Brianna Packer

ENGL 2270
Professor Lynn Kilpatrick
April 22, 2018
Raymond Carver’s Craft Elements

In many short stories written by Raymond Carver, a common theme that spreads across

them is the relationships that his main characters have with each other and their surroundings.

This theme is demonstrated through careful analysis of his word choice as well as which point-

of-view he selects for each story in particular. Whether the language used in each story is

superficial or more on the descriptive side, he uses each according to the character’s personality

and their current situation in each story. Two of these stories, “Cathedral” and “Neighbors”

demonstrate his versatility in developing different types of characters. Raymond Carver develops

his characters’ relationships with each other and their surroundings through appropriate diction,

description, and point-of view.

In Carver’s short story “Cathedral,” the main character and narrator seems to have a very

distant relationship with people and his surroundings. This can be explained by the superficial

diction that Carver uses to narrate the main character’s reactions to the people he has emotionally

distant interactions with. Upon reluctantly meeting and housing his wife’s old friend, Robert, a

blind man from Seattle, he continues to refer to Robert as “the blind man” to the reader

continuously as the story goes on (Carver, 271-284). This choice of words for Robert’s title

indicates that the narrator has little to no interest in Robert as a person, but rather just as a blind

man—or what he can only see on the outside. In his conversation with Robert about his job, he

talks past him, and narrates their conversation as follows, “How long had I been in my present

position? (Three years.) Did I like my work? (I didn’t.) Was I going to stay with it? (What were
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the options?) Finally, when I thought he was beginning to run down, I got up and turned on the

TV.” (Carver, 277). The superficial answers that the narrator gave to Robert were efficient for

the story, but also provided evidence that the narrator had no interest in delving further into the

subject of conversation with Robert, and cuts off the conversation by turning on the television, as

his usual mode of behavior is implied.

In another story by Raymond Carver, “Neighbors” takes a different approach to diction,

description and point of view. This is because the two stories differ in characters, narrators, and

issues of relationships with each other and their surroundings. In “Neighbors” the word choice

used to narrate the manner in which Bill goes about the Stone’s apartment, pocketing some

things, eating some of their food, drinking some of their drinks, and other such things that are not

typical of neighbors to do. Bill “slipped” a prescription drug for Harriet in his pocket, “took two

drinks” from a bottle of alcohol, and “replaced” it into the cabinet (Carver, 88). These words are

carefully chosen to describe the discreet manner in which Bill explored the Stone’s apartment

and pillaged it when they were away. He goes around and “examines” “considers” their

possessions, “slowly” and “carefully” and partakes as he wishes (Carver, 90). In developing the

relationship between Bill’s character and this luxurious apartment, Raymond uses these discreet

words to imply Bill’s actions against his better judgement in the home of one of his friends.

These words create an atmosphere that impresses that feeling of secretiveness and lustfulness

that Bill feels towards this apartment and their friends’ wealthy lifestyle.

Going back to the story “Cathedral,” Raymond Carver also uses description, or a lack

thereof, to define his narrator’s relationship with his surroundings as well as the other characters

in the story. The narrator is not so concerned with his surroundings as he is with the people he is

involved with in this story—because of this, there is minimal description of his home, which is
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the setting for “Cathedral”. Other than a new sofa, a kitchen, and living room, there is not much

else described about the house or its structure. These descriptions are left out because the focus

of the story is on the characters’ relationships rather than the setting. As far as character

description goes, though, Robert is described in great detail as he is the subject of the story.

There is a pattern to the narrator’s description of Robert, and it falls in line with what his

opinions are about his appearance. With Robert, the narrator describes his “full beard” and

opinionates, “Too much, I say.” He goes on to comment on Robert’s clothes “a sports coat” and

then remarks “spiffy” in his own thoughts that are only shared to the reader (Carver, 274-275).

This pattern of description develops the characters thoughts about his guest and further develops

his emotionally distant but yet observant relationship with him. The way Raymond Carver uses

this narrator to describe this character while also including the narrator’s opinions of this

person—which was a very effective method of using description to the advantage of developing

this character as well as their relationship to one another.

On the other hand, because the setting is of a significant importance to the story, in

“Neighbors” Carver uses more vivid description to illustrate the luxurious apartment and

possessions that the poorer couple, the Millers, have a covetous relationship with. Bill in

particular interacts intimately with each of the possessions the Stones have that he is interested

in. This includes dressing in Jim Stone’s clothes, a “Hawaiian shirt” “bermudas” and “a blue

shirt, a dark suit, a blue and white tie, black wing-tip shoes,” (Carver, 90-91) and studies himself

in the mirror in the Stone’s apartment. He also goes on to wear Harriet’s underclothing and

dresses and blouses as well. This description adds to the impression that Bill is lacking luxury in

his life and uses this apartment as an escape or an excuse to pretend to live more luxuriously. His

relationship with this place is covetous, yet he shows no hesitation to snoop or partake as he
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wishes. The Stone’s trusted the Miller’s with their apartment while they were away, but the

Miller’s took advantage of their absence and used it to fill their own pockets and desires for a

more luxurious life. The description of the apartment allows for contrast between the Miller’s

living conditions versus the Stone’s and may explain the Miller’s odd behavior towards this

apartment and their behavior while inside of it.

Another element that Raymond Carver uses in his stories is point of view. “Cathedral” is

narrated in the first-person point-of-view which allows for the narrator’s true opinions and

thoughts to be demonstrated in exposition. When his wife had gone to pick up Robert, the

narrator describes his true opinion about the coming events of the night. “I was not enthusiastic

about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me. My idea of blindness

came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes

they were led by seeing-eye dogs. A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward

to.” (Carver, 271). He expresses his thoughts openly in this point-of-view to demonstrate his

character to the reader and perhaps explain the reasons behind his emotionally distant behavior

towards Robert. The narrator explains that the fact that Robert is blind bothered him and that he

would not enjoy having him in his household. This explains that the narrator does prefer to look

at outside appearances rather than getting to know somebody, which predetermines their

superficial relationship before they even meet, and explains his behavior in reaction to Robert for

the rest of the story.

The point of view in “Neighbors” is third person limited to Bill. This allows for Bill’s

actions and thoughts to be portrayed so that the discernment of his character and relationship

with his surroundings can show through the text. The narrator describes things that Bill tries to

remember but can’t, things that he does remember, and also things that he forgets. The third
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person point of view allows the atmosphere of the setting to add to Bill’s whimsical impression

of the luxurious apartment and further implies that it is a place where Bill is inclined to forget

where and when it is, and can freely lose himself in this place. This further demonstrates his

vivid, albeit, odd relationship with the setting of the story.

In conclusion, though these two stories by Raymond Carver differ in content as well as

character traits, he uses similar methods in both to develop his characters’ relationships with

each other and their surroundings. In “Neighbors” the relationship between the character and his

setting is crucial as it is a part of the story’s development, but on the other hand, “Cathedral” has

characters whose relationships are of more importance and take precedence in the development

of the story. Raymond Carver used diction, description, and point-of-view in both of these stories

to develop the relationships between each character, each other, and their surroundings.
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Works Cited

Carver, Raymond. “Neighbors.” Online PDF file, tnsatlanta.org, p. 86-93, accessed 10 April

2018.

Carver, Raymond. “Cathedrals.” Gotham Writers Workshop. Writing Fiction: The Practical

Guide from New York’s Acclaimed Creative Writing School, edited by Alexander Steele,

Bloomsbury, 2003, appendix pg. 271-284.