Essays on Blind Man

Raymond Carver lived between 1958 and 1988. In most cases, his contemporaries considered him as one of the forces that led to the revitalization of the American Short Story genre. He wrote the short story, Cathedral, which was published in 1993 (Peterson 167). Specifically, Cathedral examines and narrates the impact of a blind man in the lives of his friend and her husband. Superficially, Cathedral is a story about a disgruntled man whose meeting with his friend’s blind wife enables him to discover new ways of seeing. This paper examines and discusses the beliefs and values of the ...

Discussion Question Journal

Chapter 14: The Social Contract Tradition Problems and Prospects Is it immoral to be a free rider? Is it irrational? Does the existence of free riders raise a serious problem for contractarianism? Why or why not? Take for instance a borehole constructed in an arid region by villagers. All member are to participate in contributing cash for this purpose. The water will serve the interests of the villagers. If say one or a group of members chose not to contribute but still got to use the water once the borehole was made, they would be referred to as free ...

Questions and Essays

Question #2 It might be argued that the character of Ned Kelly is a Robin Hood-like character. A 19th century outlaw, Carey illustrates him as the conventional bad guy with positive qualities. This is why it can be said that Kelly is a Robin Hood like character, as Robin Hood executed certain aspects that were not necessarily morally correct, or ethically right - but nevertheless allowed for positive outcomes. Much of the novel consists of Ned encountering bad luck and being manipulated and lied to. As such, he is forced into the seemingly bad guy lifestyle ending up in ...

When I was a child, my mother said to me, 'If you become a soldier, you'll be a general. If you become a monk, you'll end up as the Pope.' Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso. (McNeese, 2006, p.105) Pablo Ruiz y Picasso (1881-1973) is one of the main representatives of the 20th century art, and the co-founder along with Georges Braque of Cubism. With significant contribution to the formation and development of modern and contemporary art, Picasso is one of the most prominent artists of the previous century, an artistic mastermind who managed to ...

The Great Gatsby and the Cathedral

Introduction The film the Great Gatsby is adapted from the novel by the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald' written in 1925.It tells the story of young man who strives to become wealthy so as to win the heart of a lost love. The story is based during the prohibition era where sale of alcohol had been deemed illegal. The book is named after its major character, a 30 year old man, who was able to rise from an impoverished background in North Dakota to become one of the wealthiest men. Jay Gatsby is this man whose life rose ...

One artist captures you with his subtle strokes while the other captivates with the sheer drama that happens in the canvas. Vermeer and El Greco-artists with completely different styles yet united by the magic they bring about in the emotions of their figures. In the two paintings of Vermeer, ‘Study of a Young Woman’ and ‘Young Woman with a Water Pitcher’, there is a certain sense of stillness and serenity as opposed to the paintings of El Greco which is rather dramatic. Perhaps it is the setting and theme of the paintings, but the two works of El Greco, ‘Opening of the ...

The culture that we live in needs to rediscover the selfless spirit. The cultural selfishness revolving around "what's in it for me?" has replaced the view that the act of giving is blessed rather than the act of receiving (Skinner 2011). Jesus Christ was a messiah who sacrificed himself for the greater good of mankind. He embraced death for the salvation of men to deliver them from all their sins. While reflecting upon the question as to how Jesus provided an antidote to cultural selfishness, there are plenty of episodes to choose from the gospel according to John. However, the ...

Conflict is a violent dispute or incompatibility of views positions between individuals or groups. Conflicts are normal and inevitable and inherent feature of human existence. For conflicts to be present, key issues must be taken into consideration since the analysis of issues gives or assist in the identification of parties to the conflict hence the meaning of the systems in the conflict. As such conflict situations involve cases where individuals or parties have divergent views or incompatible aims which motivate and influence their behavior. As such, the behavior shown by the parties is what will determine the issues in ...

