Names and Titles (Blog #3)

The importance of names and titles in R. Carver's "Cathedral" is highlighted in B. Qualls' essay "A Narrator's Blindness... ."


A particularly fascinating section of the story is when the narrator refuses to name his wife's first husband, "Her officer," saying "why should he have a name? he was the childhood sweetheart, and what more does he want?" (36).


Here he clearly demonstrates his jealousy of the men in his wife's past, including Robert (whom he labels "The blind man"), perhaps because he wishes he was able to connect with her the way others have.


Ironically enough, the narrator fails to mention his own name. This omission is no mistake on Carver's part, and demonstrates that by warding off intimacy with others by using cliché lines and distancing titles ("my wife," "the blind man"), the narrator fails to develop a sense of his own self. It is not until he and Robert are on the floor drawing out a cathedral that he drops his guard, lets go of control, and sees.