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Cathedral, a la Shmoop. For those of us blessed with the gift of vision…

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…it’s hard to imagine going through life without being able to see anything.

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And yet, some of us with 20/20 eyesight still walk into a surprising number of walls.

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In Raymond Carver’s short story, Cathedral…

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…the narrator helps Robert, a blind man, to envision in his mind’s eye what a cathedral

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looks like…

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…by allowing him to hold his hand while he draws one on a sheet of paper.

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Sounds like somebody was jonesing for a little physical contact…

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Okay… honestly… it was a pretty cool thing that he did.

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But we have to wonder… why a cathedral?

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Since it’s the title of the story, Carver must have put a lot of thought into it.

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What made him decide to choose this subject as his centerpiece, instead of, say… a willow

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tree, or… a Waffle House? Naturally, the first thing that comes to mind

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is religion. The celebration and practice of a religion is, after all, what a cathedral

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is for.

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Was Carver insinuating that this activity was a religious experience?

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You might certainly argue that it was for Robert, who having never seen a cathedral,

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suddenly felt as if he could picture it perfectly.

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But it also might have been something of a spiritual awakening for the narrator…

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…whose opinion of blind people seems to have changed in the process.

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It’s going to be a while before he parks in a handicapped parking space again.

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But then we think… if that was the case, why not just a church? Why did it have to

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be a cathedral?

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A cathedral is bigger and grander than any church.

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When you enter one, no matter your religious inclination, you can’t help but be bowled

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over by its grandiose majesty.

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Was this Carver’s idea of the most glorious man-made sight someone could witness?

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Maybe Robert was supposed to feel enveloped by his imaginary surroundings… and overwhelmed

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by its size. Third possibility…

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Cathedrals are quiet, peaceful places… is that the aspect Carver was focusing on?

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Both Robert and the narrator were in a sort of Zen-like state when the drawing was finished.

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In the silence, each man experienced a revelation.

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Did they just need the world’s volume button turned down for a few minutes…

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…so they could hear themselves think? What was the reason that Carver went with

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a Cathedral?

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Was it a reflection of religious experiences?

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A place that inspires?

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Or a hub… away from the hubbub? Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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