Cojntrasting Imagry With Symbo
The story The Cathedral by Raymond Carver is a story of transformation of a human character?s life from depression and carelessness to belief and diversity. A cathedral is a symbol of faith, conversion, creativity and strength and is therefore a substantial component of Carver?s story. The process of drawing it becomes the climax of the story when the author uses intense imagery to describe the workings of the drawing that the husband is creating. Imagery and symbolism are greatly used in this story, but in very different ways to provide very different effects. Moreover, the cathedral is connected to the representation of the blind man as a preacher and a teacher. The symbolism of the cathedral in the story makes one believe in the future and optimism. A cathedral symbolizes religion, and the TV show that the two men watch leads to an important question. The blind man asks the husband to describe to him the image of a cathedral. The husband is unable to successfully compose an accurate description because he doesn?t understand the meaning and the symbolism of the building. He is not a man of religion, and he is watching the show only because he has nothing else to do. "Don?t ask me why th
What would make people do such a thing? Belief and religion sometimes give direction and meaning to peoples? lives. The symbolism of the cathedral is also directly connected to the blind man. Robert is in control, but the narrator does not oppose that experience. The first thing that he thinks of is his house: "I drew a box that looked like my house"(247). The author uses imagery not only to create a mental portrait of the physical surroundings of the story, but also to breath life into the symbolism of the images that are created. The narrator?s loneliness caused by urban life has become his style of living, and when he has to communicate with others and to share ideas he becomes anxious. The husband experiences something that he has never thought would happen to him, and it makes him aware of the diversity of life. It seems that the blind man is showing the husband how to draw and not the opposite. He has been waiting for something like this to happen, and he is happy that it happened. And "What?s a cathedral without people?"(247). He sees things from a special perspective, and becomes a person who can share a different angle toward wisdom, a different entrance toward knowledge. The transformation of the house into a cathedral is a very powerful image. ?(247) This marks the climax of the story as well as the turning point in the thoughts and beliefs of the husband. His home and himself derive the symbolism of a cathedral. The effort required to build a cathedral becomes an outburst of creativity.
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