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.
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"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." what are "horizons?" and what is "it"?
3) Depth of thought, either in asking insightful questions(not rhetorical ones) or insightful comments that illustrate complexity of the text 8
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