The Cathedral 里面的象征手法的使用

The Cathedral
The cathedral that the narrator draws with Robert represents true sight, the ability to see beyond
the surface to the true meaning that lies within. Before the narrator draws the cathedral, his world
is simple: he can see, and Robert cannot. But when he attempts to describe the cathedral that’s
shown on television, he realizes he doesn’t have the words to do so. More important, he decides
that the reason he can’t find those words is that the cathedral has no meaning for him and tells
Robert that he doesn’t believe in anything. However, when he takes the time to draw the
cathedral—to really think about it and see it in his mind’s eye—he finds himself pulled in,
adding details and people to make the picture complete and even drawing some of it with his
eyes closed. When the drawing is finished, the narrator keeps his eyes shut, yet what he sees is
greater than anything he’s ever seen with his eyes open. Carver isn’t specific about exactly what
the narrator realizes, but the narrator says he “didn’t feel like he was inside anything”—he has a
weightless, placeless feeling that suggests he’s reached an epiphany. Just as a cathedral offers a
place for the religious to worship and find solace, the narrator’s drawing of a cathedral has
opened a door for him into a deeper place in his own world, where he can see beyond what is
immediately visible.

Audiotapes
The audiotapes that Robert and the narrator’s wife send back and forth to each other represent
the kind of understanding and empathy that has nothing to do with sight. The narrator believes
that Robert’s wife, Beulah, must have suffered because Robert could never see her, but in his
own way, the narrator has never truly seen his own wife. Robert’s relationship with the narrator’s
wife is much deeper than anything the narrator can understand. When he hears a bit of Robert’s
tape, he says it sounds only like “harmless chitchat,” not realizing that this sort of intimate
communication is exactly what his own marriage lacks. Only when the narrator closes his eyes to
finish drawing the cathedral does he approach the level of understanding that his wife and Robert
have achieved through their taped correspondence.

关于结尾
Carver finishes “Cathedral” with a “zero ending,” leaving the narrator with his eyes closed,
imagining the cathedral he has just drawn with Robert. A zero ending is an ending that doesn’t
neatly tie up the strands of a story. It may not even seem like an ending—in some cases, the
writer may seem to have left off in the middle of a thought or idea. Instead of tacking on a florid
conclusion that leaves everyone satisfied, Carver often stops his stories abruptly, at the moment
when his characters are faced with a stark realization, glimmer of hope, or wall of confusion.
Ernest Hemingway used the zero ending in many of his short stories as well. Also like
Hemingway, Carver wrote in a sparse, masculine style, and this, along with his favored method
of ending a story, has prompted many readers to compare the two writers.

The abrupt ending to the story leaves many questions unanswered, such as how exactly the
narrator has changed, if his relationship with his wife will change, or how his opinion of Robert
has changed. But the answers to these questions are not the point of the story. “Cathedral”
concerns the change in one man’s understanding of himself and the world, and Carver ends the
story at exactly the moment when this change flickers in the narrator’s mind. The narrator has
not become a new person or achieved any kind of soul-changing enlightenment. In fact, the
narrator’s final words, “It’s really something,” reveal him to be the same curt, inarticulate man
he’s always been. The zero ending, however, adds an unexpected note of optimism to the story.
Until this moment, the narrator has been mostly bitter and sarcastic, but he has now gained a
deeper understanding of himself and his life. Far from leaving us unsatisfied, Carver’s zero
ending leaves us with our breath held as the narrator sees a new world start to crack open.

The theme of perception is explored in the short story by illustrating the difference between
looking (using one’s eyes to observe things) and seeing (understating things through instruments
other than eyesight—listening, touching, and drawing).

The Swimmer Summary

The story starts with a town reeling from a collective hangover. It is a midsummer Sunday
afternoon and everyone drank too much the previous night. Neddy Merrill, however, is
unperturbed. He reclines by the pool at Donald and Helen Westerhazy's house, full of pleasure at
the beautiful day. All of a sudden, it occurs to him that he could swim from the Westerhazys' to
his own house, which is about 8 miles away, by traversing the pools of his neighbors. Neddy
decides that this is a grand and worthy voyage; naming his route the "Lucinda River" after his
wife, he sets off in just his swimming trunks.
Neddy is full of youthful energy, and he swims vigorously through several pools to start his
journey. He is familiar with all of his neighbors, and his interactions with them as he swims their
pools come to define the social world of the story. At first, his neighbors are gracious and happy
to see him, but about halfway through his journey, a big storm comes. He waits out the rain in a
friend's gazebo and then continues on, but the route has changed. Now, he is tired and feels a
cold wind penetrate his bones. He seems to have aged, shrunken, or lost weight somehow. Most
importantly, the people who he assumes will receive him happily to their homes and maybe offer
him a gin before he swims their pool now treat him rudely or gossip about some vague
misfortunes of his behind his back. Neddy cannot understand why he is being treated this way.
He does not remember any of the events alluded to—selling his house or a misfortune befalling
his daughters, for example. Nevertheless, something seems to have happened. Each pool seems
to bring Neddy closer to winter, old age, and social death.

Finally, nearly overcome with exhaustion, Neddy reaches his home. As he staggers up the
driveway, he notices the house is slightly dilapidated, and no lights are on. When he reaches its
doors, they are locked and no one is home. He cannot understand where his wife and daughters
are. Only at the very end of the text, in the last line, does he realize the house itself is completely
empty. The misfortunes he heard whispers of on his voyage were true.

Symbolism:

The Pool
The central symbolism in the short story is the water and the pools themselves. They are
reflective of the changes faced by Ned. At first the pool is shimmering and a pale green shade,
which is a symbol of youth and experience. He seems to reflect that because he is active and
energetic for his age, and always up for adventures. The following pool is just as inviting with its
sapphire hue. But as his journey moves along, things take a dark turn. The pools turn murky, and
so do his experiences. He is then faced by the opaque gold pool where he faces the first truth,
and the cold pool of Biswanger where he faces his second blow. Ned uses the water as a barrier
between himself and the world, and the colors represent the changes in his life. The dry pool he
faces is a symbol of the mid-life crisis that he is facing, and being in water is his means of
avoiding the truth.

Changing Seasons and its Elements

Just like the pool, the changing weather and the “untimely” constellations in the sky reflect the
changing reality that Ned has to face. It goes through four seasons, giving us the image of a
complete process, and symbolizing the cycle of life. The storm in the story represents the
problems that he has faced and forgotten, and the crashing of his mistakes down on his made-up
reality. The cumulus clouds can be seen as a symbol for his clouded memory.

Motifs – motivate
Alcohol
The alcohol can be seen as an escape from reality and an attempt to mask the harsh facts. It could
have also be used to explain the changing mental state of Merrill. He seems disoriented, mentally
impaired, has heightened energy, is confused, fatigued and shaky. These are all signs of being
under the influence and may have been the cause of his loss of memory and confused memory of
events.

The Map and Journey

The map he has drawn out in his head to swim the route of pools on his way home can be seen as
his journey to realization through a carefully charted path. At first it is all rainbows and roses,
but it eventually turns into storms and misery.