People learn many lessons as they go through life, and most importantly they usually change their way of living. In the story, "Cathedral," by Raymond Carver, we are introduced to a nameless first person narrator who is in a sense blind to the deeper feelings in life. The story develops as the narrator makes some realizations which lead to an unexpected ending where he finally breaks through his walls and changes into a better person. Through his insecure character, Carver clearly shows us how it is never too late to change, and how the narrator finally transcends his world of seclusion.
             In Carver's story, it is immediately clear that the narrator looks at life from a very narrow-minded point of view. The way he talks about his wife's long term friend clearly shows us how ignorant and insensitive he is. For example, the narrator states that "He was no one [he] knew. And his being blinded bothered [him]" (154). He constantly refers to his wife's friend as the blind man making it clear that he can not see him as a human being, he only sees him as a handicap.
             The narrator's ignorance, insensitivity, and stereotypical attitude towards his wife's long-time friend are even more evident when we take a closer look at the information given in the first paragraph in the scene when the narrator states that:
             [His] idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they were led by seeing-eye dogs. A blind man in [his] house was not something [he] looked forward to. (154)
             We can clearly see by the way Carver describes the narrator's way of looking at life that he can only see people at face value; he does not look beneath the surface. He is so narrow-minded and content within his own world that he neglects to see the rest of the world.
             Besides his ignorance, insensitivity, and inability to see the rest of t
             ...