Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Cathedral

Why is this a perfect ending to the short?
The ending to this story is where the husband is drawing a cathedral on a piece of paper with the blind man, Robert. Robert of course can't actually see the drawing but he puts his hand on top of the husband's hand as the husband draws the cathedral. What makes this ending so perfect is that the husband didn't like the blind man originally- it seemed like he couldn't stand him. But then the husband tries to explain to Robert what a cathedral looks like (of course after eating, getting several drinks, and smoking a some pot), but the husband couldn't do it. So Robert suggests that the husband draw it for him and when they're done drawing it- Robert says, "I think that's it. I think you got it. Take a look. What do you think?" The husband doesn't answer- he just keeps his eyes closed and the blind man asks again, "Well? Are you looking?" The husband never actually opens his eyes to see what the picture looks like- I swear that he must have been experiencing or thinking it through what it would be like to be blind, and what the cathedral would seem like to a blind person. So the husband ends the story with, "It's really something." If the husband had been speaking I would think there would be a tint of awe in his voice as he spoke and that Robert would be wondering what was going on with the husband. So in actuality, the husband gets a tiny taste of what it must be like to be blind after drawing the cathedral for Robert- only a tiny, tiny taste though...

1 comment:

Ace said...

4) Evidence from the text that supports your insights and not plot summary
5) You avoid summarizing the plot, rather use the plot to illustrate your point.
6