The Blind Man         The narrator in Raymond Carvers Cathedral is not a particularly sensitive man. I might describe him as self-centered, superficial and egotistical. And while his actions certainly speak to these points, it is his misunderstanding of the people and the relationships presented to him in this story which rise most clearly his tragic flaw: while Robert is physically screenland, it is the narrator that cannot clearly see the world around him.
        In the eyes of the narrator, Roberts blindness is his defining characteristic. The opening problem of Cathedral reads, This blind man, an old friend of my wifes, he was on his way to spend the night. (Carver 1052) Clearly, the narrator can not see past Roberts disability; he enkindlees him in the same way a racist might dismiss a black man. In reality, any prejudice be it base on gender, race or disability involves one persons inability to look past a superficial quality. If someone judges a person based on such a characteristic, they are only beholding the aspect of the person which makes them uncomfortable. The narrator has unconsciously placed Robert in a category that he labels abnormal, which stops him from seeing the blind man as an individual.
        The narrators reaction to Roberts individuality shows his stereotypical views.
The narrator assumed Robert did not do certain things, just because he was blind. When he first sawing machine Robert his reaction was simple: This blind man, feature this, he was draining a full beard! A beard on a blind man! Too much, I say. When Robert sit down down on the couch, he thinks, Iread someplace that the blind didnt smoke because, as speculation had it, they couldnt see the smoke they exhaledBut this blind man take in his cigarette down to the nubbin and then lit another...
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