"Cathedral" by Raymond Carver is a really good short story that deals with preconceived notions and how they are often times very inaccurate. There are three characters in this story: a wife, her husband, and a blind man named Robert. Before the wife had met her current husband she had worked part time for Robert, mainly readying to him and doing some organization. Eventually she quit that job and moved away and married her husband. Ten years have gone by since she quit and during that time Robert and the wife sent each other tapes to keep each other up to date on the life of the other one. Robert's wife has recently passed away and he is coming to stay with the husband and wife.
Before Robert arrives the wife starts to tell her husband about Robert. The husband grabs an alcoholic drink and listens. After she has explained her relationship with Robert, her husband tells her what he knows and thinks about blind people. He says "my idea of blindness came from the movies...the blind moved slowly and never laughed." The reader can already tell that the husband is a shallow man who doesn't seem to know much about the world. He also seems kind of scared of them. He says "a blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to."
Eventually Robert arrives. He is able to carry his own bag and even make it up the stairs with little help which surprises the husband. The three characters have a few more drinks while talking about different things. The conversation is focused between the wife and Robert. This seems to aggravate the husband.
After talking for a while they sit down and have dinner. Robert is able to cut his own food and feed himself. Once again they partake in more drinking. After stuffing themselves they retire to the living room once again. It is not long before the wife goes upstairs to change and make up Robert's bed. While she is gone Robert and the husband make small talk, but that eventually stops. The husband does not really know how to act without his wife there. She is the connection between Robert and the husband. The husband resorts to something is very familiar with, marijuana. The reader is told that he smokes every night. He offers some to Robert who politely agrees and takes a few hits. The wife comes in while this is going on a smokes a little too.
This is the big turning point in the story. Up to this point the husband has been jealous, shallow, mean, and sometimes rude. It's almost as if the alcohol and marijuana allow the husband to put down walls inside himself that contain what he knows. He is able to listen to and understand Robert better throughout the rest of the story.
While watching TV a show about cathedrals comes on and they begin to watch and listen. Robert asks the husband if he believes in anything and he says he does not. Just a little while later Robert wants the husband to describe the cathedral to him. The husband has a very hard time performing this task. He is only able to describe the outside of the building. It's as if he can not see the inside and doesn't know what exists there. This is also the exact way the husband lives his life. He is just concerned with what he can see. He takes no time to discover new things or look further than the surface. One example is his wife's poetry. She writes a few poems per years about big events in her life, but the husband can not understand them.
The cathedral reference is important because it is associated with "faith". Robert teaches the husband to have faith in the world. Not necessarily spiritual faith, but faith in people, his wife, relationships, etc. The husband started out the story as a man who just cared about what he could see. He had a miserable life. He didn't like his job and all he seemed to live for was coming home to smoke marijuana. Robert's visit has show the husband that there is more to life. He needs to explore deeper than the surface and he will be amazed at what he finds.
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