Cathedral Lesson Plan

How would you describe the narrator of “Vitamins”? Why do you think he has no name?

Students should observe that the key characteristic of the narrator seems to be his capacity to not care about anything substantial. The only thing that we see him actively pursue is sleeping with Donna and keeping Sheila away from Patti—other than that, he is in a dead-end job with no ambition to change it and seems to be indifferent about where he lives and what he does. Further, he is indifferent about the plights of those around him—he is not concerned with Patti’s emotional distress about her job and their relationship, and he admits clearly that once it’s clear he won’t be sleeping with...