“Cathedral” a story by Raymond Carver shows how a visit from a blind man affects the life of a married couple. The three main characters are the husband who is the narrator, the wife and Robert. The husband is a cynical, closed-minded man who is angry that Robert stays in his house because he doesn't know how to treat a blind man. The wife is a kind woman who has a closer relationship with Roberts than with her husband. Robert is a blind man who has just lost his wife and lives with his friend and her husband. In "Cathedral", Raymond Carver uses symbolism to show the weakness and strength of human beings. One of the symbols that the author uses in "Cathedral" is drinking, which shows how humans use drinking as a form of escape from their problems, but at the same time at the same time drinking helps the narrator to have a clearer mind open. Drinking is present many times in the story, when the wife tries to kill herself, when the husband waits for his wife and the blind man, when the husband meets Robert, and when the husband, wife and Robert eat and when they watch television. According to Caldwell Tracy "The narrator's disaffected state of mind seems exacerbated by his turn to alcohol and drugs, which he uses both to provide a level of comfort during Robert's visit and as a strategy for dealing with his frequent nightmares." Drinking in the story can be seen as a way to escape reality because you know that the husband is alone and alcohol is a way to forget him. “I made the drinks, three large glasses of scotch with a splash of water in each. Then we got comfortable and talked about Robert's travels” (436), this quote shows how drinking in the story was the form in which the husband and Robert act socializing and... middle of paper... at uses symbolism to show how a person's weakness can become strength. The symbols of drinking which represent a form of escape and letting one's guard down, Robert's blindness which represents that a weakness can become a strength, and the drawing of a cathedral which represents the faith and freedom that the narrator acquires at the end of history.Works CitedCaldwell, Tracy M."Cathedral." Literary Contexts in Short Stories: Raymond Carver's "Cathedral" (2006): 1-8. Literary Reference Center Plus. Network. 3 March 2014.Carver, Raymond. "Cathedral." Kirszner and Mandell 432-442. Delaney, Bill. "Cathedral." Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition (2004): 1-2. Literary Reference Center Plus. Network. March 3, 2014. Kirszner, Laurie G. and Stephen R. Mandell., eds. Literature: reading, reacting, writing. 8th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage, 2013. Print.