corresponding with his wife by means of cassette tapes.

After sharing dinner and smoking some marijuana together, the two men start to bond. When a documentary about cathedrals comes on the television which is on in the background, the narrator shows empathy and compassion for Robert by describing the buildings for him. This leads to the decision to work together to draw a cathedral, which allows Robert to get a real idea of what the cathedral looks like and gives the narrator an opportunity to experience something of what it is like to be blind.

For the narrator, who lacks social graces and has experienced jealousy towards Robert, the cathedral symbolizes an opportunity to put somebody else's needs ahead of his own and think about life from a different perspective. It also symbolizes the discovery of artistic talent and the desire to open up to somebody. As he leaves his reservations behind him, the narrator helps Robert to create a sketch that is, for different reasons, enlightening to both men.

There is presumably a contrast between the towering cathedrals built in medieval times by devoutly religious men collaborating on a beautiful building, on the one hand, and two blind modern agnostics collaborating on a drawing of a cathedral on a big piece of brown wrapping paper while they are both high on marijuana. Carver's stories often reflect the anomie and pointlessness of modern life. The story is characteristically sad and funny at the same time. He often built his stories and poems on a single object, such as a bridle in one of his other late stories. He saw a lot of significance in simple, ordinary things. His unique sense of humor is the only thing that provides a ray of hope. His people have the courage to go on, in spite of the fact that they have no idea where they are going.

One of Carver’s distinguishing traits as a writer is his astonishing candor, and anyone who reads a dozen of his short stories will get a good idea of what his life was like for nearly two decades. His drinking caused serious domestic and financial problems, which led to feelings of guilt and more drinking. Amazingly, his strong constitution and unwavering motivation enabled him to continue producing stories and poems.  Quoted from eNotes Study Guide

Cathedral is a short story by Raymond Carver. The story develops an ironic situation in which a blind man teaches a sighted man to truly “see” for the first time. Near the end of the story, Carver has these two characters work together on a drawing of a cathedral, which serves as the symbolic heart of the story.

To fully understand the symbolism of the cathedral, it is necessary to understand the characters involved. The blind man, Robert, is a friend of the narrator’s (the sighted man) wife. He has come to visit them for a night after his own wife dies.  

The narrator reveals early on that he does not particularly want the blind man in his house—it makes him feel uncomfortable. For most of the story he makes one observation after another that reveal his shallowness. In the following excerpt he is imagining how the blind man’s wife must have felt on her death bed:

And then to slip off into death, the blind man's hand on her hand, his blind eyes streaming tears--I'm imagining now--her last thought maybe this: that he never even knew what she looked like, and she on an express to the grave. Robert was left with a small insurance policy and a half of a twenty-peso Mexican coin. The other half of the coin went into the box with her. Pathetic.

The use of the word "pathetic" demonstrates the narrator's inability to see the beauty of the situation he is describing. 

However, late in the story, they begin to discuss what a cathedral is. Robert asks the narrator to draw one for him as he puts his hand over the narrator’s drawing hand. At first the narrator is hesitant and uncomfortable, lacking confidence. Eventually he begins to become engrossed in the process. Finally, at the end, the blind man tells him to continue, but with his eyes closed:

I did it. I closed them just like he said.

"Are they closed?" he said. "Don't fudge."

"They're closed," I said.

"Keep them that way," he said. He said, "Don't stop now. Draw."

So we kept on with it. His fingers rode my fingers as my hand went over the paper. It was like nothing else in my life up to now. 

Thus, the narrator has finally “opened his eyes” in the sense that he can see beyond his previously superficial outlook. The blind man, by getting him to physically close his eyes while his imagination was at work made the change possible.

The cathedral itself could be said to symbolize the power of the imagination or the knowledge that life is more than the day to day events that take up most of our time. There is something rare and beautiful that we can only access through our minds. Before the experience the narrator was unimaginative and self centered. The drawing of the cathedral took him to a new place.

The main theme of “Cathedral” is that human connection occurs in various forms and degrees. The characters illustrate that people have different ways and abilities to connect and relate to others; some are more successful than others.

