Post 4: Feel like you missed something? Me too.

I felt that "Cathedral" was one of the most complex short stories we read in class. While I was left with what I assumed to be meaning, I know that there must be something much deeper than the main character having his eyes opened to another view on life: blindness. I believe that there is other spiritual motion, or increased awareness, besides what is obvious to the reader after a first read. For me, this was the only story that I was satisfied with after reading, but "Cathedral" did leave me with a sense that I had somehow missed something crucial. Even after talking in class about the specturm between realistic and absurd writing, I couldn't breach the gap from the reality of the events to the absurdity of the actual meaning.

I see how the lack of resolution in the other short stories we read caused me to go back and look deeper for meaning and resolution. However, even after reading back through "Cathedral" while looking for similar clues to meaning, I came up blank again. The spritual motion that is so obvious makes the more obscure meaning hidden to me still. The main character saying "It's really something" right at the end, seemingly in reference to the cathedral itself pretty much baffles me. He is obviously seeing deeper than the picture because his eyes are closed, but it doesn't seem that his is understanding the blind man's world or blindness itself any more completely. He is now aware of something else, somthing that I cannot find.

The title could have several meanings for the story, from the simple to the obscure. Most obviously is how the title refers strictly to the catherdral that was drawn or talked about in the short story. Next, the title could be about the spiritual motion of the awareness of blindness that the story seems to represent, because cathedrals are singularly spiritual or religious places. Finally, the cathedral could be the place, metaphorically speaking, that the main character has reached because of his realization, but as to that place, I do not know what its meaning or name is.