Cathedral - Reaction Column

Cathedral - Reaction Column

Plot of the Text: 

Narrator (husband of the wife) allows the wife to invite her blind friend (Robert) to their house after his wife passed away. The narrator is closed off at first and quick to snub and judge. By the end of the cathedral, the Robert opens the narrator up and teaches him how to "see".

Literary Devices Used: 

Tone, style of writing, language, central conflict (internal and external), characters (round, dynamic, stereotype and flat), flashback, closed plot, setting, theme/message, and figurative symbols.

Major Themes and Symbols:

Roberts apparent blindness, which is irony because he can see more intimately than the narrator can with his full vision. Instead of being able just to see something or someone, he believes it, and listens to it, which gives him more insight on whatever he is doing than the narrator could ever have had until his realization at the end of the story. The cathedral itself and the way of drawing it was giving it a meaning to the narrator, and teaching him to dig deep and to really see what he is doing and be invested in it. I would also say that the videotapes we basically the equivalence of them having sex. Realistically. Nothing can bring someone closer to another than being a genuine and participative listener. 

Personal Views on the Text:

I very much liked the text. I didn't like how the narrator was plain old being rude and applying stereotypes. However, his ignorance was removed from the lesson of one he judged. It was nice to see the turn around and evolvement of that particular character.

Why Did I Chose This Text:

Simply put; I like that the moral of the story if basically that of you can learn a lot from those you act ignorant towards.