Connections between spouses may be expected to be stronger than connections between non-related people, but Carver illustrates this is not necessarily and consistently true. The married couples—the narrator and his wife as well as the wife and her first husband, an officer—do not seem to have particularly strong, close relationships. The narrator cannot understand his wife’s enduring friendship with the blind man Robert, for whom she read one summer ten years ago. He doesn’t “think much of” or even seem to try to understand her poetry she wrote regarding her bond with Robert. Before Robert visits them, the narrator expresses his reluctance to host his wife’s longtime and long-distant friend. In fact, he himself doesn’t “have any friends”.

On the other hand, the narrator’s wife and Robert share a close platonic relationship that has lasted years over geographic distances. The wife confided in Robert about her unhappiness as an officer’s wife during her first marriage and even her attempted suicide. Robert revealed to her intimate details of his marriage to his wife Beulah. Interestingly, the wife and Robert’s communication sustaining their connection actually revealed their own contrasting marriages. The wife could not connect with the officer when she was married to him, but Robert and his wife Beulah were “inseparable for eight years.”

The narrator himself seems unable to connect to others. He is distant from his wife and remains untouched by his wife’s description of Robert’s devotion to Beulah when she was dying in the hospital. He can’t connect with Robert beyond eating, smoking, and sharing small talk with him. When the narrator tries to describe to Robert what a cathedral looks like, he offers a few superficial details (big, massive, carved, stone, marble) but then gives up with, “I’m sorry, but it looks like that’s the best I can do for you. I’m just no good at it.” Robert tries to bridge this gap in communication with an idea: he’ll rest his hand on the narrator’s hand sketching a cathedral. This way, Robert can learn about and feel what a cathedral is through touch in addition to the narrator’s verbal description.

Robert ultimately feels a connection with the narrator and understands the meaning of a cathedral as a place for human connection (“What’s a cathedral without people?”). He declares, “I think that’s it. I think you got it.” The narrator, however, feels nothing. He seems to realize that he cannot connect, but wants to maintain an appearance of connection out of politeness—or to save face. When Robert asks the narrator, “What do you think?” the narrator lies with, “It’s really something.”

The main theme of the story is that intimacy involves much more than surface interaction and that it is the act of active listening which inspires understanding and devotion.

In the story, the narrator finds it perplexing that his wife is so attached to her blind friend, Robert. He is bewildered that her relationship with Robert has endured through her previous divorce and has even now encroached upon their marriage.

So, when the narrator's wife tells him that Robert is visiting, the narrator isn't especially enthused about admitting such a character into their home. After all, his wife shares an emotional intimacy with Robert that troubles him. The narrator doesn't understand why his wife finds Robert so fascinating, and it irritates him.

Awkwardly, he offers to take Robert bowling when he comes to visit, but his wife thinks that he is being patronizing. So, his offer falls flat. In fact, he and his wife seem to be at odds regarding Robert's impending visit, and this leaves him feeling helpless. The narrator decides to bide his time. When Robert arrives, the narrator is surprised when he notices how uncharacteristically cheerful his wife is in Robert's presence. Earlier in the story, the narrator tells how affected his wife was when Robert touched her face intimately all those years ago. Even now, he has no idea how the tapes his wife exchanged with Robert led to such enduring warmth and affection between the two of them.

When the narrator muses about Beulah, Robert's deceased wife, he imagines himself feeling pity for her. After all, Robert never saw what Beulah looked like, so how could he compliment her and make her feel good? The narrator is genuinely perplexed about how a blind man could have any sort of satisfying relationship with a woman under the circumstances of his disability. Here, it is clear that the narrator is oblivious to the true nature of intimacy. This brings us back to the main theme: true intimacy involves much more than surface interaction; in fact, intimacy itself is fostered by active listening and open communication. In such an atmosphere, mutual understanding is fostered.

