Short Stories

Both the short stories, "Cathedral" and "Every Day Use", share many similarities within their plots.  The Cathedral is about a blind man who comes to visit an old friend who  had helped him in the past. The husband comes to see what it is like to be blind when he bonds with the blind man. "Every Day Use" is about a mother and her two daughters, Dee and Matty. Dee is very materialistic and does not respect her family in general. She leaves the family and comes back with a man and suddenly changes her attitude toward her family. First, both stories include a protagonist who goes through drastic change during the story. In "Cathedral", the main character is the husband, and he negatively comments about his wife's relationship with the blind man. Similarly, in "Every Day Use", The mother's witnesses her daughter's differences (Dee and Maggie). Both stories reflect on relationships between characters and their personalities. The blind man allows the wife to "lighten up" and enjoy herself. In "Every Day Use", it seems life Maggie goes through a transformation and finally stands up to her "superior" and more educated sister.

 After reading both stories, I enjoyed reading "Cathedral" the most. The author of this short story created a more interesting plot with more interesting characters. The symbolism in this short story really supported its thesis, and it was a great read.