“The Cathedral” is a story that I felt as insightful, confusing, and amusing. We first get to see the prejudices that Robert has against blind people. I never knew if he was kidding or not with the jokes he said. Such as, “should I take him bowling?” Or the way he treated the blind man when he first met him. We soon find out that Robert can bond and learn something from a blind man. We also get an insight into Robert’s bad marriage. We get clues here and there that suggest that the couple does not have the best relationship in the world. We see this when the wife is drives up to the house with the blind man and laughing. Robert finds this amazing. It seems that he never really made her laugh or ever seen a smile on her face. Throughout the story we also see the parent-like behavior of the wife whenever Robert makes a comment or asks a question that she does not like. The other interesting aspect of this story is the ending. What does it mean?

As I said, the most interesting and confusing part of the story is the ending. Towards the end of the story we get an amazing insight into the physical and emotional state between the blind man and Robert. When the blind man asks Robert to describe the cathedral, Robert has trouble coming up with an answer. Robert gives a pretty general description of any tall building with no details that pertain to a cathedral, other than the gargoyles. But, my point is that Robert made a horrible and vague generalization of the cathedral. Then, the blind man asks to draw a picture of the cathedral with Robert. Both of their eyes were closed, not that the blind man’s needed to be, so that they drew in complete blindness. This really helped Robert to personally see what it would be like to be blind. The only way for the blind man to see or even begin to comprehend something is by description. So, when they finish drawing the cathedral, the two of them are feeling really good. Robert kept his eyes closed to the end. We never know if he opened his eyes or not, but the actual drawing and how good or bad it was really did not matter. The fact that the two of them got the idea they were both thinking, since they both drew the same cathedral, down on paper and in the mind, the drawing did not matter. I believe Robert realized that it does not take eye sight to truly understand what a certain thing stands for or what it means. It only takes your imagination and an idea to understand what a cathedral or anything stands for. The ending kept you thinking, and it is what I liked most about the story.

Another aspect of the story that really interested me, which I did not notice is that throughout the entire story we never get a name for the wife or the blind man. I believe this really helps us to relate to the characters in the story and to show that it could be anyone that can be blind or prejudiced against blind people. This is what I liked most about the author’s use of the names.

The perspective and tone of the story in which we read the story from, really helped me understand it more. The story was written in a casual voice and it felt like Robert was talking to me and not telling me how it is, but showing me. The author’s choice to use the tone and point of view he did really had an impact on how I perceived the story. For example, when the wife and the two guys were sitting in the living room and the wife decides to go upstairs, the total awkwardness and feelings Robert felt, I felt also. I too have been in an awkward situation to which I can feel at that same moment the uneasy, awkward; don’t know what to say feeling. Being able to personally relate and feel the story really helped me to understand what Robert was saying. The author really did a good job in writing this story to make the reader feel the emotions Robert felt.(723)