The Blind Heart in the Cathedral by Raymond Carver A person's ability to see is often taken for granted, as is the case in Raymond's "Cathedral" Carver. Although the title suggests that the story is about a cathedral, it is actually about two blind men, one physically, the other psychologically. One of the men is Robert, the narrator's wife's blind friend; the other is the husband-narrator himself. The husband is a psychologically blind man. Carver skillfully describes the way the husband sees life: from a very narrow point of view. Two examples in particular illustrate this. The first is that the husband seems to believe that the most important thing for women is to be complimented on their appearance; the second is that he is unable to imagine his wife's friend, Robert, as a person, only as a blind man. Carver constantly characterizes the husband as the truly blind one because he is ignorant of so many of the simple things in life. One of the first clues to the husband's blindness is addressed early in the story when the husband thinks of the blind man's wife and says: Imagine a wife who could never see herself as she was seen in the eyes of the blind man. his beloved. A woman who could go on day after day without ever receiving a single compliment from her beloved. A woman whose husband could never read the expression on her face, whether it was misery or something better. (1055)The husband seems to be saying that women need to be seen, that it is the most important or only important thing in their lives. He forgets that Robert can hear his wife's voice, smell her perfume, appreciate her personality and touch her skin. According to Dorothy Wickenden, “Cathedral” is a story of ignorance and vulnerability – the deep-rooted middle of the paper is blind. He constantly neglects his eyesight which he takes for granted. The husband is so narrow-minded and satisfied with his own world that he neglects to “see” the rest of the world. Marc Chenetien said it well: “A spark of hope in “Cathedral” tends to give a potential new agenda to stories whose ultimate promise seems to remain that blindness inevitably undermines all awakenings” (30). Works Cited Allen, Bruce. "Sculptor." Contemporary literary criticism. Ed. Roger Matuz. New York: Gale Research, 1989. 55: 103. Burgeja, Michael J. “Carver.” Review of a short story. Ed. Shelia Fitzgerald. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1990. 8:23. Carver, Raymond. “Cathedral” The Harper Anthology of Fiction: Ed. Sylvain Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 1052-1063. Chenetien, Marc. "Sculptor." Review of a short story. Ed. Sheila Fitzgerald. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1990. 8:44.