Keilana Hoffstetter Essays - Literature, Fiction, Film, Cathedral

Keilana Hoffstetter Professor Terry ENC 1102 November 7, 2017 Psychological Blindness and The Human Condition Throughout life, a plethora of people become psychologically blind, consumed by preconceived thoughts of the reality in which they reside. This results in an inconsistency not only in their everyday routine but their relationships as well. The societal pressures to achieve the ideal life results in turmoil, distress, and depression in an individual who is struggling to achieve these established goals. In Raymond Carver's "Cathedral", the narrator is plagued with the inevitable human condition of monotony. This plague causes him to become blind to all of the aspects of his life, leaving him to bear a rather unwelcoming reality. This theme of blindness is saturated throughout Carver's short story, leaving the audience to question their own psychological blindness. It is when an individual looks beyond oneself and perceives reality not as a curse from God, but as a new opportunity to resurrect the latent meaning of love and acceptance in a dissociative society, then they can live an optimistic, fulfilled life. In Carver's "Cathedral", the audience can conclude that the narrator is an individual who lives a monotonous existence, haunted by the looming fear that he is not sufficient enough. This is evident in his marriage. The narrator is devoted to his wife in regard to unconditional love, however, he is blind to her attempts to connect with her psychologically. He is too preoccupied with providing a stable, monotonous environment that acts as a security for him. This reoccurring theme of blindness erects tribulations that cause their dissociative relationship and fuels the insecurities that reside in the latent part of their mind. It can be assumed that this security acts as a defense mechanism against the looming depressive attributions of their marriage. Both are unhappy people, as seen when his wife tries to commit suicide in her first marriage, as seen in the quote "She got to feeling she couldn't go it another step. She went in and swallowed all the pills and capsules in the medici ne chest and washed them down with a bottle of gin But instead of dying, she got sick. She threw up."(33). Likewise, it is also seen when the narrator makes abrupt, rude statements throughout the text, as seen in quote "I'd always thought dark glasses were a must for the blind. Fact was, I wish he had a pair." (36). According to a psychological study, "depressed persons were found to emit a higher percentage of negative messages ended to emit more depressive behaviors, including negative mood expressions, negative statements of well-being, negative self-evaluations, and expressions of helplessness." (Basco et al. 184, 185). This depression plagues the narrator's marriage, leaving both husband and wife blind to each other's wants and needs. Likewise, the theme of blindness is evident when the narrator meets his wife's blind friend Robert. He acts on behavior learned from society, instantly attributing blind stereotypes to this man he has never conversed with until this point. Through his demeaning comments, the audience can observe the narrator's blindness towards Robert as a person psychologically. According to the Affective Forecasting study, it can be concluded that "how one thinks she or he may feel in response to the presence of a rival need not necessarily reflect reality." (DeSteno et al. 627). The narrator can only see Roberts physical flaws, thus rendering him to be uncomfortable around this man and judging his every action and word. This can be seen in the quote "Too much white in the iris, for one thing, and the pupils seemed to move around in the sockets without his knowing it or being able to stop it. Creepy." (36). Likewise, the narrator assumes that because Robert is blind, he cannot please or satisfy any women the way she wants to be. This is seen in his statement "Then I found myself thinking what a pitiful life this woman must have led. Imagine a woman who could never see herself as she was seen in the eyes of her loved one."(34). This demeaning behavior correlates with the narrator's insecurities about his own life. Carver makes it known that the narrator's wife has a flourishing psychological relationship with Robert, one that