Why the ending of the cathedral is a perfect ending.

The ending of "The Cathedral" is a perfect ending. During the course of the story, the main character feels awkward and inconvenienced by Robert, the blind man. In the beginning, it is hte idea of a blind man that bothers him, for example, he states,"... His being blind bothered me... A blind man in my house was something I was not looking forward to." The narrator seems to think that because he is blind, Robert will demand special attention and will disrupt the life of the couple. The main character does not know, and does not want to know what it is like to be blind, and would prefer just to think of blind people as inconveniences who should just be left to their own devices.
The blind man can of course tell this, by the way that the main character acts. He is very obviously uncomfortable. The narrator is afraid to communicate with Robert, during dinner they don't talk, rather, they "... ate. [they] scarf, [they] grazed." The conversations are awkward as well, because the husband and wife actively avoid topics involving sight.
At the end of the story, the blind man helps the main character draw a picture. Throughout the story, the narrator is limited by his sight, he cannot understand his wife's irritation, he cannot empathize with Robert. But at the end, he draws without using his eyes, and this opens his horizons. The main character undergoes metamorphosis from a sighted man who is blind to the big ideas, to a blind man, who sees what it is all about.








His fictional mentors include James Jouce, ernest Hemingway, and, above all, Anton Checkhov.

This I Believe

I believe... in literature, simple as that. The beauty of the written word, (and belleve me, it is beautiful) is in its deceptive complexity. I count myself among the millions of literate humans who, at one point in their life, have sat down in front of a computer, typewriter, or piece of parchment and said to themselves, "Writing is easy, I can do this." 2 hours later, when the extent of their work is the title and first chapter heading, they realize the folly of their assumption.
Ironically, writing is difficult for the exact same reason that many people think it would be easy. Writing is simply the transfer of ideas and emotions onto paper. It seems that it would be easy, because, after all, every time that two or more people interact, they are constantly doing just that, passing along emotions and ideas, whether through facial expressions, intonation, or complex Powerpoints, it boils down to the same thing. The beauty of writing is that while it does just that, it does so in such potent and concentrated form, that it can be more powerful than events in real life.
When my neighbors dog, Chloe, was put to sleep, yes, I was sad, but reservedly, because as people grow older they form a protective shell of detachment so that we are not crippled by constant tragedy. Good writing peels back that shell and unleashes our basest emotions. I had known Chloe for maybe eight years, and I did not shed a tear at her passing. After knowing Flag, the deer in "The Yearling", for maybe a week, I unashamedly cried when Jody was forced to shoot him.
It can work the other way as well. If I feel sad, lonely, or upset, as even I do from time to time, it takes maybe five pages of Dr. Seuss and I feel well again. What truly saddens me, however is the lack of interest invested in literature these days. Writing is being killed, slowly and painfully, by the plethora of visual and auditory entertainment available in our modern society. With so many more superficially interesting options its no wonder less and less people are turning to the bookshelves for a good time. This trend cannot go unstopped. I will keep fighting for literature, and if, in a Bradburian future where knowledge is disdained and books are burned, I die attempting to extinguish the 451 degree flames with my body, so be it.

Quotes

Like waves, all the activities of this life have rolled endlessly on, one after the other, yet they have left us feeling empty-handed. Myriads of thoughts have run through our mind, each one giving birth to many more, but what they have done is to increase our confusion and dissatisfaction...

...We operate under the deluded assumption that everything has some sort of true, substantial reality. But when we look more carefully, we find that the phenomenal world is like a rainbow—vivid and colourful, but without any tangible existence...

...To cut through the mind’s clinging, it is important to understand that all appearances are void, like the appearance of water in a mirage. Beautiful forms are of no benefit to the mind, nor can ugly forms harm it in any way. Sever the ties of hope and fear, attraction and repulsion, and remain in equanimity in the understanding that all phenomena are nothing more than projections of your own mind...

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche