The speaker's tone in Raymond Carver's "Cathedral" is very amusing and encompassing to the point that the reader becomes immersed into the thoughts and ideas that this character has. The atmosphere created in the work is such, that the audience is drawn in very closely to the words and phrases used. The sense of being very close to the narrator is important, as he becomes close to the blind man, Robert. When the narrator comes closer to an understanding of blindness and Robert, the audience is so in tune with the character that the ideas the narrator has are better understood. There is, arguably, the use of extended metaphor when the imagery is introduced due to the fact that the character that is the center of the speaker's life is a blind man. This metaphorical use is not only with the imagery
With each drink that is taken by the characters, the story becomes more relaxing. It can be said that clarity on the part of the characters is lost and things can be seen in a different way, as the characters drink and smoke marijuana. The narrator becomes more open-minded, so the cathedral drawing made by he and Robert really is the time when the narrators turn to imagery. It is here that the whole essence of blindness can be vividly understood as a metaphor for clarity and clear sight versus blindness.
Robert, who the speaker is unsure of, is a very colorful part of the story. The narrator uses humor to make the issue of blindness less dramatic and this fits well with the use of blindness later as something that is misunderstood and unclear. Robert is very patient and the audience patiently must wait for the story to unfold and for sense to be mad