Building a House; Destroying a Marriage.

In "Shiloh," there seems to be no theme that occurs more throughout the story than that of Leroy's dream to build a log cabin for his family to live in. While reading, just as I would forget about the house and focus my attention on what I thought to be the greater meanings of the story, such as Leroy's failing marriage or the role of his deceased baby in Norma Jean's distant attitude, I would find myself reading yet another line about how everything would be solved under the roof of a log cabin. What true role does the construction (or lack there of) of the log house play in "Shiloh?" I will try my best to answer this question in the next few paragraphs. 

While reading "Shiloh," the similarities between Leroy's dream house and Leroy and Norma Jean's marriage struck me as uncanny. As the story begins, both aspects of Leroy's life are being built up, although the "construction" of the marriage and the house are forming more in his head that in reality. In addition, Leroy is always telling Norma Jean that he is going to "build you a real house," (50) and when she says she wants out of the relationship he tells her that he refuses to let her leave him. Both of these situations are examples of Leroy trying to convince Norma Jean of what he thinks she wants, when really he is the only one who desires a log cabin and to continue the relationship. Right after reality sinks in that his wife is really gone for good, Leroy decides that "building a log house was the dumbest idea he could have had." (155) Just like the crumbling of the marriage, the idea of the cabin is also in ruins. He comes to realize that maybe no amount of renovation could have fixed either one. 

Because Leroy never actually got around to building the log cabin, the idea never really went further than his imagination. In his marriage, Leroy also never really got around to asking what was wrong and different than before, or why the tension existed. He answered the question of the failure of his marriage over and over in his head, but just like when it came time to take the plans of the house from blueprints onto land, he was never able to formulate what his thoughts to Norma Jean. One cannot help but wonder how much of Leroy's marriage was part of his imagination as well. In this story, the house is used as a parallel to the marriage; both of which end up in pieces. 

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Learning to See

It is an immediate instinct to assume that, in a story in which the main characters consist of a blind, widowed man and a younger, inexperienced and somewhat know-it-all, a timeless lesson will be passed down from the first character to the second. Although this is what does end up happening, the lesson is rather subtle and the young man ends up teaching Robert something in return. Right from the start, the narrator's character is made out to be extremely flawed. Between commenting that Robert's deceased wife "... could, if she wanted, wear green eye-shadow around one eye" (15) because he could not see her anyway, and telling the reader that "A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to," (1) it is apparent that the narrator is not concerned with political correctness or, so it seems, the feelings of others. He does not take into consideration his wife's reaction or feelings when he makes this statement. The story goes on; however, to teach a lesson of the value of patience, open-mindedness, and willingness to learn.

The lessons that the husband learns in "The Cathedral" are easily apparent; yet it is not so obvious what he teaches Robert. Juxtaposed with his wife, a do-gooder, the narrator takes on a negative persona at first. There is even a sense of the wife's embarrassment at her husband's actions while Robert is visiting, as apparent by her many apologetic remarks made toward Robert and her many non-approving glances toward her husband. However, during the narrator's discussion with Robert about the cathedral, Carver portrays the husband in a different light. After his wife falls asleep, there is an understanding that he is learning from Robert what she had known about him all along. At the same time there is a sense that although she has spent so much more time with the blind man, her husband is getting more out of what Robert has to teach. The feeling that she does not understand as well as her husband does the true meaning of Robert's actions and words is portrayed as well. As if she is being left out of a really big joke or important conversation, after she wakes up and asks, "What's going on? Robert, what are you doing? What's going on?" Robert simply replies, "It's all right" before telling the narrator to "close your eyes now" (125). For the first time it seems as though Robert cares more about the narrator than about his wife. 

At the end of "The Cathedral" there is a moment of reflection and deep thought. The narrator finally realizes that what he takes for granted, the blind man treasures. There is a point of revelation for the narrator right after he is trying to describe the cathedral on the television to Robert, but keeps fumbling. "The truth is, cathedrals don't mean anything special to me. Nothing. Cathedrals. They're something to look at on late night TV" (106). Later into the conversation, Carver's conveys to the reader that the narrator finally understands that it is not sight that matters but truly "seeing" when he voluntarily closes his eyes while drawing the picture. The last lines of the story reveal a powerful image and show the transformation the narrator has undergone when they demonstrate that his interpretation of the meaning of true sight has evolved. The narrator's response, "It's really something" to Robert's question "Are you looking?" while his eyes are still closed conveys the message of the narrator's growth. 

The narrator's wife immediately assumes that her husband does not have anything of value to offer Robert, with his words or in actuality. It is apparent that she thinks he is actually providing him with the opposite, by saying and doing things she finds to be offensive. Although at first the narrator's attitude towards Robert's arrival only validates her point, as the story progresses he is able to give something back to the blind man. When the narrator's wife arrives in the living room to see that the two men are "smoking some dope," (60) she "gave [him] a savage look" before telling Robert she "didn't know you smoked" (65). Robert responds by saying "I do now, my dear. There's a first time for everything" (65). In this passage Carver demonstrates the narrator's wife's disapproval of her husband and shows Robert's carefree philosophy toward life. In addition, by describing the cathedral to Robert in detail, the narrator is giving him the gift of knowledge; a gift that he is able to return by teaching the narrator that first perceptions can be deceiving. Although is comes in different forms and serves different purposes, this story shows that the gift of knowledge is universal. 

Behind the Scenes of Teenage Wasteland

The short story "Teenage Wasteland" portrays many different and conflicting characters from Daisy's viewpoint. In class we discussed and looked further into the true intentions of Daisy and Calvin, the characters whom the readers get the clearest picture of in the short story. While both Daisy and Calvin have very overpowering personalities- or in Daisy's case, a personality that is not overpowering enough, but one that the reader can easily understand because of her narration- the other characters of the story, while as equally important in the overall message, are no where near as detailed or transparent.

Although the plot of the story revolves around Donny, it is never fully made clear his true feelings about his family or current situation; all the reader can conclude about his personality is gathered from Daisy, who might not be the best source of information when it comes to what her son is feeling and thinking. It is obvious that Donny feels typical teenage angst, yet it is also apparent through his words and actions that what he feels goes way beyond that. It is as if there is a piece of his character that the reader is missing, either because Daisy is not conveying it through her thoughts or because she is so oblivious to her son's emotions that she herself does not know what it is. It is obvious that Donny does not care enough about his future or his reputation to claim responsibility for his own actions, yet the anger and hatred he has towards his mother especially and whole family in general is unusually great. 

In addition to lack of description about the character whom the story is focused around, very little is ever mentioned about Daisy's husband or daughter. The fact that Donny's father is only brought up in the story a few times shows that perhaps all the blame for the way Donny turned out should not be placed solely on Daisy. Daisy mentions that to focus more fully on correcting her son's ways, she virtually ignores her daughter. Never is the thought that while; yes, she should be paying both children equal amounts of attention, she is not the only parent and Matt should be making up for what attention she is not able to give Donny's sister brought up. 

It is apparent that in this short story all member's of Daisy's family, including herself, have large phycological issues they each must face and come to terms with in their own way.