Alex Mikel

English 1201

Vicki Stalbird

01/31/19

Addiction to Hope: “Cathedral” Literary Analysis

The short story “Cathedral” was written by Raymond Carver, in 1981. This is a story of

the narrator’s wife introducing him to her blind friend Robert. The narrator’s wife had been a

caretaker of Robert. When his wife resigned from her position, Robert and her kept in touch

through audiotapes. Robert’s wife has passed away and was now coming to stay the night at the

narrator’s house. The narrator is a man who does not have any friends. The narrator struggles to

be a part of Robert and his wife’s conversation. The narrator seems to be a judgmental character

and, in a sense, socially awkward. Throughout the short story “Cathedral” alcohol is mentioned

several times. Alcohol and drugs play a key role in the story and reveal the narrator struggles

with the disease of addiction; through his interactions with the blind man, the narrator begins to

show signs of recovery.

Spark Notes includes the motif of drinking on their online article, “The physical act of

preparing and consuming drinks gives the story rhythm and weaves the narrative together.” The

narrator of “Cathedral” has a tendency to make drinks quiet frequently. The narrator’s wife asks

if he would like to listen to some audiotapes Robert and herself had shared. This is the first time

“drinks” are mentioned in the story. He told her he would listen and had to make them some

drinks first. Not to long after they are discussing Robert coming to stay the night. They speak

about how Robert’s wife Beulah had passed away. The narrator bursts out, “Was his wife a
negro?” (3). His wife then responds asking if he is drunk. The wife starts to tell him all sorts of

information. The narrator makes himself another drink, the story states, “pieces of the story

began to fall into place.” (3). This phrase suggests that the narrator could not focus on his own.

After indulging in more alcoholic beverages the story started to make since. Many alcoholics

cannot function without maintaining a high blood alcohol content. The narrator making drinks,

taking a drink, and asking Robert or his wife if they would like a drink occurs about 18-20 times

over the course of the story. On top of all the alcohol the narrator is consuming, he also starts to

smoke marijuana with Robert. This is another red-light indicator there is a dependency need for

mood- and mind-altering substances to the narrator. The narrator drinks to focus, he drinks to

socially interact, and he drinks when he is alone. Alcoholism is hardened and created from poor

values and morals and is paired with bad behaviors.

There are a few key behaviors and mannerisms the narrator carry that scream alcoholism.

The first thing that really jumps out is when the narrator and his wife are discussing Robert’s

visit. The narrator is obviously very uncomfortable with having a blind man over to his house.

His wife states, ““If you love me,” she said, “you can do this for me. If you don’t love me, okay.

But if you had a friend, any friend, and the friend came to visit, I’d make him feel comfortable.”

(3). The narrator claims that he does not have any blind friends in which his wife responds, “You

don’t have any friends,” she said. “Period.” (3). This passage suggests that the narrator is prone

to isolation. Isolation in turn is a huge accompanying factor in the underlying issues of

alcoholism. Further into the short story the narrator’s wife goes to bed. Once alone, the narrator

asks Robert if he would like to go to bed, but Robert suggests he’ll stay up with him. Robert also

suggests they never really got a chance to talk. The narrator is happy to have some company. The

narrator is thinking about his normal routine which involves staying up all night and smoking,
going to bed at different times than his wife, and having strange dreams. These behaviors also

point in the direction of alcoholism. Alcoholics have a tendency to be out of sync with the rest of

the world. They are awake at all different hours of the day. The fact he goes to bed at a different

time than his wife suggests that they may have a rocky relationship. Relationships with

alcoholics can be very wearing and time consuming on the partner that does not suffer from the

disease. In the midst of the negative thoughts coming to fruition in the narrator’s head there was

a silver lining. That silver lining is that he was now glad to have Robert as company.

Colin H, Messer in, “Fleeing the Wasteland of Alcoholism: Alienation, Recovery, and

Hope in Raymond Carver's Cathedral.” states, “In terms of Carver's tracing of the alienation,

isolation, and failure of alcoholic experience through the stories in Cathedral, this story clearly

allows for a rare and dearly bought happy ending in which recovery appears to be within reach of

the characters.” The narrator starts of distant or unconnected from the socialization taking place

in his home. However, towards the end of the night a connection starts to form between Robert

and himself. For the first time the narrator seems to have a change of heart for Robert. They are

watching some documentary on the church and middle ages. The narrator comes to the

realization that Robert might not be able to picture just what a cathedral looks like. He begins to

explain to him the cathedral showing on the television. Robert asks the narrator if he would do

him a favor. The narrator is asked to draw a cathedral with Roberts hand place on top of his. The

narrator is forming a positive connection with Robert at this point in the story. The narrator is no

longer isolating himself from the world and his irrational fears or negative attitudes. Robert and

the narrator are one drawing a cathedral on a blank canvas. The blind man said, “We’re drawing

a cathedral. Me and him are working on it. Press hard,” he said to me. “That’s right. That’s

good,” he said. “Sure. You got it, bub. I can tell. You didn’t think you could. But you can, can’t
you?” (13). This caption is whole heartedly expressing building a new way of life. The cathedral

is a symbol of the rebirth of a broken man. They are working on it together because human

connection is something, we all need. Alcoholics lose that connection to humanity when sick in

their disease. Robert also says, “Put some people in there now. What’s a cathedral without

people?” (13). Roberts statement implies what is life without people? He is telling the narrator to

let people in and help build him back up. This symbolism is uncanny. “Cathedral” hits me hard

at home.

I myself was once much like the narrator from “Cathedral”. I isolated myself from the

world. I wouldn’t bother to let people get close to me. I fell hard into addiction through my teen

years and it worsened with time. During my early 20s I fell on hard times. Some of the few

relationships I had left were slowly fading away. I would stay up late into the next day drinking

and using drugs. I lost myself and any sense of decency I had left. However, along the way a few

individuals entered my life. These individuals helped me to realize what I was doing to myself.

Over time I began to let people close to me again. Fortunate to have good family and friends in

my life, I am now a little over 14 months clean and sober. Much like the narrator of the story it

took an outside source of power to help me to recover.

This story tells the tale of a broken man. The narrator is a man who constantly has a drink

in his hand. He shows no real sign of remorse for anyone other than himself. He plays on self-

pity and ill-will. It’s as though he is truly hopeless. Then the cosmos puts an unforeseen chapter

in his life. Robert a blind man that the narrator’s wife had once worked for. Robert would

unknowingly help shape the narrator’s future. Maybe without the narrator having realized that it

was taking place. “Cathedral” is a story of a man with poor judgment and behaviors suffering

from alcoholism, who in turns finds recovery through the most unlikely acquaintance.
 Works Cited

Messer, H. Collin. "Fleeing the Wasteland of Alcoholism: Alienation, Recovery, and Hope in

Raymond Carver's Cathedral." Studies in Short Fiction. Winter2012, Vol. 37 Issue 1,

p43- 58; 16p, 2012, 16p. Biography Reference Bank (H.W. Wilson). Accessed 17 Jan,

2019.

SparkNotes. “SparkNote on Cathedral.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 17 Jan.

2019.