"Cathedral" by Raymond Carver

     In the story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver, the narrator says that his wife’s blind friend is going to spend the night at their house. He isn’t happy about man and his blindness unsettles him. The wife met the blind man ten years ago when she was working for him as a reader to the blind in Seattle. The narrator describes his wife’s past, saying that she married her childhood sweetheart and became an officer’s wife. She became unhappy with her life, she tried to commit suicide one night by swallowing pills, but she survived. She and the blind man kept in touch by sending audiotapes back and forth to each other throughout her marriage, and she told everything to the blind man on tapes.


      Before they meet the friend the wife reminds him that the blind man’s wife, Beulah, just died and says to welcome the blind man into their home. The narrator inappropriately asks if Beulah was “Negro,”and her response was asking if the narrator was drunk. She then tells him more about Beulah. Beulah became the blind man’s reader after the narrator’s wife stopped working for him, and they eventually got married and unfortunately after eight years she died from cancer. The narrator thinks how awful it must have been for Beulah to know that her husband could never look at her.


        The narrator’s wife goes to pick up the blind man at the train station as the narrator waits at the house. When they arrive, he watches his wife laughing and talking with the blind man as she leads him by the arm to the house and is shocked that the blind man has a full beard. They are introduced to each other and we learn that the blind man’s name is Robert. They sit down for dinner and eat, not speaking, awkwardly until they finish. After dinner, they go back to the living room to drink more scotch where the wife and Robert talk about things that have happened to them in the past ten years, while the narrator occasionally tries to join in. He learns that Robert and Beulah had run an Amway distributorship and that Robert is a ham radio operator. The wife later goes upstairs to change clothes and is gone for quite awhile. The narrator then offers Robert some pot, and they smoke a joint. The wife joins them when she comes back saying she’s going to just sit with them on the couch with her eyes closed, but instead falls asleep. At this time the narrator changes the channel and asks Robert if he wants to go to bed, but Robert decides to stay up so they can talk some more. They begin to watch a program about the Middle Ages on television. The narrator asks Robert whether he has any idea what a cathedral looks like. Robert says he doesn’t and asks the narrator to describe one. The narrator tries, but he knows he doesn’t do a very good job. Robert asks him if he’s religious, and the narrator says he doesn’t believe in anything his reason for not describing the cathedral is because cathedrals are meaningless for him.


        Robert asks the narrator to find a piece of paper and pen, he and the narrator sit around the coffee table, and Robert tells the narrator to draw a cathedral. He puts his hand over the narrator’s hand, following the movement of the pen. The narrator draws and draws, getting wrapped up in what he’s doing. His wife wakes up and asks what’s going on and Robert answers that they’re drawing a cathedral. The wife doesn’t understand and they continue to draw the cathedral with their eyes closed and he goes through an experience that he knows he is in his home, but he feels like he is nowhere. In the end he doesn’t open his eyes to the picture and keeps his eyes closed.


       The story was really interesting and enjoying to read. You learn a lesson from this story and you realize that we are lucky to have all of our senses and to be able to see the beauty of the world as well as not be grateful when there are those who can’t have the same experience. This story was touching and really went in-depth with a lot of meaning when they both drew the cathedral and you can tell there was a lot of emotions and realization of a new way of seeing things. This story was great and it had a great meaning behind it between the blind guy and the narrator.




1. The narrator was not really happy to meet the blind man because the blindness makes him uneasy and that he jealous because he knows that his wife and the blind man has a strong relationship with his wife. His feelings reveal about his character is that he is the type to get jealous over his wife and that he doesn’t like blind people.


2. Yes I do believe it is possible to read the experience the narrator’s wife had of Robert touching her face as an experience of being “seen” by him because it is not uncommon for blind people to want to touch other peoples face to see them, that’s how they can visualize what you look like to them. Writing of poetry relates her desire to be seen because she is expressing her personal thought and ideas which relates to being seen in a way through her words. Her attempted suicide also relates to her desire to be seen because she how her emotions and struggles and what kind of person she can become when unhappy with her life, she is showing the world that she has been through rough patches in her life and was able to pull through and find happiness.


3. What it means to receive another’s friend is that you’re welcoming them with your best behavior and being nice to them. You’re treating them with respect they deserve and not annoying or talk negatively towards them because there your friends or family’s friend.


4. I think that Robert “saw” Beulah because they both were very much in love and where happy with each other. What it means, more deeply, to see and be seen is that Robert not only touched her physically but was also able to see her beauty through her soul by her lovingness towards Robert as well as their happiness together. He was able to see her inner beauty as well through her commitment and love knowing that her husband wouldn’t ever be able to see her physically.


5. The characters smoke pot to relax and just chill out. There is no specific reason they smoke it except that they want to get high and this doesn’t reveal any of their desire because the narrator and Robert just start to talk and stay up watching TV. This could reveal that the desire is that The blind man wants to talk to the narrator now that they are starting to feel comfortable with each other.


6. Churches reveal many things about the culture of God because it is a setting where there are murals, stain glass, carved objects that were considered holy and to tell a story relating to how great God is and this is because churches are beautifully built to show that it’s God’s house as well as have things relating towards religion and God’s culture from the bible.


