Indifference or Love?

The narrator of “The Cathedral” strikes me as an extremely multidimensional character. Upon first impression, the reader is presented with an apathetic and somewhat— for lack of a better word— boring character. He is presented as an extremely flat character with little insight. He is emotionally detached from both his wife and from real life situations. The narrator and protagonist’s name is not given through out the entire story. Without an identity, this character is extremely distant from the reader. I think that this method is extremely affective in establishing the relationship between the narrator and the reader— a relationship of both misunderstanding and aloofness. In the narration, the main character’s wife is graciously opening her house to a friend from the past. The narrator of the story is not confident in the arrival of this distant friend. We, the readers, are notified that the narrator’s wife is emotionally connected to this man and that their relationship has been steadfast throughout the ten years they have been apart. The narrator of the story acts detached and careless about the arrival of this stranger, but the emotions that he shares with the reader proves otherwise. The narrator cracks wise remarks about the stranger’s disability only bringing attention to his insecurities and jealousies. We see these wise remarks when the narrator is talking about what he will do upon the arrival of the blind stranger. He smugly comments on this man’s disability when he says, “Maybe I will take him bowling”. I think that the narrator is using humor as a defense mechanism. He is using his humor to create a wall between him and his wife. He is feeling insecure and jealous about the arrival of this man and he knows no other way to deal with his emotions, so he resorts to humor. By making fun of this man’s disability, he is psychologically putting himself on a pedestal as if he is better than the stranger.
This air of indifference that we first get from the narrator is not who this man actually is. We begin to see a glimpse of his inner tenderness and workings when he talks about the blind man’s wife, “A woman who could never see herself as she was seen in the eyes of her loved one.” This depth is who this character truly is. He is not the shallow character we are made to believe he is—he is extremely intuitive.
This modern character, with his hidden intuition and sensitivity, is able to put himself into the position of this blind stranger and experience and appreciate his world. He closes his eyes to put himself in the position of this blind man and realizes that maybe the blind man is on a pedestal. He realizes tha this “misfortune” is not as debilitating as it seems. He gains great appreciation for this man and his lifestyle. The reader, at the end of the narrative, is proud and content that this originally bland and disconnected character has found emotional attachment in the stranger that he had so feared. (511)