An Analysis of Cathedral in the Light of Politeness Principle

【Abstract】Politeness is an important aspect of human social communication to get a comfortable or tactful interaction. Based on the Politeness Principle proposed by Leech， the paper aims to analyze the conversation in Raymond Carver’s short story Cathedral in order to get a better understanding of the characters and their relationship.

【Key words】Politeness Principle； Cathedral； character； relationship

1. Introduction

The short story Cathedral is told from the first-person perspective “I” and our protagonist is the narrator. One day， a friend of the protagonist’s wife， Robert who was blind was going to visit and the protagonist was not so willing to treat such a blind friend. However， with the development of the story， “I” gradually changed the biased idea toward the blind man and also got a relief with the help of the blind.

According to the Politeness Principle， one needs to minimize （other things being equal） the expression of impolite beliefs and maximize （other things being equal） the expression of polite beliefs （Leech， 1983：81）. And the principle consists of six maxims： Tact Maxim， Generosity Maxim， Approbation Maxim， Modesty Maxim， Agreement Maxim， Sympathy Maxim. Through the observance and violation of Politeness Principle， a better understanding of the features of the characters and the relationship between them can be gotten.

2. The Relationship Between Protagonist and Robert.

2.1 Hostility and Coldness

The major talk begins as Robert arrived and they sat down

“Did you have a good train ride？” I said. “Which side of the train did you sit on， by the way？” （Carver， 1989：362）

Here， the protagonist was a little impolite and violated the Tact Maxim. Different from ordinary people who can choose a side to see beautiful scenery during the travel， the blind man might not care much about which side he sat， because both the right and left sides were the same for him.

“Right side，” the blind man said. “I hadn't been on a train in nearly forty years. Not since I was a kid... I have winter in my beard now，” he said. “So I've been told， anyway. Do I look distinguished， my dear？” the blind man said to my wife. （Carver， 1989：362）

Although， it was an awkward question， Robert， obeying the Generosity Maxim， not only answered the question but also shared his experience and feeling about taking a train to cover the awkward question and make the atmosphere relaxing.

“Now let us pray，” I said， and the blind man lowered his head. My wife looked at me， her mouth agape. “Pray the phone won't ring and the food doesn't get cold，” I said. （Carver， 1989：364）

Here， the three characters were going to have a dinner， and “I” proposed to pray. On the surface it was a humorous pray， however， our protagonist here violated the Tact Maxim again. Because Robert was a devout believer who was preparing for a pious pray and our protagonist also knew the fact. Such a joke here can be regarded as lack of respect. In such a context， we can know that “I” totally ignored the feeling of Robert and openly expressed hostility.

“How long had I been in my present position？ （Three years.） Did I like my work？ （I didn’t.） Was I going to stay with it？ （What were the opinions？）” （Carver， 1989：365）

After dinner， Robert had an active talk with the protagonist’s wife and tried to involve the protagonist into the talking. While the protagonist， violating the Tact Maxim again， just gave a short and cold response which made the atmosphere awkward again and blocked the further communication.

Up to now it can be found that Robert was a kind person who although was blind could notice the condition of people around and tried his best to take care of them. While our protagonist always refused to accept the kindness of Robert and were not willing to communicate with other people. Also， through the short response we can notice the cold attitude of the protagonist toward Robert. At present， their relationship still stayed at an awkward stage.

2.2 Normal and Turning Good

The turning point occurred when our protagonist invited Robert to smoke a dope with him. By following the Agreement Maxim， Robert accepted the suggestion. Our protagonist answered with “Damn right” showing that he was satisfied with the agreement of Robert. He did not feel so reserved， became a little relaxed and began to talk more.

“You say when you want some strawberry pie，” I said.

“I will，” he said.

I said， “Are you tired？ Do you want me to take you up to your bed？ Are you ready to hit the hay？”

“Not yet，” he said. “No， I'll stay up with you， bub. If that's all right. I'll stay up until you're ready to turn in. We haven't had a chance to talk. Know what I mean？ I feel like me and her monopolized the evening.” He lifted his beard and he let it fall. He picked up his cigarettes and his lighter.

“That's all right，” I said. Then I said， “I'm glad for the company.” （Carver， 1989：368）

A series of questions expressed our protagonist’s care about Robert’s feeling and also is the following of Tact Maxim. When Robert said that he wanted to stay up with our protagonist and expressed his apologize of not involving the protagonist in the talk. Our protagonist， obeying the Generosity Maxim showed his understanding for the ignorance and his appreciate for the company of Robert.

It can be found the atmosphere between Robert and the protagonist began to turn good and their relationship also became friendly.

2.3 Heart to Heart

When the protagonist was willing to communicate and began to talk politely， the relationship also had a positive change. When they sat watching TV， they began the talk about cathedral. Robert gave a suggestion that maybe the protagonist could give him a description of the cathedral.

“I’m not doing so good， am I？”...

“... You could tell this from their cathedral-building. I'm sorry，” I said， “but it looks like that's the best I can do for you. I'm just no good at it.”

“That’s all right， bub，” the blind man said. （Carver， 1989：371-372）

The protagonist tried his best to give a clear description of the cathedral but he was still not satisfied and expressed his apology to Robert which also shows his obeying of the Modest Maxim. Here， our protagonist gradually opened his mind and appeal for the judge and approval from Robert. And Robert， obeying the Generosity Maxim， gave an encouragement and promoted a further talking.

“Hey， listen. I hope you don't mind my asking you. Can I ask you something？ Let me ask you a simple question， yes or no. I'm just curious and there's no offense. You're my host. But let me ask if you are in any way religious？ You don't mind my asking？”

...“I guess I don't believe in it. In anything. Sometimes it's hard. You know what I'm saying？”

“Sure， I do，” he said.

“Right，” I said. （Carver， 1989：372）

Here， obeying the Tact Maxim， Robert asked politely and euphemistically a very private question. Following Generosity Maxim， our protagonist directly gave his answer and tried to give an explanation and appeal for the understanding from Robert. Robert， following the Agreement and Sympathy Maxims， expressed his agreement and understanding which gave the protagonist a feeling of security and let him talk more his inner feeling about cathedral and confessed that he didn’t have any belief and had a hard mental life.

Taking advantage of the talking， Robert gave one more suggestion to draw a cathedral， during which Robert， following the Approbation Maxim， gave constant encouragement and praise to the protagonist： “Swell”， “Terrific. You're doing fine”， “Doing fine”， “That's right. That's good”. Under the encouragement of Robert， our protagonist drew the cathedral just following his heart， it seemed that he was pouring out his own emotion and feeling. And finally he could understand Robert and free himself.

3. Conclusion

Based on the Politeness Principles， the analysis of the conversation in Cathedral reveals the relationship between Robert and our protagonist. From the total ignore of Politeness Principle to the careful observance of it our protagonist， changed his attitude towards Robert step by step and their relationship also turned from hostile， cold， awkward to friendly. Such a change can be regarded as a process of releasing emotion and self-liberation. The protagonist gradually opened his heart， expressed his true feeling， learned to care about other people， and freed himself from the mental yoke.

References：

[1]Carver，Raymond.1989.Where I’m Calling From：New and Selected Stories[M].New York：Vintage Contemporaries.

[2]Leech，G.1983.Principles of Pragmatics[M].London：Longman.