One Man’s Awakening
The main character in the story "Catherdral" is humorous and likable, and even though he is prejudice against the blind man, it is his immature mind and his ability to change that attract us to him. The main character seems annoyed and possibly threatened that a blind man is coming to stay in his house. Our main character, who also acts as the narrator, is hilarious as his mental process is out of the ordinary. When his door knocks he thinks, “now the blind man is coming to sleep in my house.” It is these simple and childish sounding thoughts that make the main character seem extremely youthful, and as he spends more time with the blind man his attitude starts to change, similar to a child being forced to try a new food they view as disgusting, once they try it they realize they like it.
The narrator’s wife pleads with him to help make the blind man feel at home, and it is comments the narrator makes such as, “maybe I could take him bowling,” that make us laugh, and realize even though he is judgmental, he is quite harmless. One of the first things he asks the blind man is what side of the train he sat on, which is amusing because he was not able to think through the fact that the blind man can not appreciate the scenery outside the train. He is also shocked that a blind man enjoys smoking, and sports a beard. As they “do some serious eating” the narrator starts to become more comfortable with the blind man as he starts making jokes, and then proceeds to invite him to smoke. The blind man shows he is open to new things as the two men sit down to smoke marijuana. The narrator is not used to having company, and therefore he often feels awkward around the blind man for he must reach out and interact with him in order to help him feel more situated and to help understand what is going on. For example, he must explain the images on the television to him. This pushes the narrator’s limit but also helps him break down a wall he has against this new stranger as he must befriend him.
The narrator realizes his descriptions of cathedrals on the television are fruitless and that the blind man cannot create an image of the cathedrals in his head. The main character now proves his ability to try something new as he has a type of renaissance and goes to get heavy paper and a pen. He then sketches out a picture of the cathedral and not only does the blind man see the cathedral, but so does out narrator. When the blind man asks him if he’s looking at the cathedral he says, “It’s really something,” these are three extremely powerful words. For it is not that the picture of the cathedral that is something but it is the fact that with his eyes closed the narrator has put himself in the blind man’s shoes and he can finally see.
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Alright so I hope I'm commenting on the right person's blog.
ReplyDeleteOr on the right day.
I don't know.
Anyways...
This is a really good paper! Nice job! I liked how you showed how the husband was able to stop being prejudiced against the blind man. You also had good examples in the context of your paper. What I would probably do is go deeper into the mindset of the husband. You mention examples of prejudice, but you should answer why he feels/thinks that way. Also try to answer why he changed his prejudice so easily and what made him so willing to describe the cathedral to the blind man (besides the fact that he was high). On a side note, I liked your thesis. It made me laugh. Keep it.
Sarah, I'm really glad Yuka commented on your blog, even if she is a little confused about her responsibilities this week. I'm also glad you had a good time on the class trip and felt that it was successful with the frosh.
ReplyDeleteAbout this post--I like this narrator too, even though he is arrogant, aloof, judgmental, narrow-minded, defensive, and sarcastic. So as I write that, I'm wondering why he's likable. Maybe because, as you say, he's funny and has a kind of awakening in the course of the story.
I really enjoy your thesis. It captures the light-hearted tone that the short story acquires as you read The Cathedral. The husband truly is like an over-grown silly child. You do a wonderful job in explaining how the husband starts as a pouty, fun-poking, and judging child, but then evolves into a thoughtful child willing to try new things.
ReplyDeleteOne criticism I have is that you only have one body paragraph. This can be fine since you devlop your thesis well and you reach the word limit But I might add a second devloping paragraph, or spilt the one paragraph into two. One possible place might be about the middle of the second paragraph. Maybe just play with it in that area, add a thing or two... and WAH-LAH! You're golden.
I enjoyed reading it too, which is always an important task for a writer.