Was Blind, but Now, I See

 

Both the short story "Cathedral" and the short story "Every Day Use" have interesting points intertwined in their stories. Ignorance to others is a main point in these stories. Although "Cathedral" poses a more literal argument (i. e. the husband putting a stereo-type on the blind man when he himself was "blind"), "Every Day Use" shows how the human can be both ignorant to his culture as well as his "true identity." For example, Dee is ignorant to her culture by not realizing the essence of it is not the fact that her roots are in Africa, but that her roots are in her small American home with her family. It is there that her true identity of a materialistic, narcissistic human being. 

The husband in "Cathedral," on the other hand, tries to turn his ignorance into understanding when he attempts to become blind (in a figurative sense of course). He is making an effort to see in the eyes of another, whereas before he couldn't even have an adequate conversation without producing some level of awkward tension. It is through the small connection that the husband makes with Robert in drawing the cathedrals that poses a breakthrough in the character. He has has, in some sense, a small epiphany. This epiphany never comes for Dee, who refuses to be her own person. She must conform and hide from the world if she is to be accepted, whereas the blind man accepted all people from the start including the husband. 

The interesting thing about these two stories is that on one side the husband starts off "blind" and perseveres to see the light and on the other is Dee who forever stays blind. They show that it is our choices, not necessarily character, that shape who we become as people. We can always change; it is the question of whether we want to or not that makes life so difficult for some and precious for others.