Response to Bethany Qualls

In the very first line of her essay she comments

A reader in search of an exciting plot will be pretty disappointed by Raymond Carver 's Cathedral ' because the truth is nothing much happens

To give such a drastic comment about the entire content of the story right in the beginning of the story shows that perhaps Qualls was very anxious to vent out her own dissatisfaction . She feels that the entire action , narration and the character portrayal had very less or perhaps had nothing ' to do with the plot where

as it may be the other way that she herself is unable to identify any unique technique or style of depiction that the author is trying to suggest or which could be identified anyhow

In the entire essay Qualls has mainly quoted from the story and has suggested comments and has adamantly focused on adhering to her idea of criticising the content of the story from a single aspect . Her main focus is on the narrator and his narrow minded thoughts that he conveys in his opinions about his wife and her blind friend and her ex-husband and also that how strangely his behaviour is in the entire story and how inappropriate the entire action is in relation to the title and the plot . Where as if Bethany Qualls had just shifted her angle of observation she could have question and have reasoned why Carver has written such kind of content

The title of the story Cathedral ' is discussed in almost the last portion of the story it had a very little , but resolving action to be associated with . Qualls , despite her seeming strong attitude in proving her arguments fails to identify the character of the narrator as a personification of the concept of Cathedral ' and the blind man...