Topic > The theme of alienation and isolation in Raymond Carver's "Cathedral"

Raymond Carver's preferred method of providing information to readers in his short story "Cathedral" is entirely consistent with the underlying theme of impact of alienation and isolation on those who fail to master the art of communicating with others. Carver uses a storytelling technique in which everything that can be learned about the other characters is filtered through the perspective of a narrator who is not fully articulated. Ultimately, "Cathedral" is the story of a man who has difficulty connecting with other people because he lacks sophisticated communication skills, told by a man with such limited communication skills that the reader is forced to piece together the necessary information that the narrator ha. excluded because the story is told by a narrator whose very inarticulability is the driving force behind its transformation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The story contains a certain level of irony as it is sometimes difficult to understand what is happening even though the narrator uses simple language and unsophisticated vocabulary. Here Carver seems to suggest something about the power of words to effectively communicate thoughts. Many people assume that a story is more difficult to understand if the writer uses sophisticated vocabulary or uses metaphorical language or long, complex sentences. While these elements require more attention, they would not necessarily make communicating meaning more difficult. Understanding means effectively communicating meaning, and this truism is addressed through the narrator's wife's efforts to communicate more effectively with the blind man: “The blind man made a tape. He sent her the tape. He made a tape. This went on for years." Some, including perhaps the narrator, might think that the very idea of ​​long-distance communication with a blind person would be a difficult if not impossible undertaking. Even the simplest word choice would fail to convey any meaning if the narrator's wife had chosen to write letters; or, at best, writing letters would have required someone to be there with the blind man to read them to him. (And that's not even getting into the much deeper arena of how one reader might choose to communicate another's written words!) The narrator's wife may be alienated and isolated from her husband due to marrying a poor communicator. results, but she clearly operates at a higher level than him when it comes to communicating with others. He also seeks two-way interaction through the one-way medium of recording his missives. Communication is not just about succeeding in the effort, but about actually making the effort. The narrator clearly defines his difference from his wife on this point when he chooses to turn on the television rather than actively try to escalate the level of conversation with the interlocutor. visitor. In fact, the narrator confesses that his nightly routine was one in which he "smoked weed and stayed up as long as possible" all alone after his wife had already fallen asleep. The narrator provides little information about why this should be his nightly routine, but one can piece together what is not said with what we learn about him than watching television when there is only one other person in the room it is an open act of rebellion. . The narrator's decision to watch television when the only other person in the room is blind is nothing more than a statement of.