Religious Studies 305

The book of John in the New Testament speaks so much of Jesus’ love for the sick, the poor, the blind, the doubting Pharisees but also speaks of his deity as God doing the works of Him who sent Him. But how did Jesus speak to the people? What language did he use? Jesus was always around people. Contrary to the manner of how the Roman Pharisees spoke to the people, Jesus spoke of concern, love and understanding for humanity. A Bible scholar wrote that Jesus spoke in Aramaic. Since Jesus grew up in Nazareth, he also spoke ...

Raymond Carver’s Cathedral has been referred to as “dirty fiction” and this is probably because of his engagement in profound theme. In his book, he tries to explore the rawness and baseness of the human condition (Amir 2010 p 27). The narrator who is a man of limited empathy and awareness breaks through such limitations and socializes with a blind man. The author brings to light the narrator’s actions and also his subsequent self-realization in the end. Raymond can arouse psychological dilemmas within the readers because of his skillful treatment of various issues. For example, while reading “Cathedral” the ...

In "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien and "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, the short stories' respective characters deal with their masculinities, and its emotional consequences in a similar manner. There are also striking differences between their characters' portrayal of masculine behavior, as well as its consequences. In "The Things They Carried", the protagonist, platoon leader Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, is beset by romantic reveries of his girl back home. He often daydreams about a girl from the States Martha (who was his college classmate), during his platoon's missions in Vietnam. As a direct result of his daydreaming, one of the platoon's ...

On his discourse on light, Descartes acknowledges that our life experiences are dependent on our senses. With sight being at the center of man’s understanding of the world, Descartes attacks the accuracy of people’s perception. He provides a compelling argument about inaccuracy of human sensory perception through comparison of blind man and normal man’s perception of the surroundings. Descartes opens the discussion by describing the experience of walking with a stick, which is used to explore the sensations of the surrounding environment. He compares the interaction of the stick, the object, and the hand in a blind man ...

Cathedral by Raymond Carver and A Good Man to Find, by Flannery O’Connor are both fictional stories. In many literary works, there are characters who symbolize how ignorant people are in the society. In a society, many people believe that they are good or perfect, yet inevitably, they have their flaws. In A Good Man to Find, by Flannery O’Connor, and the Cathedral, by Raymond Carver, the protagonists in the stories are enforced to deal with situations, which change their values and those of others. These stories talks of real life situations in the society. In the ...

In Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral,” the primary lesson learned by the main protagonist, a provincial man who is glib about a blind man whom his wife invites over for dinner, is that it is more dangerous to be blind to one’s emotional and moral centers. In the man’s attempts to understand the blind man (Robert), he learns himself that he is being too narrow-minded and lacking in understanding. While he judges Robert for his blindness, he himself is blind to the true perception that Robert’s kinder nature brings out in himself and others. Carver addresses these ideas by ...

Compare and Contrast

Under the Jaguar sun by Calvino versus The Witch's senses by Classen There are three senses that dominate the lives of the characters during the entire short stories in Under the Jaguar Sun. These senses include; hearing, smell and taste. However, the senses in the short stories promise the fulfillment of the exit and desire from the self but only lead back to the initial source. In essence, the short stories connect the connection of the common senses in the body (Anderson et al. 20). These aspects are used by the author to express unity by the body ...

Fiction often has the ability to depict significant spiritual changes in its characters; these people are shown to be significantly unmoored in their lives, needing an external factor or another person to help them find a measure of peace. In the case of James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,” the character of Sonny is a drug-addicted derelict who must find a sense of spiritual release through the support and solidarity of his brother, the narrator. With Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral,” an ordinary, blasé, cynical man is given a new insight into his life thanks to the perspective of a blind man whom his wife ...

In “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, the writer tells a story about discernment and personal change. The narrator sees himself as being superior than his wife’s friend because he is blind. He refuses to see himself as someone having a deficiency but gets a rude awakening when he experiences and realize that the blind man could actually see far greater things being blind, than someone who has physical sight. In “A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, the narrator makes the reader feel horrified by what Ms. Emily did, but uses intrigue to weave the plot and make the people feel sorry ...

