Today in my American Literature II class, we discussed the short story, “Cathedral,” by author Raymond Carver. A fantastic short story, the plot revolves around an unnamed author who is very egotistical and unsympathetic towards other people. He learns over the years of being married to his wife that she has a friend whom she had previously worked for whom was blind. His wife and the blind man, who’s name is Robert, became so close that they continued to communicate back and forth over the years via audio tape and poetry to one another, exposing to each other the biggest events of their lives.

When Robert’s wife dies, the narrator’s wife invites him to come and stay with them for awhile so that he is not alone trying to process her death. Immediately, the narrator begins to make generalizations about what mold he expects Robert to fill. For instance, the narrator assumes that Robert doesn’t smoke because blind people can’t see the patterns of smoke as they leave the tip of the cigarette. He assumes that Robert doesn’t have a television because he can’t sit and watch it. The narrator also assumes that Robert’s wife’s last dying thoughts were that she felt horrible because Robert had never known what she had looked like (and upon learning that his wife’s name was Beulah, he immediately assumes that she is “a Negro”).

Upon his arrival, though, the narrator learns that everything he thought about Robert was incorrect. The first impression he gets of Robert is noticing that the blind man has a long beard. We see the narrator’s thoughts as he says “Who’s ever seen a blind man with a beard? Hah.” We learn that Robert not only smokes, but he drinks heavily, as well. Not only does Robert enjoy the television, but he owns two himself, which he is quick to add that one is colored and one is black-and-white. We find the narrator very jealous when he feels left out of the conversations going on between his wife and Robert that evening after dinner, looking to grasp any words that his wife may say about him, but to his distaste, this doesn’t happen. When his wife falls asleep later on when the three are watching television, Robert and the narrator exchange a few words, mostly centered around the narrator.

And then a documentary about cathedrals (large grand churches) comes on television. Robert knows absolutely nothing about cathedrals, mainly because they are something that can be appreciated best with the eyes, and because he is not a religious person. The narrator tries to explain in detail what a cathedral  looks like, but he finds that it is next to impossible to do the piece of architecture justice through words. Suddenly, Robert has an idea:

“Why don’t you draw a picture of the cathedral and I’ll hold your hand as you draw it to get an idea of what it looks like?” The narrator agrees, and Robert holds his hand as he traces out a picture of a cathedral. The narrator adds a grand ceiling, spires, gargoyles, a steeple, and majestic doors. As he begins to fill the cathedral with people, Robert suggests that the narrator close his eyes while he draws. After he is done drawing, Robert tells him to open his eyes and look at his creation on the paper bag upon which he had been drawing. However, the narrator chooses to keep his eyes closed, and similar to what Robert had also been doing to get a feel of what the picture looked like, trace the lines the pencil had made on the bag with his finger. It was then that he realized that the world wasn’t centered around him-that things weren’t just how he saw it or what he thought about them, but that there were other people who were affected by the world differently and that not everyone was the same way that he was.

So why am I discussing something that was discussed in my college American Literature II class on a blog that a bunch of people will probably read? Simple. It’s because I feel like there is more that we can get out of this story than purely aesthetic enjoyment.

When was the last time that you (myself included) did something for someone else or focused on a person other than yourself? When was the last time that you helped someone out that needed it rather than stay comfortable in your home or car or circle of friends? When was the last time that you literally stopped and thought to yourself: ‘Yes, this person is different. They may smoke or be homeless or confined to a wheelchair or have a lip ring or say things that I would never in a million years say, but they are still God’s child!!! ’ I want to challenge you right here, right now that for the rest of the week and through the weekend, to leave your comfort zone, to step outside of your circle of friends and to do something for someone else, to stop what you’re doing and when you see someone who may be different than you, to think to yourself, ‘Yes, they may be different, but they are still God’s child!!!” You’ll be amazed at what it will do to your mindset. :)

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