Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral”

Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral”

Please answer the questions below in a 3 – 5 page paper. Your essay should have a thesis statement (your main argument) at the end of your introductory paragraph. You will need to have body paragraphs that have topic sentences that argue different points of your thesis and quotes from the story (at least two per body paragraph) which you analyze as evidence, and you need to have a conclusion that sums up your argument.

Questions:

It seems that the narrator in Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” (Links to an external site.) is very immature and even racist in the beginning of the story. While he is able to change by the end of the story, the beginning part is somewhat perplexing. Why does the narrator act the way he does?

Choose one of these three conditions: 1. Narcissism, 2. Introversion, or 3. Antisocial Disorder, and argue that the reason the narrator is hard to deal with in the beginning of the story is that he has that condition.

You may need to do research on the disorder, so try to find articles in Psychology Today or Wikipedia to help you make your claim. Please remember to use evidence from the story. Also keep in mind that he seems “cured” of that condition at the end of the story.