What are two symbols found in the short story "Cathedral"?Explain each and support your answer with specific references from the text.

This excellent story by Carver contains many symbols, but
I will just pick two of the most obvious ones to my mind. Firstly, and perhaps most
blatant, is the symbol of the cathedral that the narrator draws with the blind man who
is his guest holding on to his hands. In his attempts to describe what a cathedral is to
Robert, the narrator literally finds that words fail him. However, as they talk about
cathedrals, it is clear that they are linked with some kind of belief in something
bigger, greater and beyond ourselves. Note how the narrator responds to Robert's
question about if he is religious:

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I said, "The truth is, cathedrals don't mean
anything special to me. Nothing. Cathedrals. They're something to look at on late-night
TV. That's all they are."

Of
course, by the end of the short story, we see that the narrator, through trying to draw
a cathedral with his eyes closed, has perhaps rediscovered some sort of belief in
something beyond himself.

Secondly, the blind man, Robert,
introduces us to the second symbol of this short story, which is of course blindness.
What is particularly interesting is how at the end of the story, after being invited to
close his eyes and draw by Robert, the narrator chooses to keep his eyes closed. Note
his response to this:

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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.

Being "blind" is
actually shown as a way of "seeing" more truly and insightfully than mere sight allows.
Robert, through encouraging the narrator to draw with his eyes shut, makes him see the
truth of this statement, until at the end, the narrator voluntarily chooses to keep his
eyes shut. He discovers how sight can be gained paradoxically through blindness, and as
a result, he experiences a great feeling of liberation and
freedom.