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Carver uses cathedrals to represent a secular spirituality in which one can find beauty and meaning in everyday life through simply noticing how miraculous things are. Cathedrals are some of the most ornate and transcendent physical expressions of spirituality, but when the narrator watches a TV program about cathedrals, he finds them unimpressive. Watching the program, the narrator seems bored by the cathedrals and he can’t think of ways to describe them because he doesn’t really notice them at all—to him, they’re just another thing on TV and they have no inherent beauty or meaning. The narrator’s reaction to cathedrals gestures towards his general inability to find meaning or beauty in his life, an attitude that changes after Robert encourages the narrator to draw a cathedral with him. The exercise makes the narrator really notice and think about cathedrals for the first time, and he finds himself moved by them—he thinks they’re “really something,” which is a complete pivot from his former attitude. This isn’t a religious conversion—neither the narrator nor Robert is religious—though the narrator does find himself converted by the cathedrals into a new way of perceiving meaning and beauty in his own life. This is a secular equivalent to spirituality, as spirituality is, for many people, a vehicle for finding meaning in their lives.
Cathedral Quotes in Cathedral
The Cathedral quotes below all refer to the symbol of Cathedral. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Cathedral Quotes
Something about the church and the Middle Ages was on the TV. Not your run-of-the-mill TV fare. I wanted to watch something else. I turned to the other channels. But there was nothing on them, either. So I turned back to the first channel and apologized. “Bub, it’s all right,” the blind man said. “It’s fine with me. Whatever you want to watch is okay. I’m always learning something. Learning never ends. It won’t hurt me to learn something tonight. I got ears,” he said.
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The symbol of the cathedral emerges in this quote, once again introducing the story’s focus on the secular and the sacred. It is telling that the narrator seems reluctant to watch a program on cathedrals in Europe. This coupled with his referring to Catholicism as simply “the church” suggests that the narrator has previously had some experience with religion in his life, and most likely Catholicism. It suggests he used to have at least some religious life, which he has lost or left behind. And, regardless of what’s on the other channels, it is significant that the narrator in the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos
There were times when the Englishman who was telling the thing would shut up, would simply let the camera move around over the cathedrals. Or else the camera would tour the countryside, men in fields walking behind oxen. I waited as long as I could. Then I felt I had to say something. I said, “They’re showing the outside of this cathedral now. Gargoyles. Little statues carved to look like monsters. Now I guess they’re in Italy. Yeah, they’re in Italy. There’s paintings on the walls of this one church.”
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While watching the show, the narrator begins to explain what European cathedrals look like to the blind Robert. The passage implies that the narrator tries to hold off on describing what’s on the screen to Robert, with the implication that the narrator is embarrassed to so directly expose Robert’s disability. That the narrator can’t hold back, though, shows that his regard for Robert’s experience in watching the show outweighs his embarrassment. And it is this that begins to forge a connection with Robert. Robert, after all, isn’t embarrassed about being blind; he doesn’t even wear dark glasses. The narrator’s embarrassment, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo min
“That’s all right, bub,” the blind man said. “Hey, listen. I hope you don’t mind my asking you. Can I ask you something? Let me ask you a simple question, yes or no. I’m just curious and there’s no offense. You’re my host. But let me ask if you are in any way religious? You don’t mind my asking?” I shook my head. He couldn’t see that, though. A wink is the same as a nod to a blind man. “I guess I don’t believe in it. In anything. Sometimes it’s hard. You know what I’m saying?”
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This conversation between Robert and the narrator reveals a key piece of information about the narrator’s state of mind. As someone who likely had experience practicing religion and most likely Catholicism, the narrator now shows himself to be uncertain. He also shows himself to struggle with the issue of faith not only in religion but also in the world around him by saying he doesn’t believe in “anything.” Robert’s empathy and interest in the narrator have been present through the entire story, but here the narrator finally accepts Robert’s unflagging kindness and answers one of Robert’s questions sincerely and fully. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt d
So I began. First I drew a box that looked like a house. It could have been the house I lived in. Then I put a roof on it. At either end of the roof, I drew spires. Crazy. “Swell,” he said. “Terrific. You’re doing fine,” he said. “Never thought anything like this could happen in your lifetime, did you, bub? Well, it’s a strange life, we all know that. Go on now. Keep it up.”
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Here the narrator describes the process of drawing a cathedral for Robert, as Robert holds his own hand over the narrator’s in order to feel the creation of the drawing. The narrator’s previous efforts to describe what the cathedrals look like didn’t succeed, because the narrator was trying to share something that Robert as a blind man couldn’t access. But now the narrator has taken a further step, and has accepted Robert’s suggestion about finding a way that they can share and connect—and in fact they are physically connected, with Robert’s hand held over the narrrator’s. There is some sense Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque pla
“Close your eyes now,” the blind man said to me.
I did it. I closed them just like he said.
“Are they closed?” he said. “Don’t fudge.”
“They’re closed,” I said.
“Keep them that way,” he said. He said, “Don’t stop now. Draw.”
So we kept on with it. His fingers rode my fingers as my hand went over the paper. It was like nothing else in my life up to now.”
Then he said, “I think that’s it. I think you got it,” he said. “Take a look. What do you think?”
But I had my eyes closed. I thought I’d keep them that way for a little longer. I thought it was something I ought to do.
“Well?” he said. “Are you looking?”
My eyes were still closed. I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything.
“It’s really something,” I said.
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The end of the story reveals a changed narrator who marvels at the feeling of fellowship he has experienced while drawing a cathedral with Robert. Throughout the story, the narrator has shown himself to be a lonely and sarcastic person who has trouble connecting with his wife and Robert, but here he is fully in sync with Robert. For the narrator, this is a transformative experience and perhaps makes him feel a faith that he said he had struggled to feel earlier on in his conversation with Robert. Further, notice how the narrator closes his eyes and keeps them closed. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas.
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Cathedral Symbol Timeline in Cathedral
The timeline below shows where the symbol Cathedral appears in Cathedral. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Cathedral
...and he switches between programs indecisively, settling on a program about “the church” and European cathedrals. He apologizes to Robert for his choice, but Robert kindly says that it’s fine with...
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...the program, the narrator realizes that Robert is not able to fully understand what the cathedrals on television are, as he has never seen them. The narrator, who didn’t even want...
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Robert suggests that he and the narrator draw a cathedral together so that Robert can “see” it. The narrator agrees and finds paper and a...
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