Cathedral

Cathedral
In the short story, “Cathedral,” the point of view is that of the husband, the narrator of this story. There are three main characters in this short story; the husband, who maintains his ambivalence, disdain, and possible fear of the blind man, as he is unable to understand and struggles with sharing his feelings; the wife, whom throughout the story is accepting of the blind man, and has grown close to him over time through their unique contacts from the beginning to the end; and the blind man, whom had just lost his wife, came to their home to visit, and appears to have an uncanny ability to accept those around him, as well as to guide and show people parts of themselves they didn’t know they could experience. Had this story been from one of the other character’s point of view, the theme of the story potentially could have been completely different.
Each character in this story presents a different theme using their point of view. The narrator had a very narrow point of view- one that contained skepticism, suspicion, and even a hint of disdain directed at his wife and her relationship with the blind man. Mainly, he did not understand the importance of his wife’s relationship with the man, nor the depth of their friendship- as the man is unable to see, thus the husband is unable to understand the connection. As the story ended, the man was able to discover the depth and uniqueness in a relationship with the blind man after drawing the cathedral. The man also realized that seeing isn’t necessarily everything; some things can be “seen” with your eyes closed. The theme of this story is kept alive by the point of view of the narrator, as the character slowly develops from completely rejecting the notion of the blind man, ambivalence about acceptance, and in the end, full understanding of the value of the relationship.
The point of view makes this story “come alive” as the reader experiences the inner turmoil, ambivalence, and overall change within the...