Comparison of Character Development in Sexy and Cathedral. writing. Both Raymond Carver s Cathedral along with and Jhumpa Lahiri s Sexy are both

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1 LastName 1 FirstName LastName Instructor: Jennifer Vacca English 2328: American Lit. I 0X Month 201X Word Count: 1,723 Comparison of Character Development in Sexy and Cathedral Development of characters is an integral part of creating real, believable characters in writing. Both Raymond Carver s Cathedral along with and Jhumpa Lahiri s Sexy are both prime examples of how to develop realistic, dynamic characters that learn and grow from their personal experiences. The importance of understanding and acceptance is a recurring theme in Cathedral and whereas discovering the destruction that one s simple desires could cause, and growing past them, is the primary focus in Sexy. Both stories put strong emphasis on their characters, and in turn both stories stand out as more relatable, and most importantly, more human. Dynamic characters are characters that have changed or matured through their stories, through events, people, or ideas that they experience. This change is the character development in the writing. Character is described in the Harper/Collins World Dictionary, in the most general terms, as the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing (Harper,Collins Character ). Meanwhile, development is defined as: the act or process of developing; growth; progress (Harper/Collins Development ). These two components form the term character development, a literary technique often used in an author s writing, particularly in fiction. Character development means literally means the growth of the individual, who changes as a result of their own experiences and their impacts on

2 LastName 2 the characters. The character undergoing the change usually experiences something that challenges their ideas or beliefs beforehand, prompting an epiphany that changes them internally, giving them some form of internal progression. This change shows the characters motivations and ideals for the reader to examine, thus giving them a fuller, more dynamic character in the writing. <as a supplementary paragraph, the student could further explain how character is developed in fiction, i.e. dialogue, interaction, description, etc.> Raymond Carver once said in an interview: I'm interested in the personal, intimate relationships in life, so why not deal with these relationships in literature? (Carver, Stull). In Carver s most famous short story, Cathedral, he does exactly that. Carver specializes in characters that (to some extent) mirror his own life: mostly the un-extraordinary, refreshingly common, flawed, humans. In story after story, in language that babbles from wise lunatics, Carver s penetration of characters is honest and fast. But they compose a diminished race alcoholics, obsessives, drifters, and other losers who are thoroughly thrashed by life in the first round (Facknitz). Cathedral is no exception, starring a narrator of no special circumstances, that does not hesitate to indulge himself with alcohol and drugs. The narrator of the short (who remains unnamed) is told that there will be a friend of his wife coming by the house to visit, after his (the visitor s) own wife has died. The narrator explains how he feels in the first paragraph, and he is very uneasy about the idea of the blind man coming to visit. I wasn t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me (Carver 2828). Over the course of the night, the narrator remains apprehensive about the new visitor, Robert, but slowly his the narrator s ideas of what a blind person is like and can be are challenged. He The narrator mentions little things, like how Robert smokes, and how Robert does not wear dark

3 LastName 3 glasses, and realizing that just because he is blind, Robert is anything but dependant on others. After relaxing for a while and sharing some scotch and some marijuana Robert asks the narrator to describe what a cathedral is, as the program on the television was showing them. Robert asks the narrator to bring a pen and paper, and to draw a cathedral. When the narrator begins to draw it, Robert places his hand on the narrator s and, after some time, Robert tells him the narrator to close his eyes. The narrator does so and continues to draw the cathedral. Robert asks the narrator to open them his eyes, to see what he has drawn, and the narrator, still keeping his eyes closed, tells Robert that it is really something (Carver XXXX). This short story s main focus is the interaction between the narrator and the blind visitor and the impact it has on the narrator s character. The narrator s transition from his unease and discomfort with Robert to accepting Robert and appreciating him is heart-warming., and More importantly, for the reader, it is very natural and relatable. The two make progress little by little through the time spent with each other; by the end of the story, they both become friends. The narrator s transformation is slow and steady; it is truly apparent when he allows Robert to hold his hand while he the narrator sketches the cathedral. The narrator, then, even closes his eyes; and in a sense, the narrator has the opened his eyes as he realizes the emotions he is feels ing is from Robert, the growth and understanding of the man who cannot see. The irony is that, while Robert was the visually impaired character, it was the narrator who was truly blind. His misconceptions and pre-determined ideas of what a blind person was like were all clouding his vision, and Robert is the one who opens his eyes, and allows him to see the truth for himself, even gaining a friend along the way. Cathedral is a touching story of a man who begins as a prejudiced, negative force, maturing and accepting someone different than he:, and then creating

