The Motif Of Blindness In The Story Cathedral Essay

Blindness has always been considered a form of physical disability that makes people unable to go about their daily activities. The narrator of the novel, ‘the cathedral’ is one of the people that have held such a stereotype against he blind. He accommodates Robert with the attitude that he is a good for nothing fellow whose work is mainly to sit, listen and eat. However, the narrator is in for a shock, when he realizes that what is in fact thought to be a weakness in the blind is actually a strong point that makes the blind have a deeper sense of the environment. Contrary to what the narrator thought, Robert knows more than he thinks him to know and even understands his wife more than he does. His ability to listen and feel puts Robert at a more advantage and hence acting as a strong point to him. From the story, we realize that the motif of blindness has been used to explain an advantage that the blind people have, which has been ignored by those who have sight and simply looking at those without physical sight as disabled.
There is a difference between vision and sight, which has been explained in the novel. It is possible to have sight without vision and vision without sight. Basing on the difference, it is more important to have vision that to have sight because vision gives you a wider look at the situations around. The narrator had sight but he had no vision, yet Robert, had no sight but has no vision. After staying with the narrator for sometime, he realized his weakness and sought to help him. On the other hand, the narrator thought that Robert had issues that he needed help more. As the two gentlemen interact, they engage in conversations where finally Robert gets an opportunity to prove to the narrator that contrary to what he has been thinking, he has a deeper sense of issues than he thinks him to be (Campbell, 1992). Using the image of the cathedral, Robert gives the narrator an opportunity to draw it and notice the difference. While his eyes are closed, he develops a deeper sense of his drawing and realizes how refreshing it is. So deep is he engrossed in his art work that when Robert tells him to open his eyes to look at what he has drawn, he does not open them.
Physical blindness has been used to describe an experience that makes a person connect with his feelings while avoiding external distractions. When the eyes are open, a person is so much exposed to the physical environment that they do not realize the beauty of the imaginary. There is power in imagination, which has the ability to stir up ones emotions, leading to a greater vision. The narrator developed a feeling and an experience he had never had before as he started looking at things in a different dimension. So beautiful was the feeling that he wanted to continue drawing the cathedral with his eyes open. At the end of the story, the author of the book has achieved his intention of making an audience realize that physical disability is not necessarily inability (Raymond, 2001). One can always find something that gives them an advantage over the others and therefore making their lives beautiful.
It is important for people to have a view that is beyond physical blindness and consider other advantages that people have and therefore learning from them. The attitude and perspective of the narrator he had towards the blind changed as he realized the ability that Robert had to see beyond his sight. The book also serves as a lesson to anyone who thinks they are better placed in the society because of their abilities. Every person has something that distinguishes them from the rest and therefore becoming a strong point that enables them to overcome the challenges that come with life. The author stresses on the importance of having the ability to see beyond physical sight and looking at the vision that someone has for life.

Reference list

Campbell, E. (1992). Raymond Carver: a study of the short fiction (Vol. 31). Macmillan Reference USA.
Raymond, E. S. (2001). The cathedral and the bazaar-musings on Linux and open source by an accidental revoltionary (rev. ed.).