The narrator discovers this by the end of the story when Robert guides him in drawing his personal idea of a cathedral. Before the narrator begins, Robert asks him whether he is religious. Embarrassed, the narrator admits that he is unsure about God. For his part, Robert just encourages the narrator to draw and promises that he will be there to help him. The narrator begins to draw, and he eventually becomes fascinated with the act of producing his vision of a cathedral on paper. Essentially, Robert's open acceptance of the narrator is what inspires the narrator to delve deeper into his own insecurities about faith. Robert's attentiveness to the narrator's emotions fosters an atmosphere of understanding and camaraderie, essential elements of intimacy. His ability to listen to and not to judge the narrator underlines the main theme of this short story.

The short story "Cathedral" has several main ideas or themes. One theme in the story is the effects of loneliness and isolation on the individual. The characters in the story feel alone and cut off from others. This leads to a desperate depression.

Another theme of the story is that of the trans-formative power of art. Poetry helps the narrator to work through her isolation and change.

A third theme, directly tied to the other two, is the power of the human imagination. This power is what allows the narrator to change her life of isolation and misery. 

In Raymond Carver's "Cathedral," a reader might find many themes, but there is one that stands out for me.

It's important to remember that a theme is a major idea or "life truth" that the author is trying to share with the reader.

It is interesting to note the kind of man the narrator is. He is resentful of the platonic relationship his wife has with a man she worked with in the past. Having lost his wife, he is traveling; they have planned to have him stay one night before moving on. If the narrator isn't already being difficult about their impending visitor, the fact that Robert is blind does not make things easier. In truth, the narrator acts very much like a child, unhappy about specific aspects of the impending visiting; specifically, he is prejudiced about Robert being blind:

I wasn't enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me. My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed.

The speaker makes it clear that he is not happy about Robert coming; without knowing him, the narrator draws unfair conclusions about the man, and his wife makes it clear that he had better behave himself while Robert is visiting them:

"If you love me," she said, "you can do this for me. If you don't love me, okay. But if you had a friend, any friend, and the friend came to visit, I'd make him feel comfortable."

When Robert arrives, things are a little awkward, but perhaps no more than any people meeting for the first time in a social setting. The narrator's wife has pointed out to him that he has no friends. He seems comfortable in his own element, without strangers interfering with his isolation. However, as the night progresses the two men talk and eventually "watch" television, as the narrator tries to describe with words what a cathedral "looks" like. Robert suggests that if the speaker will get a large piece of paper and a pen, while the narrator draws Robert can follow the movement of his hand and mentally envision the shape of the building.

He found my hand, the hand with the pen. He closed his hand over my hand. "Go ahead, bub, draw," he said. "Draw. You'll see. I'll follow along with you. It'll be okay. Just begin now like I'm telling you. You'll see. Draw," the blind man said.

The key to the theme is in Robert's comment: "You'll see." The narrator believes that "seeing" is something he can do that Robert cannot. He thinks that Robert as a man of limitations, but the truth is that the narrator is the blind one: unable to see the value of the world and the people around them because he bases his perceptions on what can be seen. This exercise with Robert opens the narrator's mind to how blind he really is, but the reader is left with the impression that the speaker has been changed by understanding how to see as Robert does (a paradoxical development). The narrator draws with his eyes closed:

"Keep them that way," [Robert] said. He said, "Don't stop now. Draw."

So we kept on with it. His fingers rode my fingers as my hand went over the paper. It was like nothing else in my life up to now.

At the close of the story, the narrator is not interested in seeing with his eyes open, but continues to see the world with his eyes shut. The theme could be that things are not always what they seem, or one cannot know the world simply by looking at it:  one must look beyond the surface.

One of the principle themes is that of blindness. This is shown through the character of Robert, who is literally blind. However, although Robert is the only character who is literally blind, at the same time, it is clear that the narrator is "blind" metaphorically in a number of ways. This is shown through his selfishness and also his inability to see how his actions are impacting his relationship with his wife, who is increasingly annoyed by his insensitivity and rudeness. However, it is when Robert asks the narrator to draw a cathedral for him, the narrator discovers that being blind and having to rely on your other senses can actually be a very positive and amazing experience. Note the way that when Robert urges the narrator to open his eyes and have a look at the drawing he made, the narrator doesn't:

But I had my eyes closed. I thought I'd keep them that way for a little longer. I thought it was something I ought to do.

