Blinding Jealousy

From the beginning of the short story “The Cathedral”, the jealousy of the narrator towards the blind man is prominent in his narration and especially his interjections. This jealousy makes acceptance of the any unusual, unknown person impossible. Because he cannot directly place himself in such a relationship, a friendship with a blind man, his understanding is not limited but rather nonexistent. Not until the end of the story, when prejudice and jealousy is set aside can a relationship exist.

Even before the blind man enters the house, the husband’s tone towards the visit of his wife’s friend is one of disappointment and worry. He is not at all “enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one [he] knew. And his being blind bother[s] [him] (1).” Though prejudice is the main reason for such thoughts, the husband also demonstrates jealousy in regard to the deep connection the blind man and his wife have. The jealousy is almost comparable to that he has for his wife’s ex-husband, but in this case the jealousy rests in the present. He sees the blind man as a threat, mainly because the blind man’s relationship with his wife is deeper than his own. His resentment is never cleverly hidden and his wife perceives it with annoyance, only further kindling the flame of jealousy. He begins to feel separated from his wife in their already strained marriage. Instead of putting himself in Robert’s position, the narrator blames him for his inability to see and also for his own resentment towards him. When his leaves and he sits waiting at home, he directs his impatience towards the wife’s dear friend out of jealousy. In the opening scenes, jealousy is the primary motive of all his despicable, annoying actions.

The arrival of the friend only worsens the jealousy of the husband. The wife’s radiant smile and the two’s flowing conversation triggers a sense of separation and also outlines a lack of understanding and intimacy within the marriage. When the wife finally addresses her husband, the husband feels that “she didn’t like what she saw (31).” He feels separated from the group and worthless in the eyes of his spouse. The husband is swept to the sidelines almost placing him as a bystander like the reader. The relationship of the wife and Robert is visibly stronger and more like a marriage in actions and caring than their own in the short story. From the entrance of Robert into the house until the wife’s departure from the room, the wife and her friend form a team working together in harmony, the true makings of a marriage. “This blind man filled his ashtray [with cigarette dustings] and [the] wife empties it (43).” The only reasonable response of the husband is jealousy. He feels momentarily robbed of his marriage and bond with his wife, made worse in his eyes by the fact that he deems any blind man unworthy of such an honor. He is further angered as he listens to their conversation and he “wait[s] in vain to hear [his] name on [his] wife’s sweet lips (46).” He feels threatened by his absence from the lips and mind of his wife; it is as if he no longer exists in his wife’s world, replaced by the blind man. He occasionally interjects his own words into the conversation to emphasize his lost presence in the room and in their lives. His sense of displacement is the primary reason for his jealousy, a natural reaction of anyone in love with another. His jealousy blinds him and disallows him from seeing the true goodness of the blind man.

Though his prejudice does not help his unwillingness to accept the blind man in the beginning of their meeting, the husband’s feeling that he has been replaced is the primary cause for this resentment. At first, he cannot get past this to truly learn about the blind man or experience the unique friendship he offers. Only when he can ignore his jealousy and accept the man does a friendship begin to form. (677)