Pak-tung Le

EN 102

The Cathedral

            In the short story, The Cathedral, there are numerous three relationships that are discussed between a man and a woman. The story begins with a man discussing the relationship between his wife and her old employer, Robert. While it discusses the relationship between Robert and the author’s wife, I will be examining the relationship between the husband and wife.  What I found interesting that the author never reveals the names of either of the wife’s husbands or that of the wife. To me, that represents the lack of intimacy of the husband and wife. I also found that both of her marriages did not appear to be satisfying to her. The author appears to be surprised that his wife appears to be so happy when she returns with her friend. It is almost as if he has never seen his wife smile for such an extended period of time.

As I read this story, I found that the saying, “Familiarity breeds contempt” applied with both of her marriages. It seems as if she is has been less content with both her first husband, and now her current one, as time has elapsed.  She appears to speak to her husband in an accusatory fashion, be in verbal or just by looking at him. I did not find her to understand him, however, this writing is from his perspective so that might be the reason why it is slanted in this manner. She does not seem to be as enamored with the author and seems to disapprove in his actions. This is illustrated when she comes down from changing and finds the author offering Robert a joint. Another example is when she is talking to him prior to picking up Robert. He offers to take Robert bowling and she states that if he loved her, he would try to be nice to her friend. She then says to him that she would do so if he had any friends, but he does not.