Raymond Carvers Cathedral

Part I of Essay
"For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then I shall know even as I am known" (1 Corinthians 13). The narrator of Raymond Carver's "Cathedral" is a man living a life of monotony, continuously feeding the cold and bigoted mind ....

Part II of Essay
.... a name for a colored woman." (Carver, "Cathedral," 182) Here, by attaching a stereotype to a simple name, he exhibits the precise indiscretion of a closed-minded bigot, and then eventually reaches humility through his awakening. The narrator possesses several other prejudices that also hinder his humility. Later on, for example, the narrator sees Robert for the first time and the man's appearance startles him: "This blind man, feature this," he says, "he was wearing a full beard! A beard on a blind man!" (183) Later still, the narrator re ....