1 Angelone Alexa Angelone Professor Zino English 162W May 1, 2011 Unknowingly Understanding Without comprehending the purposes of objects, people cannot explain what it is that they are truly seeing. They are unable to see past the physical features of the object and therefore cannot see the true symbolism that the object holds sacred. These objects, when put together, can occupy a place; what was once called space. Yi-Fu Tuan, in his book titled Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience, explains how we use our surroundings as an influence on our behavior. Tuan suggests that, “When space feels thoroughly familiar to us, it has become place” (73). Spaces, after being carefully filled, become a specific place in which people can be comfortable. Often, if we are lucky enough, we can experience our spaces and places through each of our five senses; seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, and tasting. People who have all five properly working senses can often take for granted what it is they truly have. In one of Raymond Carver’s stories, Cathedral, he creates two important characters, one of which is blind. As a blind man, Robert must compensate for his blindness with the other four senses, but even still, he can understand the true meaning of objects without seeing them because, according to Tuan, seeing puts greater distance between you and the object. Another character, the nameless husband and narrator, does not see what the physical features of objects, nor
