Papers annotated bibliography
Bethea, Arthur, F. Technique, and Sensibility in the Fiction and Poetry of Raymond Carver. Routledge, 2013.
The book by Bethea analyses Carver’s short stories in the stylistic structure of the world-vision between love and Cathedral. However, the characters in the later narrations lack intimate communication as it is in earlier stories. Additionally, Bethea discusses the ironic use of Cathedral that is a Christian reference, but described in a “small way.” The narrator’s ideology lacks a religious sense, and by the end, the story depicts limited humankind redemption in the current world. Although the story is not merely redemption, the narrator seems lonely, left out, and uneasy when his wife seems comfortable with the blind man instead of him.
Bullock, Chris J. “From Castle To Cathedral: The Architecture Of Masculinity In Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral.” The Journal Of Men’s Studies, vol 2, no. 4, 1994, pp. 343-351. Men’s Studies Press, LLC, doi:10.3149/jms.0204.343.
In this journal, Bullock describes the story of Cathedral as an issue of masculinity. He pictures Carver’s narration to the castle metaphor. The narrator seems to be locked up in his metaphorical house of a castle where he spends his time separate from the real world. The narrator is also against the blind man invading his castle. From the time his wife invites the blind man to their home, the narrator struggles with his masculinity issue. By the end of the narration, he finally reconnects with the emotional world by breaking down his castle of masculinity.
Carver, Raymond. Cathedral. 1981.
The Cathedral is a short story among others by Carver that demonstrates the unease situation of the narrator, and especially for the appearance for the visiting of the blind man who was a long-time friend and employer of his wife. Carver is uneasy with the man’s blindness and mainly because of his past relationship with his wife. Carver judged the blind man, depending on what he had seen on TV shows, which was a stereotype. Robert, the blind man, later becomes an eye-opener to the narrator, where finally they connect by drawing the Cathedral, and the narrator understands the blinds man’s point of view.
Gale, Cengage L. Study Guide for Raymond Carver’s Cathedral. Detroit: Gale, Cengage Learning, n.d. Print.
The study guide by Gale demonstrates Carver as someone isolated from the real world by several factors. First, he is an alcoholic who lacks a connection with his wife and the blind visitor. He struggles to describe the Cathedral to Robert, who highly depends on other people’s visions to understand the real world. At some point, his wife attempts suicide due to her loneliness, yet Carver should be her companion. The blind man is the only one who seems to have a lasting human connection in the narration.
Kelly, Lionel et al. “The Short Stories Of Raymond Carver: A Critical Study.” The Modern Language Review, vol 93, no. 1, 1998, p. 208. JSTOR, doi:10.2307/3733677.
The journal by Kelly features Carver as a minimalist. He pictures Carver’s narrations as a strange and frightening status of the post-industrial status of the low-rent population in America. Carvers’ relationships with his wife and the blind visitor are based on minimalism, depicted by his loneliness and castle captivity. Although, in his later works, Carver shines a light to new realism through narration transformation. The narrator shows how the blind man understood the real world by the narration of his wife. Robert was so interested in the Cathedral building’s clarity from the TV description and his friend’s narration.
Runyon, Randolph. Reading Raymond Carver. Syracuse, N.Y: Syracuse University Press, 1992. Print.
In his book, Runyon analyses Carver’s narrations of the Cathedral. He views Carver as a meta-fictional writer who is more self-reflective than a minimalist, due to the intra-textually in his narratives. He argues that his narrations maintain their individuality as well as sullen distinctively from the readers’ existence at first. However, his narrations still communicate effectively to the readers. That is evident where he uses transformation or change in state, which indicates that nothing is permanent, while much can change within a short period. The narrator alters his perception concerning bind people and their visitor Robert.
Williams, Gary. “Raymond Carver.” Western American Literature, vol 32, no. 1, 1997, pp. 25-31. Project Muse, doi:10.1353/wal.1997.0042.
The article by William demonstrates a precise biography of the author Carver. He briefly describes some critiques of his work in the Cathedral story transformation. The story Cathedral has a single night setting, but lots of transformation occurs within the same night. The narrator changes the story setting from one city to another within the same night.