Title of this essay is "Wrong Assumptions". The assignment was to write about a key theme of the story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver.

Without a doubt human beings are subject innate prejudices and assumptions. Sometimes, these assumptions hurt us personally, while at other times we use them to hurt others. The short story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver illustrates how prejudice and assumption can work against the truth and inhibit true human understanding. The author uses tone, diction, figurative, and rhetorical to communicate his theme that one's superficial assumptions about people may not always be correct.

The story opens as a husband is begrudgingly discussing the fact that an old friend of his wife's will be coming to visit her because he makes false assumptions about their relationship. Although she had not seen the gentleman for ten years, she shares an intimacy with him that seems to make the husband jealous. The man is blind, which the persona states outright in the very first words of the story, accentuating how important this fact is to the husband.

Blind window, Florence Cathedral, Italy.

To help the color blind

To help the color blind

Ironically, despite his blindness, he seems to have much more insight into the motivations and inner desires of the wife than her own husband does. This irony is the primary source of tension in the story.

As the blind man's visit nears, the husband shares more and more of his personal concerns and assumptions with the reader. Through his first person narration, we find out that this blind man has been his wife's confidant through many a tumultuous experience. Apparently, she was married before, which seems to add to the husband's sense of insecurity. Also, his wife has communicated with this blind man through tapes and poetry, and the husband seems jealous of this constant contact over the years. He says sardonically, " Over the years, she put all kinds of stuff on tapes and sent the tapes off lickety-split. Next to writing a poem every year,