There is much more to life than what you see alone. Many people live on Earth without ever having the capacity to consider a deeper level of meaning. To live only from physical vision is not to live at all, because human beings are much more complex than we like to believe. We possess the ability to know the difference between visualization and interpretation. In this story, we discover a notion that is too often mentioned but rarely put into practice. We follow the turning points in a man's life as he steps into the shoes of someone less fortunate than himself and learns the true meaning of being able to see. In “Cathedral,” Raymond Carver uses characterization, irony, and symbolism to show the realization of a world beyond what the human eye can perceive. Carver uses characterization to show the contrasting mindset between the main characters, the narrator and Robert. “My idea of ​​blindness came from cinema. In the movies, blind people moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they were led by guide dogs. A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to” (Carver 88). With the narrator's dialogue and thoughts, we begin to see his envious, overly critical, and ignorant character emerge. It seems that the narrator is oblivious to the narrow views he has about relationships and life. “They had married, lived and worked together, slept together – had sex, of course – and then the blind man had to bury her. All this without him ever seeing what the damn woman looked like” (Carver 90). The narrator's description of Robert's marriage shows his superficial idea of ​​what a real relationship is. Although the narrator believes he has an intuitive understanding of life and... middle of paper ...... Carver uses characterization, irony, and symbolism to make a connection between seeing and understanding. Life was not meant to be black and white, nor was it meant for people to live it without any insight. We have the potential to embody this connection between what we see and its true connotation. But it's up to us whether we use this knowledge and open our minds to new possibilities. We saw the narrator blindly navigate through life without looking at the underlying issues or discovering what anything is really like. To truly live a fulfilled life, you must be able to see beyond the two-dimensional lives that most people lead. Carver shows how the negative traits of humanity can express themselves without even knowing it, but it is never too late to break free from our own "cathedral" and lead a life worth living. Works Cited Raymond Carver, “Cathedral"