I feel that the experience at the end is also a spiritual awakening because the blind man asks if bub believes in anything and he says no, and that’s why he has no connection with the cathedral. The blind man in my opinion is a believer and that’s why their touching hands gives bub his first insight into something greater than what is right in front of him. Because he has eyes he only previously ever saw what was right in front of him, where as the blind man had a deeper perspective into life that bub briefly accessed through the drawing. It also is a beautiful representation of how we find god in art because it allows us to connect with others who understand things we don’t and therefor connect to something greater. Of coarse you’re not allowed to talk about that as a teacher today.
O.K. I saw where you said people think he is prejudiced. I think he's jealous that his wife has shared so much with this man and that she admires the blind man. Bub seems insecure and guarded.
I dont mean to be offtopic but does someone know of a way to log back into an Instagram account?? I was dumb lost the password. I would appreciate any assistance you can give me!
@Callen Cory I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site through google and im in the hacking process atm. Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will get back to you later with my results.
Thank you so much for making this video! I'm a norwegian student and I'm supposed to write an essay where I give a character analysis of the narrator (Bub) and this video really helped :)
That was a great analysis. I didn't have to read this for any assignment, I discovered the story by accident. The ending left me puzzled and I couldn't figure it out. I had to have someone tell me and found this video. It all makes sense now. Thank you.
I dont think Bob is a jerk, I understand him and consider him as an ordinary man, almost as a prototype of a man. He is a bit tired with his life as we often are, and cynical and skeptical. He is in his house, but outside of everything else. He has shallow contact with his wife, he gets not too much pleasure on his work. In a way his life is over. Everybody else seems to have many meaningful and big things in their lives. And then comes this blind man and he feels uncomfortable with him because of his blindness and the fact that this fellow is much more friend with his wife than he is. The blind man seems to mean quite a lot to her. He feels left outside. In the end he finds the connction with the blind man and seems to get away from his personal prison.
I started reading Raymond Carver when I was an undergrad at SU. He was on the staff; unfortunately, I couldn't take any of his classes. He stopped teaching because of he was diagnosed with cancer. However, one of my professors was his friend and he had us read this stories and talk about them. Cathedral is a very uplifting story for both one. They learn how to see.
I like to think of David Foster Wallace's "This is Water" when thinking about this story when I read/teach it. The narrator--or Bub--has been going through life on the default setting. Everything is about him and the world revolves around him. He cannot empathize with his fellow human beings. When he closes his eyes to draw the Cathedral, he has an epiphany moment which is, "This is what it is like to see the world from a different perspective."
When I was working in London, I would attend church at the Westminster Abby. Now that was a Cathedral! BTW, I was friends with a blind person when I was stationed in Germany. He too was a ham radio operator. English 1302 San Antonio College
Good question! Usually, including a counter argument means including a point that seems to go against your own argument. If you argue that "Bub" changes, for example, than a counter argument would be that Bub cannot change in such a short time or that he was high and drunk, so this drawing experience doesn't count as real change. You admit to a flaw in your argument. Ex. "Some would say that Bub's epiphany is false because he took drugs before the experience, but . . ." Does this help?
regarding around 2:30 "the breakthrough moment", I can relate to this. I'm not the least bit religious, many say I'm atheist... I rather more prefer "agnostic" but that's neither here nor there. When I was in the navy we made a port stop in Venice (actually in Trieste, but it's a short train ride to Venice) and I got to tour the Basilica De San Marcos, and I was awestruck. The building is gorgeous, opulent, and humbling all at once and I've not seen it's like since.
Rebecca, I love your channel & literary analysis videos. Thank you for sharing your insights and supporting deeper arts appreciation. I discovered Raymond Carver from a poem I read a few years ago ("Locking Yourself Out") and felt instantly enamored, though I've come to learn he was a very complicated and at times rather ugly man in his life. Still, I appreciate his writing & stories. "Cathedral" is iconic. The character/narrator reminds me of Archie Bunker & Clint Eastwood in the film "Gran Torino." IMO, the James Naughton reading is the best 🙌. I just realized that all of this vulnerability and character breakthrough stuff comes only after the men have gotten drunk and high all night. Do you think that drugs play a critical role in the story? That would be my starting point for a thesis in your class-something about drugs, Communion, spirituality, intoxication, toxic masculinity & brotherhood. (I always have a hard time condensing my ideas into a single serving statement to launch an essay.) @SixMinuteScholar
How sweet! The beauty of the story makes me glow. :-) Glad you feel that you understand the story. You might think of ideas beyond mine, too. Feel free to post them.
Dear Professor, your videos have helped me so much! I'd like to ask you a question. In the beginning you said that most people get the analysis wrong. What do most people think its about?