7. The narrator has a difficulty describing the cathedral because they don’t mean anything to him and because he not a religious person. At the end of the story the narrator draws the cathedral in his head and sees that, but when he keeps his eyes closed he doesn’t feel like he is in anything when he knows he is inside his house in that moment he realizes what it feels like to be blind.

Wondering...

            For this assignment I have chosen a Mario toy and the possibilities I could imagine is it flying through the air as I throw it, bringing pleasure to a little kid with boredom. Other possibilities that could be imagined is being able to sell it for a lot of money to collectors or giving it to a cousin for a birthday present. Wonder is the ability to think outside the box and to expand our way of thinking whether it being to wonder what’s really out their beyond our universe or even as simple as wondering what is going to be for dinner. In our experiences we wonder about a lot of things, for example when I was younger, about 6 years old, I wondered what it would be like to have superpowers to fly anywhere or run as fast as lightening. I wondered about using superhero abilities in sports and how great it would br. In my experiences I expanded my mind and way of thinking when I was wondering about stuff. Also I would approach this assignment as a younger me as imagining the toy to be able to talk or fly like a toy airplane. As a 6 year old I probably would imagine possibilities of my toy being able to have a laser beam or make gold coins because it was Mario. We are less capable of imagination and wonder as we get older because we tend to mature and as we mature our minds start to see things in reality and not as a little kid thinking candy comes from the sky. Our mindset sees things and ideas more logically and less creatively, in the sense of wondering or imagination.  I think St. Gregory of Nyssa once said "Concepts create idols, only wonder knows." means that through expanding our minds we create our idols, but only through wondering can we do that because our way of thinking and our way widening our perception on things. I find this to be true in my experiences because through wondering about things I came with conclusions and able to find facts and ideas of what I like and don’t like such as food, sports and peoples personalities. In the end  we wonder about a lot of things in our lives and that wondering leads to curiosity and being able to widen your thinking.

David Wallace's Speech

          David Foster Wallace idea that life consist of fundamental choices that lie entirely within the human person and allow them to engage the world differently is true because we are all unique. Everyone sees the world differently through their eyes and have choices they need to make on their own.  The choices we make as a human person effect the way we will perceive or see something. Just like he said about the Christian and the atheists, the atheist tried to believe in God even when he was stranded in the cold snow weather. He even says he got on his knees praying to God saying if he would guide him out of the storm and live he would believe in God, but when the Christian is stumbled because the atheists is still alive the atheist said there were Eskimos walking by that helped him.  The atheist didn’t see the Eskimos as a sign from God but as a coincidence while the Christian is shocked because he sees that as a sign or a miracle. We all are our own person where we see and do things in our own way through choices we make within ourselves.

            This idea of thinking is defiantly creditable because again we are all different from one another and the way you and I see something is going to be different. The choices we make within ourselves will ultimately define who we are and what we believe in. The way we see the world is how we make our choices because one person may think our world is corrupt and ruined the other may be thinking our world is fine and dandy, but it is all based on our fundamental choices is the way we see the world. Wallace even says that we automatically think about ourselves, our surrounding and what we choose to do and how to think. We figure out what we want to see because we decide what we want to worship, he also says that there is no such thing as an atheist because we all want to believe in something and worship someone. The thing is we are the ones who get to choose that and when we think for ourselves we choose what we want for us.

            I engage in our default-setting of choice as something we all do every day. We all make decisions for ourselves unconsciously in our default- setting and it happens to me just as Wallace talked about how in every experience we see ourselves as the center and that our needs are real, immediate and urgent. We all  can be taught something, but the way we learn and see it will still be different from someone else. Wallace talks about us thinking for ourselves and it is true everyone always think of what they want first and not consider everyone else and what kind of life they live or struggles they may go through. Choice is how we make decisions and how we get first impressions of someone without even meeting them. Choice is something we can’t be taught, but can be influenced. Meaning, when Wallace talked about going to the grocery store at a time where there’s a lot of others he says that they are all their with the same mind set to get a little shopping done after work like you (student) are when you come back from a long day at work. People can make similar choices to others as well as have influenced ideas such as getting some shopping after work because you see, like others, that it’s a convenient time.

            The question “how would I like to engage this choice” is something difficult to answer because my default-setting unconsciously makes decision that I like and make me the center. If I could go against it or train myself I would like to not only think of myself as the center but for others who are in need of help. No matter what we are all hardwired to a default-setting as a way we think and automatically see our needs first. Even if we are trying to help someone we still choose to think of our self first and how making a choice to help someone will affect us I a good or bad way. Wallace whole idea, in my opinion, is that he is trying to say that we should all train our default-setting of thinking of ourselves as the center of our experiences and that in the end true freedom involves attention, awareness, effort and discipline to truly care about others and be able to sacrifice for them over and over even though our alternative is unconsciousness and default-setting of thinking.

