Exams show reading still relevant

“['Cathedral'] really helped me understand blindness more,” wrote one freshman in my test. “Because of my poor eye sight, I have always had the fear of losing my sight when I am old. Dying or getting hurt does not frighten me as much as not being able to see. However, by learning more about the blind along with the narrator, I am more able to accept blind people, and perhaps I will overcome my fear one day.”

“Sometimes we make a conclusion before we know something well,” observed another. “The narrator thought blind people always wear [dark] glasses or they eat and move slowly . . . but those thoughts were . . . wrong.”

A senior in the course wrote this: “I like this story because it teaches me not to be alienated and isolated when I deal with people. I think the truly 'blind man' is the [narrator] . . . even though the blind man is 'blind, 'his mind is never 'blind.' He has a liberal, positive, and optimistic attitude in his mind.”

I rarely think about pride, but one of my students spoke of pride here. “In 'Cathedral' I realize that in everyone's character there are virtues for us to discover. We should not judge by the first look or by appearances, but put our pride aside and [relate] with others with our true hearts.”

How could anyone read words like these and not grasp the obvious truth that these young people are experiencing themselves and our world as they read about characters that come alive in literature?

Like Mr. Tzeng, I know that experience is linked to education. I also believe that reading is a particularly persuasive form of experience.

Father Daniel J. Bauer SVD is a priest and associate professor in the English Department at Fu Jen Catholic University.

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