He finds this experience incredible, as although he knew he was still inside his house, he "didn't feel like [he] was inside anything." The narrator moves from seeing blindness as a disability and making fun of Robert to actually being able to understand how blindness is something that can deepen one's perspective on life. In the same way, although the ending does not reference this, the reader gets the feeling that this visit from Robert will have changed the narrator's relationship with his wife for the better. The notion of blindness is therefore one of the key themes of the short story. 

A cathedral is a physical embodiment of transcendent, universal values. The narrator, unlike the blind man, Robert, seems disconnected from these values and all they represent. His limited perspective on life is restricted to the here and now; he has no use for anything that's remotely spiritual or other-worldly. Thanks to Robert, however, he's able to gain a new perspective on things as he draws a picture of a cathedral.

Cathedrals come in all different architectural styles, yet they all reach up to heaven in a symbolic recognition of a higher power. That's what the narrator is unwittingly doing when he draws the cathedral for Robert. He's acknowledging the existence of a much bigger world than the one in which he's been living.

In Raymond Carver's short story "Cathedral," the narrator, who is extremely close-minded about his visitor's handicap, learns to see him with a new perspective as they draw a cathedral together.  The experiment begins after dinner as the two men watch and listen to a television program; when a cathedral is mentioned, the narrator is unable to explain what it looks like to the blind man.  Robert encourages the narrator to draw it for him, so he can follow the movement and understand the shape.

Carver's choice of the subject, the cathedral, is symbolic and paramount to the developing theme in the story.  Cathedrals are long-lasting monuments to God, a place of grace, but also of vision--to learn and see the truth.  As the narrator sketches the cathedral with Robert, he begins to see the truth about him, not as simply a blind man, but as a genuine individual.  Moreover, cathedrals are auspicious buildings that take years of collaboration and effort to build, very similar to how a friendship must be formed and cultivated.  In the end, the narrator and Robert develop the foundation for a friendship that night as they draw the cathedral together:

"The blind man said, 'We’re drawing a cathedral. Me and him are working on it...'"

Carver's use of the cathedral imbues the story with a deeper subtext by suggesting a place in which beauty, vision, and grace all meaningfully come together.  Cathedrals are a place of transformation.

The image of a cathedral is used after Robert asks the narrator to describe what he sees on a television program. It is significant because it becomes the means to the act of communion between the two men and inspires both of them.

After the narrator's wife falls asleep on the couch, her blind friend Robert, who is visiting her, says he wants to stay up with the narrator. "Something about the church and the Middle Ages was on the TV." The narrator tries other stations, but there is nothing that interests him, so he turns back to the first channel. Robert tells him not to worry about it because he can always learn something new. As he listens, it becomes apparent that Robert cannot envision what a cathedral looks like. He asks his host to describe it to him. The narrator tries to explain it is a medieval church with very high ceilings and spires that took hundreds of years to complete. 

These beautiful churches, built at a time when men were attempting to reach toward the heavens and free themselves from the Dark Ages, were often dedicated to Mary. These cathedrals were huge structures that have spires that reach to the sky, vaulted ceilings, stained glass windows, massive doors carved with Bible stories, and flying buttresses in the Gothic style. The narrator says he cannot really describe these impressive churches. 

Robert asks his host to get some heavy paper and a pen so they can draw together. It is, indeed, significant that the narrator and Robert draw a cathedral, a beautiful structure that attempts to reach to the heavens in supplication to a higher Power. At the time of their construction, cathedrals lifted the hearts and souls of worshipers, as they were inspired by spiritual desires when they saw the beautiful windows with stories of the saints in them. Therefore, the drawing of a cathedral acts as the medium with which the narrator and Robert can both be lifted together and be in communion spiritually. "It was like nothing else in my life up to now" the narrator concludes, as he has finally connected with another person.

This is probably the most challenging aspect of Raymond Carver's short story, "Cathedral:" why does Robert have the narrator draw a picture of the cathedral shown on the television?