Thank you for your explanation! I thought the story might be a little more intimate (sexual) than what you are saying. I am researching Raymond Carver and the more I read the more I appreciate his intellect.
I believe at some point Bub's wife realized it's futile to share some things with him, since he's known to dismiss her poetry, and possibly more so. No doubt this has developed a gap between the pair, something which may very well not exist with her more receptive blind friend. And on that note, I wonder if Carver wanted to make a point on how the blind man does seem more receptive to the world despite his impairment, while Bub has remained so self-insulated for so long.
I have a question and it would be great if you could help me out. I am doing a character analysis of the character Bub in "Cathedral". And I am supposed to do a counter argument. Would writing about the title cathedral a counter argument for a character analysis essay? Or should I pick something about the character? And if not, what would you recommend? Thank you so much!
It was the 50s and people got married out of necessity and strong heteronormative traditions. It does say something IMHO that Bub is open enough to entertain his wife's desires and houseguest. He could've bailed. Or maybe that's also an important cultural aspect of the time & place -hospitality values and whatnot. The thing is though that Bub's revelation takes place privately, internally. It's hard to know how much this moment was truly shared in some ways. I guess if he momentarily glimpsed the truth of oneness and consciousness in Being, then that's all that matters.
i liked it, because it really shows a change. guys a dick through the whole story and looking at the reader with side long glances judging everyone except himself. the end is the only time he is actually being himself, in the moment, connecting with someone. i think it could be done better but you don't need the freeze frame 80's movie "Then Bub went on to be a better man, Robert dies 5 years later and Bub and his wife named their firstborn Robert and their daughter Beluah", the whole story is ambiguous enough that the ending doesn't need all that detail. i think it does the job
Bub goes from small minded assumptions against blind people to an intimate experience with Robert which is really transformative. Once he experiences the epiphany of the cathedral drawing, we see the beginnings of a new man who's dropped his prejudice and now has empathy where there was none. By the end of the story, we can even imagine 'Bub' doing nice things for the blind man. Like, for all we know, maybe the next day he took the blind man to the barber shop to get his ridiculous full-beard shaven off. Or perhaps the husband mightv'e done the blind man the favor of getting him a stick and seeing eye dog, like the blind people he knew from movies. We may never know the extent of Bub's evolution into a more connected and more caring person. But it is clearly significant. We can even imagine--after sharing the drawing experience--that Bub wouldv'e kept in touch with the blind man, independent of his wife. There's every possibility that the two men wouldv'e made it a point to hang out again, whether that meant Bub inviting the blind man back for another visit or Bub instead traveling out to see the blind man. This is something that wouldv'e been unthinkable before he met his wife's blind man and experienced such psychic and emotional growth. So ironically, we can say it's 'Bub' who's 'seen the light' and we can imagine him staying connected---as long as the husband first convinces the blind man to purchase some dark sun glasses so he's not forced for a second time to endure those creepy, independently on-the-roam eyes again, with their milky irises. God, it's too much. This was a beautiful story.
SixMinuteScholar My interpretation is that this story was about homosexuality and coming out of the closet. I found out about this when I was writing an essay review, and I wrote, " And the imagery of the story continued to rise until it reached an orgasm."
🤣 there's certainly a climax in the story, enhanced symbolically by the grand cathedrals. I don't think that men being in touch with their emotions and humanity has any implications of homosexuality tho. Actually, that sounds more in line with ideas of classic homophobic masculinity that sever genuine connections between people.
I feel that the experience at the end is also a spiritual awakening because the blind man asks if bub believes in anything and he says no, and that’s why he has no connection with the cathedral. The blind man in my opinion is a believer and that’s why their touching hands gives bub his first insight into something greater than what is right in front of him. Because he has eyes he only previously ever saw what was right in front of him, where as the blind man had a deeper perspective into life that bub briefly accessed through the drawing. It also is a beautiful representation of how we find god in art because it allows us to connect with others who understand things we don’t and therefor connect to something greater. Of coarse you’re not allowed to talk about that as a teacher today.
I love how you read the story!
O.K. I saw where you said people think he is prejudiced. I think he's jealous that his wife has shared so much with this man and that she admires the blind man. Bub seems insecure and guarded.
I dont mean to be offtopic but does someone know of a way to log back into an Instagram account??
I was dumb lost the password. I would appreciate any assistance you can give me!
@Zahir Ivan instablaster :)
@Callen Cory I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site through google and im in the hacking process atm.
Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will get back to you later with my results.
@Callen Cory it did the trick and I finally got access to my account again. Im so happy!
Thanks so much you really help me out !
@Zahir Ivan No problem =)
Thank you so much for making this video! I'm a norwegian student and I'm supposed to write an essay where I give a character analysis of the narrator (Bub) and this video really helped :)
That was a great analysis. I didn't have to read this for any assignment, I discovered the story by accident. The ending left me puzzled and I couldn't figure it out. I had to have someone tell me and found this video. It all makes sense now. Thank you.