4 LastName 4 a new bond between them. The narrator in Cathedral is a shining example of character development, changing who he is through his experiences. Lahiri's focus on personal and individual relationships and her investment in formal conventions of characterization and narration make her style accessible to a widespread readership (Shah). This quote hits the nail on the head when speaking of referring to Lahiri s focuses in her writing:, and Sexy is a great display of exactly that. Jhumpa Lahiri s Sexy is a short story about a married man named Dev and his affair with a woman named Miranda. Miranda is the main character of the story, and she is swept away by the romance and charm of the married man she meets. The two spend much time together while his wife is away. One Saturday, Miranda is asked to care for the son of Laxmi s cousin (Laxmi is Miranda s fellow co-worker), Rohin. Rohin is a rambunctious young boy, and very curious. Miranda knows (through her and Laxmi s conversations at work) that Rohin s parents had recently split due to an affair his father was having with a younger woman, mirroring Miranda s current situation with Dev. During their time together, Rohin tells Miranda that she is sexy. Miranda, surprised by the comment from such a young boy, asks him what he means. that meant. Rohin, after much hesitation, answers: It means loving someone you don t know (Lahiri 3263). Miranda is stricken hard by his answer, and the boy continues to explain what his father had done: He sat next to someone he didn t know, someone sexy, and now he loves her instead of my mother (Lahiri 3263). Miranda is flooded with worries of how she could ruin another family on her own through her affair with Dev. After their her time with Rohin time together, Miranda decides to end the relationship with Dev not directly, or immediately, but by making excuses each time he wants to see her.

5 LastName 5 Miranda is another character that learns and grows throughout her story. Going from the sweeping romance and infatuation with loving an older, exotic man, she later learns through Rohin that what she is doing for herself could be incredibly destructive to others. Rohin s account of his father provides Miranda with a perfect mirror for her to see what she is doing, and how terrible it is. Miranda then ends the relationship as it began, not directly or concretely, but as something unimportant, and lingering. Miranda had never known what she truly wanted for herself, participating in the affair as it was, and comfortably bending accommodating to with Dev s schedule, and then. In the end of the story, she has an epiphany, and grows past their affair and matures as a character. Having heard Rohin s family tale and their the family s hardships, all that Miranda had desired and lusted for in the beginning was overcome with her thoughts of ruining a family like the boy s, and. That realization and that worry overcame her sexual and emotional needs for Dev s affection. Miranda s character development in the story is easy to follow, and has a very distinct turning point on the night spent with Rohin. Growth is also central to the other stories in Interpreter of Maladies. Unlike the experiences depicted in much of traditional American fiction, it is the contact with what is different that causes Lahiri s characters to mature (Caesar). As Judith Caesar describes, Lahiri stresses her characters and their growth in her stories, Sexy included, and does so through their contact with alien events or people. This progression is present in Sexy and the contact with Rohin (the alien) and his own experiences are one of the driving forces in the short story. Looking back (or taking bother stories into consideration), both Cathedral and Sexy are textbook examples for character development. Miranda and the narrator of Cathedral both have their own ideas and beliefs challenged in their respective texts, prompting their growth as individuals. Both characters were blind in their ideas, and both characters were

6 LastName 6 confronted with events (and, more importantly, individuals) that opened their eyes. Whereas Where the narrator was shown the light from his new friend Robert, Miranda was merely shown a mirror by the boy Rohin. Miranda and the narrator both grew past their old ways and their old beliefs, accepting new thoughts and learning more about themselves and others. The narrator in Cathedral underwent the gradual, slow but sure development, learning about other people, and brotherhood and acceptance in the night spent with a handicapped stranger. Miranda, on the other hand, was hit with reality like a sack of bricks for her epiphany, where she realized just how much pain and suffering she could cause for pleasing herself romantically. Both characters were introduced in a certain way, and then exited their stories as changed, more mature people. Overall, Jhumpa Lahiri and Raymond Carver both display a mastery of character development in their pieces. In fact, both have been directly compared for their distinct, dynamic characters. The narrator of Carver s Cathedral and Miranda from Lahiri s Sexy both give the reader an account of how they were, how they changed, and how they grew, making for a more connected, more believable personality, and in turn a more believable, dynamic story. Character development makes both of these stories more relatable, and more real. Character development is incredibly important to provide the reader with, as it creates complex characters that are not just more interesting, but more human.

7 LastName 7 Works Cited (Please be aware! There are several errors in the MLA Works Cited pg.) "Character." Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 06 Dec <Dictionary.com "Development." Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 06 Dec <Dictionary.com Raymond Carver with William L. Stull, Matters of Life Death: An Interview with Raymond Carver, in The Bloomsbury Review, Vol. 8, No. 1, January-February, 1988, pp Mark A. R. Facknitz, "The Calm, A Small Good Thing, and Cathedral: Raymond Carver and the Rediscovery of Human Worth," in Studies in Short Fiction, Vol. 23, No. 3, Summer, 1986, pp Raymond Carver The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., Print. Purvi Shah, Review of Interpreter of Maladies, by Jhumpa Lahiri. Amerasia Journal 27, no. 2 (2001): Jhumpa Lahiri The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., Print. Judith Caesar, "Beyond Cultural Identity in Jhumpa Lahiris When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine."North Dakota Quarterly 70, no. 1 (winter 2003):