The narrator is particularly uncharitable in his assessment of Robert, his wife's blind friend who comes to visit after his wife dies. The narrator seems jealous and childish. When the man arrives, the narrator looks out the window for his first view, and says:

She went around to the other side of the car to where the blind man was already starting to get out. This blind man, feature this, he was wearing a full beard! A beard on a blind man! Too much, I say.

Perhaps part of the difficulty is that the narrator does not know how to act with a victim of disability. He says to his wife:

“I don’t have any blind friends,” I said.

Her curt response to him is:

“You don’t have any friends,” she said. “Period..."

It is only when dinner is over and the narrator brings out some marijuana to smoke that he relaxes. He offers some to Robert, who tries it—a new experience for him. What also may aid in the narrator's ability to more easily connect with Robert is the blind man's affability—whatever the narrator says or does, Robert does not take it personally.

When they begin to "watch" TV, Robert asks the narrator to describe what he sees. The narrator struggles, even apologetic, that he can't do a better job putting into words the images before him. Robert suggests that he get some "heavy paper" and a pen, and draw.

“Go ahead, bub, draw,” he said. “Draw. You’ll see. I’ll follow along with you. It’ll be okay. Just begin now like I’m telling you. You’ll see. Draw,” the blind man said.

Robert is extremely supportive—full of encouragement.

“Swell,” he said. “Terrific. You’re doing fine,” he said.

The narrator's antagonism dissipates. By following the movement of the narrator's hand as he draws, and feeling the paper, Robert is able to gain some insight as to the shape of the cathedral.

The benefits of this activity may be threefold. First, the narrator's inability to articulate what he sees may provide him a context with which to understand Robert's inability to see: both are at a disadvantage—both have a "handicap." Second, the project creates a common purpose and a bond between the men who have the same goal: to draw the cathedral.

The blind man said, “We’re drawing a cathedral. Me and him are working on it..."

Something that strikes me is that Robert is often referred to as "the blind man," so I cannot help but feel that the concept of "the inability to see" is key, but not just for Robert—it is also the case for the narrator who cannot see the value of Robert simply because he may be jealous of the man's friendship with his wife, and/or because he perceives Robert as less than adequate because of his blindness.

Finally, the "cathedral" itself may well introduce the idea of a "miracle." It certainly seems to be just that when the narrator is so taken by the exercise that his perceptions change. In finding a way to "see" Robert differently, the narrator may well be able to see his own life differently—in a much more positive way.

"Cathedral," like many of Carver's other stories, portrays individuals isolated from each other for a variety of reasons. The narrator drinks too much and seems unable to adequately communicate with his wife. The wife has earlier tried to commit suicide because of loneliness. Only the blind man, Robert, seems able to form lasting human connections. Unlike Carver's other stories, however, "Cathedral" ends with hope; although there is no proof that the narrator will overcome his isolation, for the moment, he is in communion with himself and another human being.

As enotes.com/cathedral alludes to above is that isolation and loneliness is one theme.  Both the narrator and his wife are unable to effectively communicate with one another; however, his wife communicates freely and well with the blind man.  The narrator is very resistant to getting to know this man and is resentful of his presence. Conversely, another theme would be hope for personal growth, as the narrator seems to have an epiphany of sorts at the end when he makes ther realization that he can communicate with the blind man and that doing so makes him feel very different and alive in many ways.

One theme that is enhanced by the elements of fiction in "Cathedral" is how individuals can overcome the condition of what is and enter into a condition of what can be.  The transformative quality within individuals is possible through being able to appreciate the mystical qualities of being in the world.  This is seen in the narrator when he says, "It's really something."  The ambiguous quality of this bit of dialogue helps to establish how individuals who are mired in the most hopeless of situations can be privy to powerful transformations, enabling them to see what can be out of the shards of what is if they are open to such change.

The trajectory of the plot in "Cathedral" also helps to enhance this theme of change.   At the beginning of the evening, the narrator is not in such a position.  Yet, by the end of the evening, it becomes clear that the narrator has found some path out of the alienation that had gripped him for so long.  In being able to share a moment with Robert, there is the possibility for hope and for transformation within a world where existence is defined by the most rigid of contexts.