The narration of the story "Cathedral," written by Raymond Carver in 1983, is told through the husband. In reading the story, the narrator's opinion of certain characters becomes well-known. The tone of the story from the husband's narration goes from a somewhat angry and jealous tone to a more sensitive and understanding tone. Viewing the story from a different narration would change the tone of the story all together as well as the reader's feelings and opinions. For example, viewing the story through the narration of the wife instead of the husband would definitely give the reader a different perspective. .
Throughout the story the husband talks very briefly about his wife's previous husband. By just briefly mentioning the existence of his wife's ex-husband, he gives off a tone of slight discomfort and jealousy towards him. He makes comments about the ex-husband that show resentment such as, "this man who"d first enjoyed her favors" (1056). Had the story been narrated by the wife, the topics of interest would have not been the same. His wife would not have spoken of her previous relationships in that way; rather she would have given the reader a better understanding of her life. She would have probably talked about the things that she went through in life. For example, she might have spoke of her unhappiness with her previous husband because of all the traveling they did, and she probably would have given a better understanding as to why she thought over dosing on pills would have been an escape for her unhappiness. .
In the beginning of the story, the husband talks about the blind man. He shows much dislike for the man as well as envy although he never really knew the man. His repugnance towards the blind man he makes known by saying such things like, "My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to" (1057).