What would be a good thesis statement for "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver and "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin?

Your question doesn't mention this, but I am guessing that
you are writing a compare and contrast essay on these two excellent stories and need a
thesis statement for your assignment. One place to start might be by looking at the way
that the narrator of each tale changes as a result of the other people in the story.
There is a definite transfomation both in the narrator of "Cathedral" because of the
visit of Robert, the blind man. Note how, after drawing the cathedral and imagining it
with his eyes shut, he leaves his eyes closed and experiences a feeling of liberation
and release:

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My eyes were still closed. I was in my house. I
knew that. But I didn't feel like I was inside
anything.

Experiencing life
from Robert's point of view and meeting him has changed him profoundly and his
perspective on life.

Also in the narrator of "Sonny's
Blues" when he sees his brother performing jazz. The narrator experiences the way that
his brother is able to find relief, albeit temporary, through his music, and he moves
from a position of judging his brother to one of
understanding:

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Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at
last, that he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free
until we did. Yet, there was no battle in his face now, I heard what he had gone
through, and would continue to go through until he came to rest in
earth.

The narrator thus
experiences the same "freedom" that his brother experiences through jazz, and through
his music he "hears" what his brother has endured and his
struggles.

Therefore you might want to think of a thesis
statement like:

Both narrators in "Cathedral" and "Sonny's
Blues" undergo a transformation in their character through seeing life through the eyes
of another character.

This thesis statement will leave you
free to talk about their transformations. Good luck!