The confrontation in the barn alters the mood of the story, foreshadowing the ending, and the shifting point-of-view reflects that change and the tensions that arise from Bertie’s presence. And after Bertie arrives, the point-of-view moves between the three characters. Something wild stirred in her heart.Īfter Isabel retrieves Maurice from the barn and he goes upstairs to change for dinner, the point-of-view shifts to Maurice.

She did not stir, because she was aware of the presence of the dark hindquarters of the horses, though she could not see them, and she was afraid. Feeling it wrong, she entered the stable, and drew the lower half of the door shut, holding the upper part close. She knew the rain and wind blew in upon the horses, the hot animal life. There is something frightening and yet exciting for Isabel in this dark place: Isabel goes to the barn to retrieve Maurice prior to Bertie’s arrival, and it is in the description of the barn and the horses that we see the darkness that seems to surround Maurice. They talked and sang and read together in a wonderful and unspeakable intimacy.” We learn that Bertie-a favorite cousin of Isabel’s and a not-so-favorite in-law of Maurice’s- is coming to visit we learn that Isabel is pregnant and we learn a great deal about Isabel and Maurice’s relationship, particularly during the past year, since Maurice had returned: “She and he had been almost entirely alone together since he was wounded. The story begins with Isabel’s point-of-view, and she narrates the first half of the story. “The Blind Man,” published in 1922, takes place just after the first World War, and is narrated by the three main characters: Isabel Pervin her husband, Maurice, who lost his sight in the war and her cousin Bertie Reid. Be that as it may, it’s interesting to look at both stories and see how “Cathedral” both mirrors and alters “The Blind Man,” unintentionally or not. Still, as Samantha Gillison points out in a Salon article from 2000, this seems, perhaps, unlikely given the similarities between the two stories. Lawrence story entitled “The Blind Man,” and that he had not read the story prior to writing “Cathedral,” although he had read-and admired- other short fiction by Lawrence.

Raymond Carver insisted that his iconic masterpiece “Cathedral” was not based on a lesser-known D.H. The Fiction Responding to Fiction series considers the influence that a short story has on another writer previous entries can be found here.

Cathedral story by raymond carver