Raymond Carver's preferred method of conveying information to readers in his short story "Cathedral" is entirely consistent with the underlying theme of the impact of alienation and isolation on those who fail to master the art of communicating with others. Carver uses a storytelling technique in which everything that can be learned about the other characters is filtered through the perspective of a narrator who does not fully express himself. Ultimately, "Cathedral" is the story of a man who struggles to connect with other people because he lacks sophisticated communication skills. It is narrated by a man with such limited communication skills that the reader is forced to piece together the necessary information available to the narrator. left aside because the story is told by a storyteller whose lack of expression is the driving force behind his transformation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The story contains a certain level of irony in that it is sometimes difficult to understand what is happening even though the narrator uses simple language and simple vocabulary. Carver seems to be suggesting something here about the power of words to communicate thoughts effectively. Many people assume that a story is more difficult to understand if the writer uses sophisticated vocabulary or engages in metaphorical language or long, complex sentences. Although these elements require greater attention, they would not necessarily make communicating meaning more difficult. To understand is to communicate meaning effectively, and this truism is addressed by the narrator's wife's efforts to communicate more effectively with the blind man: “The blind man made a tape. He sent her the tape. She made a tape. This lasted for years. » Some – perhaps including the narrator – might think that the very idea of ​​communicating remotely with a blind person would be a difficult, if not impossible, undertaking. Even the simplest word choices would fail to communicate any meaning if the narrator's wife had chosen to write letters; or, at best, writing letters would have required someone to be there with the blind man to read them to him. (And that's not even getting into the much deeper realm of how a reader might choose to communicate another's written words!) The narrator's wife may be alienated and isolated from her husband in the having married a poor communicator, but she clearly operates at a higher level than him when it comes to communicating with others. She seeks two-way interaction, even through the one-way medium of recording her missives. Communicating is not just about making the effort, it’s about actually doing it. The narrator clearly defines his difference with his wife on this point when he chooses to turn on the television rather than actively seeking to intensify the level of conversation with the other. visitor. Indeed, the narrator admits that his nightly routine is one in which he "smoke dope and stays awake as long" as he can on his own after his wife has already fallen asleep. The narrator gives little information about why this should be his nightly routine, but we can piece together what is not said with what we learn about him: watching television when there is no having just one other person in the room is an open act of rebellion. . The narrator's decision to watch television when the only other person in the room is blind is nothing.