understand her on such a profound level because he puts his mind and heart to use when he
listens to her. He feels every word that comes out of her mouth, every word that is uttered in the
tapes she sends him and this is heavily emphasized throughout the story because the reader never
finds out what sort of content the blind man puts in his tapes to the narrator’s wife. This aspect
does not make the blind man’s responses insignificant, but rather, it highlights that it is more
important for the blind man to feel and to comprehend the woman’s words, than it is for him to
speak. Consequently, due to the blind man’s ability to figuratively see depth in every situation,
the narrator’s wife is unquestionably comfortable with the blind man as she confides her deepest
and darkest secrets with him. The character of the blind man stands for absolute perception and
insight, and emphasizes that the act of seeing involves a whole lot more than simply looking. It
involves the act of being there in the moment and merging with the object of contemplation,
which the blind man does throughout the short story.
Towards the very end of the story, the blind man helps the narrator momentarily merge
with the cathedral, highlighting the transcendent moment that was rather unexpected and yet
quite remarkable. The narrator undergoes a significant character development throughout the
story as the ending is quite revolutionary. There is a sudden moment of epiphany towards the
very end of the story, where the blind man’s transcendentalist views affect and influence the
narrator, and the narrator seems absolutely stunned and enchanted when he says “It was like
nothing else in my life up to now” (p. 13). When the narrator draws the cathedral, he somehow
seems possessed and he still continues drawing even when he closes his eyes. He is suddenly
able to see something beyond the physical and this is where he clearly experiences
transcendentalism. Furthermore, throughout the first few pages of the story, it seems as though
the blind man is not actually there in the moment with the narrator and his wife. Although he is
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