Cathedral Group

Question:

lxhelili
lxhelili
Student
College - Freshman

What is the main theme of "Cathedral"?

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Posted by lxhelili on Monday November 17, 2008 at 10:51 AM and tagged with cathedral, theme.

Answers:

  1. morrol
    morrol Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    The short story "Cathedral" has several main ideas or themes. One theme in the story is the effects of loneliness and isolation on the individual. The characters in the story feel alone and cut off from others. This leads to a desperate depression.

    Another theme of the story is that of the trans-formative power of art. Poetry helps the narrator to work through her isolation and change.

    A third theme, directly tied to the other two, is the power of the human imagination. This power is what allows the narrator to change her life of isolation and misery. 

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/cathedral/essays-criticism
    http://www.enotes.com/cathedral/themes

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    Posted by morrol on Monday November 17, 2008 at 1:16 PM

  2. deann1
    deann1 Student
    College - Sophomore

    what did you learn about the human impulse to create in the Cathedral story?

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    Posted by deann1 on Tuesday November 25, 2008 at 8:00 AM

  3. deann1
    deann1 Student
    College - Sophomore

    Give two examples that influenced this theme I dwell in Possibility and Sound and Sense

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    Posted by deann1 on Tuesday November 25, 2008 at 8:04 AM