Cathedral

An unnamed narrator of the story describes how his wife, Patti, decided one day to get a job for the sake of her own self-worth. The narrator works at a hospital in what he calls a “nothing job” (88). Patti becomes a door-to-door vitamin salesperson. While many people fail at this job, Patti excels. She eventually leads a team of two women, Donna and Sheila, who work reliably under her. To the narrator, Patti is the most attractive of the women, while Donna and Sheila are “medium-pretty” (89). Sheila confessed her love to Patti, but Patti had told her that she is not attracted to women.

Around the same time, near Christmas, vitamin sales are low. To improve morale, Patti and the narrator throw a party. Sheila gets very drunk and passes out, hitting her hand on the coffee table as she falls. Patti and the narrator put her to bed, but Sheila wakes up a few hours later while the narrator drinks alone after the party ends. Sheila is angry because she has a headache and a seemingly broken finger. She needs a ride to the emergency room and demands that the narrator wake Patti up. The narrator offers to drive her, but Sheila refuses because he is still drunk.