I dont think Bob is a jerk, I understand him and consider him as an ordinary man, almost as a prototype of a man. He is a bit tired with his life as we often are, and cynical and skeptical. He is in his house, but outside of everything else. He has shallow contact with his wife, he gets not too much pleasure on his work. In a way his life is over. Everybody else seems to have many meaningful and big things in their lives. And then comes this blind man and he feels uncomfortable with him because of his blindness and the fact that this fellow is much more friend with his wife than he is. The blind man seems to mean quite a lot to her. He feels left outside. In the end he finds the connction with the blind man and seems to get away from his personal prison.
I started reading Raymond Carver when I was an undergrad at SU. He was on the staff; unfortunately, I couldn't take any of his classes. He stopped teaching because of he was diagnosed with cancer. However, one of my professors was his friend and he had us read this stories and talk about them. Cathedral is a very uplifting story for both one. They learn how to see.
What’s amazing is that nobody understands what a cathedral is even the guy drawing it and we all remain blind about energy
Thank you professor we are currently reading the story and this review gives me a deeper understanding and puts things in perspective.
I like to think of David Foster Wallace's "This is Water" when thinking about this story when I read/teach it. The narrator--or Bub--has been going through life on the default setting. Everything is about him and the world revolves around him. He cannot empathize with his fellow human beings. When he closes his eyes to draw the Cathedral, he has an epiphany moment which is, "This is what it is like to see the world from a different perspective."
When I was working in London, I would attend church at the Westminster Abby. Now that was a Cathedral! BTW, I was friends with a blind person when I was stationed in Germany. He too was a ham radio operator.
English 1302
San Antonio College
Good question! Usually, including a counter argument means including a point that seems to go against your own argument. If you argue that "Bub" changes, for example, than a counter argument would be that Bub cannot change in such a short time or that he was high and drunk, so this drawing experience doesn't count as real change. You admit to a flaw in your argument. Ex. "Some would say that Bub's epiphany is false because he took drugs before the experience, but . . ." Does this help?
regarding around 2:30 "the breakthrough moment", I can relate to this. I'm not the least bit religious, many say I'm atheist... I rather more prefer "agnostic" but that's neither here nor there. When I was in the navy we made a port stop in Venice (actually in Trieste, but it's a short train ride to Venice) and I got to tour the Basilica De San Marcos, and I was awestruck. The building is gorgeous, opulent, and humbling all at once and I've not seen it's like since.
Rebecca, I love your channel & literary analysis videos. Thank you for sharing your insights and supporting deeper arts appreciation.
I discovered Raymond Carver from a poem I read a few years ago ("Locking Yourself Out") and felt instantly enamored, though I've come to learn he was a very complicated and at times rather ugly man in his life. Still, I appreciate his writing & stories. "Cathedral" is iconic. The character/narrator reminds me of Archie Bunker & Clint Eastwood in the film "Gran Torino." IMO, the James Naughton reading is the best 🙌.
I just realized that all of this vulnerability and character breakthrough stuff comes only after the men have gotten drunk and high all night. Do you think that drugs play a critical role in the story?
That would be my starting point for a thesis in your class-something about drugs, Communion, spirituality, intoxication, toxic masculinity & brotherhood. (I always have a hard time condensing my ideas into a single serving statement to launch an essay.) @SixMinuteScholar
Wonderful!!! Thank you... I loved this story, and your analysis has broadened my interpretation of it!
thank your dear professor, I have this Short story in exam, you helped me much
Great interpretation! I'm writing a short essay on this story,which I love! I pretty much got the same read, but your video gave me some new ideas.
Thanks! Sounds like your essay will be excellent!
How sweet! The beauty of the story makes me glow. :-) Glad you feel that you understand the story. You might think of ideas beyond mine, too. Feel free to post them.
What would be a good thesis for this story
Same
I LIKE it! Very true. He's been stuck inside himself, but now he "sees"!
You are very sweet and also educated. Thank you for your explanations. It was very helpful.
I'm writing an essay on this story so thanks for posting this Rebecca.
One may say Bub had an eye-opening experience
"It's like nothing I've ever experienced before." I mean they were stoned and drunk so I'm sure that added to Bub's "awakening." Great story though.
I'm glad this helped! Good luck with your essay.
Thank you so much your helping me through College... your awesome
Thanks! I am so glad these vids are helpful!
Thank you for your explanations wish I had you for a teacher. Am pretty sure I can learn a lot in your class
Thanks your videos was amazing !!
It was very helpful
The guy who called himself Robert, he's blind , but he can sees literally while the Narrator can sees figuratively.
