A thoughtful response to Raymond Carver's "Cathedral"

The story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver is about one man's understanding and acceptance of a blind man. The narrator represents the story's dominant theme of overcoming prejudice of the blind through personal experience as well as mutual respect. The narrator, who remains nameless, holds deeply unfounded beliefs and stereotypes of what a blind person should be, yet over a relatively short period of time he develops a bond with the blind man, whom at first …

…to draw the cathedral for Robert he gets caught up in drawing as his fingers follow along. "I put in windows with arches. I drew flying buttresses. I hung great doors. I couldn't stop. The TV station went off the air. I put down the pen and closed and opened my fingers" (239). The narrator connects with Robert and as a result he lets go completely of all his prejudices and preconceived notions about the blind.