Raymond Carver, a major short-story writer, and poet in the 1980s are often called a minimalist writer. His stories were brief with strong messages. The stories contained themes of importance in real-life described small periods and often it included alcoholism, which was a part of his life as well. In this paper, two of his stories, “What we talk about when we talk about love” and “Cathedral,” are going to be discussed. There are both similarities and differences between these two works. Though the themes in the stories are different, both convey a message which is strong enough and thought-provoking to the readers. His characters undergo a change that is obvious at the end of the story, thereby which they realize truths that were earlier strange to them.
The characters in “What we talk about when we talk about love,” and “Cathedral” develop with the story and by the end, they undergo a change which they receive with a shock. In the former story, Mel, through his narration of a story of an old couple, explains their love, the rest of them realize what true love is. They remain on their chairs though they initially had plans to go out for dinner. “I could hear my heart beating. I could hear everyone’s heart. I could hear the human noise we sat there making, not one of us moving, not even when the room went dark.”(Dialogue from “What we talk about when we talk about love”).
In Cathedral, a narrator is an arrogant person at the beginning of the story. He makes fun of the blind man by talking about color TV and commenting about blind people. He sympathizes with Robert’s wife out of his ignorance. However, in the end, the narrator understands that it is not different to be blind and that the visually challenged Robert sees everything in a better way than himself. Secondly, the characters in both stories are similar. Many of Carver’s works present characters who are divorced and again married. These two stories are not different from his other works. They too have characters who married twice. “What we talk about when we talk about love” has Mel, Terri, and Nick who were once divorced before they married again. Similarly, in “Cathedral,” the narrator’s wife is a woman who married and later got separated from an army officer.
The setting in both the stories is similar too. Only a small period in the lives of the characters is depicted in the stories. It is Carver’s unique way of writing short stories. “What we talk about when we talk about love” happens when four people sit together and talk about what real love is. The story ends when their conversation ends, which means the story is about just a couple of hours in the characters’ lives. “Cathedral” is about a blind man coming to the narrator’s house which causes them to interact with each other, following which the narrator’s notions and attitude change. The story ends at this point, which again means a short period in the narrator’s life.
Despite the similarities, “What we talk about when we talk about love,” has a message which is indirectly conveyed. Some critics say that the story is a mere conversation between four characters, without any particular purpose or message for the readers. Carver’s way of writing this story is indirect so that only a thorough analysis of it will help in understanding the message about real unconditional love. “Cathedral,” however, has a more explicit message. The message is quite obvious with the climax. The change that comes over in the narrator is visible enough. “His fingers rode my fingers as my hand went over the paper. It was like nothing else in my life up to now.”(Dialogue from “Cathedral”).
However, the two stories are closely connected to real life and daily happenings. The increasing shallowness of love which is increasing in today’s world is effectively depicted in one work. Also, the factors that necessitate considering everyone as equals are clear from the other work.
Works Cited
Dialogue from “What we talk about when we talk about love.”
Dialogue from “Cathedral.”