Introduction

The dictionary of the bible, a five volume biblical encyclopedia, was published between 1898 and 1904. The dictionary of the bible deals with language and literature contents, as well as the biblical theology. It was abridged by James Hastings with the help of John Selbie. Other authors were contracted to assist with the revision of proofs. The entries in the four volumes of the dictionary are divided alphabetically. The dictionary has a fifth volume that was published in 1904. The fifth volume is devoted to extra articles, maps and indexes. Although the book is described as a dictionary, the collection is better ...

Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral” is a small intimate story, one which effectively revolves around two characters – the narrator, a regular Average Joe, and Robert, a blind man who is a friend of the narrator’s wife. Sklenicka describes the narrator as “a typical bumbling, addictive character with a load of human stains; prejudices blunt-mindedness about his wife’s concerns and needs, a large appetite for food, drink, and marijuana” (372). One of the prejudices he expresses when his wife tells him that Robert’s wife was named Beulah. “Beulah! That’s a name for a colored woman. ‘Was his wife a Negro?’ I asked. ‘Are you crazy?’ ...

Table of Contents

Executive Summary 3

Environmental Analysis 3 Market Need 4 Current Situation 5 Industry overview 5 Competitor analysis 5 Legal/Regulatory Overview 6 Target market 7 Target Audience Analysis 7 Marketing Objectives 8 Marketing Strategies 8 Product 8 Price 9 Place 9 Promotion 9 People 9 Physical layout 10 Process 10 Positioning 10 Marketing Tactics 10 Evaluation and Control ...

Raymond Carver: Cathedral

“Cathedral” tells the story of a man whose insecurity leaves him blind to the world and who further seeks to blind himself from his own feelings by desensitizing himself with drugs and alcohol. The protagonist shows an excruciating lack of connection with his wife, whom he never refers to by name, and always in the third person. Yet, he cares for her, for he feels vulnerable and insecure when confronted with his wife’s friendship with an old blind friend of hers, a spiritual closeness that leaves him unsure as to where he himself fits in her life. In his description ...

The narrator in the short story Cathedral does not seem to have much connection with anything or anyone. His wife has asked an old friend to come for a visit. The friend is a blind man she had worked for as his reader. The blind man, Robert, had just lost his wife, Beulah. The narrator’s wife had been a friend of Beulah’s too. The narrator is not in a very good mood about the whole idea. He gives the excuse that he has never been around a blind man before and he does not want to be around one now. But maybe ...

The short story cathedral revolves around two men, Robert and the narrator. The narrator’s wife and Robert have not met for the past ten years but have maintained a close contact. The actual context of the story is in the narrator’s house, where Robert is coming to visit after losing his wife. Robert is visiting his wife’s parents when he thinks of visiting the narrator’s wife. The narrator is not enthusiastic about the visit but has to contend with it anyway. The narrator gives a background of his wife, how he had met the blind man and ...

Caver (1) tells a story of the discovery of the self. In it, he talks about a blind man who visits the narrator’s house. The blind man seems so informed about life’s issues, and they end up discussing the issue of the cathedral. Through the narration, the reader realizes that there are some aspects of life that he does not fully understand and is helped by the blind man to do so.

Fanickz (1) talks about this issue and his critique are acceptable for this essay. He sees the cathedral as a story of discovery of the self. Though the ...

First this paper considers the primary motivation throughout the action of the play. Both Oedipus and his wife Jocasta express disbelief regarding the validity of both the oracle; and all oracles, and yet they continually endeavor to prove to themselves that the oracle has no power or influence over their lives. Throughout the action of the play, his obsession with discovering the 'truth', leads the reader to assume that he deep within himself there was some doubt regarding his beliefs, thereby resulting in his continual justification of his perceived beliefs. His search for the 'truth' highlighted his ability to ...