An analysis and interpretation of the short story
             It is widely recognized that you cannot know, nor understand anyone, before you know and understand yourself! This is one of the main themes in the short story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver. The main character in "Cathedral" is an ordinary man with he cannot see the world from a larger perspective. He is very afraid of everything that is different from him, so when the blind man, Robert, comes to visit his wife, he is not excited (l.6-7) "I wasn't enthusiastic about his visit." He refers to blind people as "they", and he often utters openly his prejudices about blind people e.g. (l. 50): "A beard on a blind man! Too much, I say." This is mostly due to his lack of self-confidence, which especially is reflected in his jealousy e.g. (l. 15): "On the last day at the office, the blind man asked if he could touch her face and neck. Now the same blind man was coming to sleep in my house, not something I looked forward to". He obviously feels intimidated by the contact between his wife and Robert. The blind man might have moved something in the wife of the main character, which the protagonist has never done himself. But his fear of blind people also comes from a society, where everyone has to follow the standards that have been set from before they were born. In this society no one allows other individuals to enter in to their inner self. During the short story there is a big development in the main-character. This is mostly caused by Robert. He opens up to Robert, and achieves personal growth.
             Robert is blind, but he is also the one, who has the greatest insight, because he has a more natural way of looking inside himself instead of looking out on others. This is the central opposition in the story. The author uses this to underline the theme and the central message in the story. The narrator pronounces that his idea of bli...