Rayond Carvers short stories in `Cathedral` and how they are similar in content. For example, Alcoholism is metioned in most of his short stories some way shape or form.

Outline

Introduction

third collection

familiarity of themes and characters vs . insight and hope

Thesis : While the stories in this collection still deal with similar themes and characters , Carver 's third volume does provide new territory for researchers to explore

Familiar ideas in Early Carver

Types of character

Point of view

Carver 's narrative perspective

Alcohol and substance use and abuse

Use to avoid common problems

Feathers

Vitamins

Careful

Use to escape serious situations

Where I 'm Calling From

Chef 's House p

Cathedral

Failing Relationships

Marriages and Father /Son

Chef 's House

The Compartment

Symbols used to represent these Relationships

The Fever

Careful

The Compartment

Small Shifts in Perspectives Provide Hope for Future

Comfort

A Small Good Thing

Bridle

Redemptive Artistic Insight

Feathers

Cathedral

Enabled Communication

1 . A Small Good Thing

VI . Conclusion

Similarities in Cathedral , Stories by Raymond Carver

Cathedral is Raymond Carver 's third collection of short stories . This collection , while maintaining a focus on the down side of the human condition , contains stories that researchers claim are different from his previous two collections in subtle yet significant ways . These differences concern the ultimate message of each story the characters in Cathedral seem to find some insight , something other than pessimism One researcher describes this as a movement away from existential realism to humanist realism (Brown 125 .While the stories in this collection still deal with similar themes and characters , Carver 's third volume does provide new territory for researchers to explore

Facknitz reminds his readers that Carver 's stories deal primarily with down-and-out blue collar type ' characters that have recurring problems with money , marriage , and substance abuse , particularly alcohol (287 . These themes and character types certainly exist in the stories of Cathedral . In addition , half of the stories are told in the first person , a limiting perspective in and of itself , while the other half are told by a third person narrator who is also severely limited in his perspective . Thus , the reader is presented with minimal information about the characters and events and basically provided no other opportunity for comparison with other individuals (287 . However , the author also notes that these stories are less confined and strict and seem to recognize the potential of human character rather than to note only a nihilistic outcome as earlier stories did (Facknitz 287

For example , alcohol use and abuse exists in nearly every story . In some , alcohol is just alluded to as necessary for social interaction For example , in Feathers ' the narrator and his wife are taken off guard by a dinner invitation and vow to take wine even if the couple doesn 't drink it , they will . In Vitamins ' the narrator describes drinking as a common social function . The narrator in Careful drinks champagne alone to forget about his failed relationship with Inez

However , other characters in these stories use alcohol in more harmful ways . The narrator in Where I 'm Calling From ' notes that the response he and his girlfriend have to the news of her abnormal pap...