            While Wallace was talking there were people who laughed, chuckled and clapped at his speech at time where he was being ironic, or even challenging the way they engage the world. The people clapped when he  pretty much is insulting them because he used experience that they all could relate to and had a shared experience with. Wallace was insulting the bad and irritating experiences such as grocery shopping and even traffic. The people saw what he said relatable to what they have done before or have heard about. In his speech Wallace was using relatable experiences to get people to understand what he was trying to convey or see in his speech. He wanted everyone listening to be able to see and say “oh yea that’s happened to me” or “oh I really didn’t think I did that when I’m in traffic but I guess I do”. Wallace was just trying to share with everyone how they engage the world and what they may do unconsciously with their default-setting way of thinking. In the end his speech was great and made a lot of sense especially using experiences that everyone could relate to and thinks about from the way he presented it.

Caligla Answers!

1.     Camus demonstrates Caligulas heart through making him want the impossible and go beyond our limits. Camus makes Caligulas desire something that he or no one else can never have or receive and this is the moon. At first when your reading you think Caligulas is gone because of the death of his sister because the First Partricans talk about Caligulas being in love Drusilla maybe even more than brotherly  and that he may be feeling affects from it like the First Partrican did when his wife died. As you read further, later you find out that when Helicon is talking to Caligulas that the reason he was gone was because he says “Yes, I wanted the Moon.” (Caligula, 7). Caligulas desired happiness by trying to get the moon which in the end is impossible and he pushed his limits by not sleeping which is also impossible

 

2.     The Patricians viewed Caligulas as someone who is young and blinded from responsibility to be where he needs to be as well as thinking that women distract him. An example is when Helicon says “ so you think that there’s a girl behind it?” and First Patrician responds by saying “What else should there be?” (Caligula, 4) implying yes it was because of a woman. They see him as a misfit and that he needs to be taught or reasoned with. The Patricians view his heart as someone with no  expectation of happiness because of the death of Drusilla as well as someone who doesn’t make themselves because they see him as young, misfit and ignorant. Helicon views Caligulas as a tired and determined guy and views his heart as someone with unlimited desires such as wanting the moon and someone expects happiness as well. Caligulas says “That’s why I want the moon, or happiness, or external life- something,” (Caligula, 8) which shows how helicon views Caligulas happiness and limits. I agree with the Helicons view of Caligulas and his heart because he actually talked to him and the others didn’t get to know him or the real reason for why he was gone.

The 10 uses of a pen?

A pen has many factors to it and it has many shapes to it such as being a click pen, a pen with a cap, a pen where you twist and can use. Pens come in different shapes and sizes such as portable small pens or oversized gift pens. Whatever the kind of pen you have it does many things that we use everyday:

1. we write letters with a pen, whether its a good letter or a bad we use a pen

2. we use it to bite on when we are nervous on a test or because we are hungry

3. we use a pen to scratch our heads in class

4. we use a pen to make a friend or talk to a pretty girl by offering it

5. we use our pen to sign contracts for business as well as to write history

6. we use a pen to poke or throw at people for their attention

7. we use a pen to sign in to work or even get paid because of the signature

8. we use a pen play word puzzles on a plane

9. we use a pen to express who we are by using different colors

10. one more way we use a pen is to annoy people with when we are bored whether its clicking, tapping or drumming with them

What my happiness consist of?

My blog name is JR360 and I would like to share things I do that make me happy. I love to be active in sports and to work out at the gym because it is the greatest feeling when you are pushing yourself the limits to excel in getting stronger and fit as well as succeeding in your sport. This makes me happy because I love to push myself. I love the feeling after I work out at the gym or after I finish practicing a sport as a sense of accomplishment that I gave it my all and am later rewarded with aches and soreness as a job well done. The sports that I play are Lacrosse, Swimming, and Diving, these sports all make me happy because they are all something that I like to do. Swimming makes me happy because it’s a sport that is not only solo and the only thing you have to beat is time or as a team member in the relays. Swimming is also a calm sport where when you are stressed or need time to think you can swim some laps. The next sport that makes me happy is diving because it is a mental and physical sport where you have to push your limits and fears in order to progress in your tricks and the sport. It makes me happy when I have beat my fear of the what if on the board and be able to do a new trick or even perfect a trick that I have already mastered. Most of all diving makes me happy because of the support and wisdom from my coach and to overcome fear. The last sport that makes me happy is lacrosse because it is every sport combined into one and it’s so much fun. This sport is such an adrenaline rush as soon as the whistle blows that the energy and excitement you feel makes you push harder and play longer. Lacrosse is such a great sport where you can have fun as well as let a little frustration out if you feel stressed. Sports make me happy because they calm you and they help release anger until you are happy again and in doing sports it makes me happy. Other things I do to make me happy are hanging out with friends and having a good time with them whether it’s going out or just chilling at someone’s house. My friends make me happy because they are people I trust and can be myself around. My family also makes me happy because I know that they have my best interest in mind all the time. I can tell them anything and they would know how to help me. My family loves me unconditionally and I know they will always be there for me. The last thing that makes me happy is traveling; I love to travel and experience new places, seeing things that I have never seen before. Traveling makes me happy because I love to be active and see new things, traveling relaxes me and makes me feel a part of the world as well as an adventure.