Blindness
Blindness is the overriding motif in “Cathedrals”. The blindness epitomizes the inconsiderateness that people with normal bodies exhibit towards the disabled people. Robert, the blind man, proves to the narrator how insensitive he (the narrator) has been towards the reality of disability.
Myers’ Notebook
In “Kindling”, Myers has a notebook where he records his deliberations every day. The notebook is figurative of Myers’ life. On the first day at Sol’s house, he writes: “Emptiness is the beginning of all things”. On the second day he writes: “Nothing”. On the night that he kindles woods he writes: “I have sawdust in my shirtsleeves tonight... It’s a sweet smell.” The last entry is more detailed. He writes: “The country I’m in is very exotic. It reminds me of someplace I’ve read about but never traveled to before now. Outside my window I can hear a river and in the valley behind the house there is a forest and precipices and mountain peaks covered with snow. Today I saw a wild eagle, and a deer, and I cut and chopped two cords of wood.” The entries in the diary, before the kindling, which are epigrammatic, give a picture of a hollow, senseless life. Comparatively, the entries after the Kindling, which are in depth, suggest that Myers has found tenacity in his life. Therefore, the kindling is very substantial as it brings Myers’ life back to the right trajectory.
Bees (“What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”)
The bees are representational of Mel’s aversion for his ex-wife. Mel says, “ I’m praying she’ll get herself stung to death by a swarm of f*cking bees…Sometimes I think I’ll go up there dressed like a beekeeper…I’ll knock on the door and let loose a hive of bees in the house.” Even though Mel makes this revelation while drunk, it makes it palpable that the revulsion that he feels for his ex-wife is as concentrated as the love that he used to feel for her. Wishing that his ex-wife would die is a manifestation of acidic love that cannot be resuscitated.
