. Or perhaps the husband mightv'e done the blind man the favor of getting him a stick and seeing eye dog, like the blind people he knew from movies. We may never know the extent of Bub's evolution into a more connected and more caring person. But it is clearly significant. We can even imagine--after sharing the drawing experience--that Bub wouldv'e kept in touch with the blind man, independent of his wife. There's every possibility that the two men wouldv'e made it a point to hang out again, whether that meant Bub inviting the blind man back for another visit or Bub instead traveling out to see the blind man. This is something that wouldv'e been unthinkable before he met his wife's blind man and experienced such psychic and emotional growth. So ironically, we can say it's 'Bub' who's 'seen the light' and we can imagine him staying connected---as long as the husband first convinces the blind man to purchase some dark sun glasses so he's not forced for a second time to endure those creepy, independently on-the-roam eyes again, with their milky irises. God, it's too much. This was a beautiful story.

[@TheCodeXCantina]

Great stories connect with many people indeed. Cheers

[@ghosteclipsyt1046]

Yo seen you on a few summary of this short story, thanks for keeping up with it, helped me and I’m sure to help others!

[@Triumph2024.]

@@ghosteclipsyt1046 Yo, you're welcome. Glad you enjoyed my analysis and hope it was helpful. This is a story for the ages and for all ages. It's themes, characters and conflicts are subtle. As with most of Carver's stories, the reader has to really pay attention to detail and consider the narrative and it's possible meaning on several levels. Likewise familar to Carver's other works, in 'Cathedral', as much may be revealed by what is said, as what is left unsaid and there can be much poignancy in the later. Keep reading, keep asking, keep thinking and good luck!