In the short story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, Bub has a wife who has a blind friend that is spending the night because he is on his way to Connecticut to visit his dead's wife family.
Bub in the beginning of the story seems to be jealous his wife's friend is spending the night. He says they have known each other for ten years. Throughout those ten years they have been sending audio tapes containing their voices. They would talk about their lives and basically what they have been up to. Bub's wife tells him that the last day she worked for the blind man he asked her if he can touch her face and her neck. Bub says "even her neck!", the exclamation point shows that bothers him a little bit or indications he is jealous.
As he begins to explain how they his wife and the blind man met his voice sounded mono toned. He sounded mono toned and calm with all the pauses he made has he talked about how they met. His wife let him listened to a tape the blind man had sent her. While Bub was listening to it , the blind man said his name,"I heard my own name in the mouth of this stranger, this blind man I didn't even know!". It seems to concern Bub that a man he doesn't even know knows his name. This creates some uncertainty and doubt about the blind man. Even though Bub is feeling like this he mocks the blind man by saying "Maybe I could take him bowling", which obviously he wouldn't be able to see where he would throw the ball.
Later on during that day, his wife picked him up and brought him home. The three of them interacted a little bit. His wife had fallen asleep. Both of the men were listening to the television. A camera man was showing Cathedrals from Paris and Italy. Bub decided to ask him if he knew what was the difference of a baptist church and a cathedral. The blind man only stated some informational facts and said he didn't know how actually they looked. Bub tried to describe them but he didn't do such a good job, so the blind man told him to grab paper and a pen to draw a cathedral.
The blind man followed Bub's hand with the pen. Bub did the same as the blind man except his eyes were closed,and when he was done the blind man told him to look at his drawing. Bub kept his eyes closed and didn't open them the only thing he said was "It's really something". When he says this he is basically saying that he has never experienced anything like this. The blind man seems to made him feel another sensation he has never felt before.
n the short story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, Bub has a wife who has a blind friend that is spending the night because he is on his way to Connecticut to visit his dead's wife family.
ReplyDeleteIs Bob’s wife named? If so, use her name. I’m not sure if this meant to be the intro to the paper or just a very brief summary. If it’s meant to be an intro, it comes across a bit abruptly.
“ Bub in the beginning of the story seems to be jealous his wife's friend is spending the night.” Is this a conflict/main conflict? Internal or external? Consider naming.
“Bub says "even her neck!", the exclamation point shows that bothers him a little bit or indications he is jealous. “ True – but I’m not sure what you’re getting at here. Is this meant to be a textual signal? If so, what is the reader supposed to think/with whom should the reader empathize? The jealous husband or the sincere wife?
Watch grammar and syntax and stay in present tense -- “ As he begins to explain how they his wife and the blind man met his voice sounded mono toned” = “As the narrator explains how Bob’s wife and the blind man met, his tone is monotonous.” (Consider also explaining point of view – who’s telling the story? Is the narrator a participant narrator (also a character) or a third person narrator outside the story?
“He sounded mono toned and calm with all the pauses he made has he talked about how they met.” Good observation about the pauses – can you explain how/why they operate as textual hints or signals?
When you’re quoting, avoid simple restatement of the quote: “While Bub was listening to it , the blind man said his name,"I heard my own name in the mouth of this stranger, this blind man I didn't even know!". It seems to concern Bub that a man he doesn't even know knows his name.” The sentence following the quote just restates the quote.
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“This creates some uncertainty and doubt about the blind man. Even though Bub is feeling like this he mocks the blind man by saying "Maybe I could take him bowling", which obviously he wouldn't be able to see where he would throw the ball” – true, he wouldn’t. But why/how does it matter that the blind man makes this joke? Does it ally the reader with Bob . . . or likely make the reader dislike Bob for being so rude? Can you explain this uncertainty/doubt and what effect it has on the ideal reader?
“Later on during that day, his wife picked him up and brought him home. The three of them interacted a little bit. His wife had fallen asleep. Both of the men were listening to the television. A camera man was showing Cathedrals from Paris and Italy. Bub decided to ask him if he knew what was the difference of a baptist church and a cathedral. The blind man only stated some informational facts and said he didn't know how actually they looked. Bub tried to describe them but he didn't do such a good job, so the blind man told him to grab paper and a pen to draw a cathedral.” This paragraph contains only summary – too many details. The next and last paragraph, too, offers only summary. Keep it to a minimum.
Thus far, I see hints of reader response analysis, but it’s only beginning to develop. I think bringing in the language of R.R would add a lot and help you ensure you’re doing the kind of analysis the theory calls for. I hope the feedback helps you “fill in the blanks” and dig under the text’s surface.
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