Dear Professor, your videos have helped me so much! I'd like to ask you a question. In the beginning you said that most people get the analysis wrong. What do most people think its about?
Yes, most first-time readers think the story is about Bub gaining respect for the blind. I agree with you; he is insecure and guarded!
thank you i was actually trying to piece this together you just gave me a piece i need to make connections.
Thank you for your explanation! I thought the story might be a little more intimate (sexual) than what you are saying. I am researching Raymond Carver and the more I read the more I appreciate his intellect.
I believe at some point Bub's wife realized it's futile to share some things with him, since he's known to dismiss her poetry, and possibly more so. No doubt this has developed a gap between the pair, something which may very well not exist with her more receptive blind friend. And on that note, I wonder if Carver wanted to make a point on how the blind man does seem more receptive to the world despite his impairment, while Bub has remained so self-insulated for so long.
It's like an out of body exsperience without going up the climax is!!
I have a question and it would be great if you could help me out. I am doing a character analysis of the character Bub in "Cathedral". And I am supposed to do a counter argument. Would writing about the title cathedral a counter argument for a character analysis essay? Or should I pick something about the character? And if not, what would you recommend?
Thank you so much!
I don't know what I means. All I know is that it still brings tears to my eyes.
This is such a beautiful prefessor! do you teach here in san diego? Thanks for the explanation. I did not get the end of it, now I got it.
Wow that was a great analysis! thank you so much!
You're welcome!
Cool! Hope you enjoy the channel!
Thanks. I was writing my essay and got stuck. This really helps.
If his experience with the blind man was the first time he connected with a human being, it makes me wonder how Bub got a wife.
It was the 50s and people got married out of necessity and strong heteronormative traditions. It does say something IMHO that Bub is open enough to entertain his wife's desires and houseguest. He could've bailed. Or maybe that's also an important cultural aspect of the time & place -hospitality values and whatnot. The thing is though that Bub's revelation takes place privately, internally. It's hard to know how much this moment was truly shared in some ways. I guess if he momentarily glimpsed the truth of oneness and consciousness in Being, then that's all that matters.
I'm glad! Good luck!
Yes it does help alot! Thank you so much.!
Awesome
Carver wasnt saying anything that ending really is too abstract in my opinion
i liked it, because it really shows a change. guys a dick through the whole story and looking at the reader with side long glances judging everyone except himself. the end is the only time he is actually being himself, in the moment, connecting with someone. i think it could be done better but you don't need the freeze frame 80's movie "Then Bub went on to be a better man, Robert dies 5 years later and Bub and his wife named their firstborn Robert and their daughter Beluah", the whole story is ambiguous enough that the ending doesn't need all that detail. i think it does the job
Bub goes from small minded assumptions against blind people to an intimate experience with Robert which is really transformative. Once he experiences the epiphany of the cathedral drawing, we see the beginnings of a new man who's dropped his prejudice and now has empathy where there was none.
By the end of the story, we can even imagine 'Bub' doing nice things for the blind man. Like, for all we know, maybe the next day he took the blind man to the barber shop to get his ridiculous full-beard shaven off. Or perhaps the husband mightv'e done the blind man the favor of getting him a stick and seeing eye dog, like the blind people he knew from movies.
We may never know the extent of Bub's evolution into a more connected and more caring person. But it is clearly significant. We can even imagine--after sharing the drawing experience--that Bub wouldv'e kept in touch with the blind man, independent of his wife. There's every possibility that the two men wouldv'e made it a point to hang out again, whether that meant Bub inviting the blind man back for another visit or Bub instead traveling out to see the blind man. This is something that wouldv'e been unthinkable before he met his wife's blind man and experienced such psychic and emotional growth.
So ironically, we can say it's 'Bub' who's 'seen the light' and we can imagine him staying connected---as long as the husband first convinces the blind man to purchase some dark sun glasses so he's not forced for a second time to endure those creepy, independently on-the-roam eyes again, with their milky irises. God, it's too much.
This was a beautiful story.
You kinda sound like Bub, mate. Go in peace. 🤍
@@megancombs6276 I might be.
OMG ur videos are so helpful ... SUBSCRIBE
I really do love you tho. Thanks
Damn I thought this was real
After wathcing this i may end up with an A in my class
This is every guy's girlfriend's analysis of this story.
SixMinuteScholar My interpretation is that this story was about homosexuality and coming out of the closet. I found out about this when I was writing an essay review, and I wrote, " And the imagery of the story continued to rise until it reached an orgasm."
🤣 there's certainly a climax in the story, enhanced symbolically by the grand cathedrals. I don't think that men being in touch with their emotions and humanity has any implications of homosexuality tho. Actually, that sounds more in line with ideas of classic homophobic masculinity that sever genuine connections between people.