Hi, I need help with essay on Symbolism in a Short Story. Paper must be at least 2000 words. Please, no plagiarized work!Download file to see previous pages... The major characters of the story sugges

Hi, I need help with essay on Symbolism in a Short Story. Paper must be at least 2000 words. Please, no plagiarized work!

The major characters of the story suggest that there is no real purpose of life and that the people are just a tiny part in the vast sea of nothingness. According to the waiter, even the religion had no meaning and hence the people's attempt to seek solace in religion is also futile. The waiter does not recite the actual words of the prayer “Our Father who art in heaven” but replaces `father` and `heaven` with nada, the Spanish word for nothing. The other people and the old man are all driven by the same overwhelming idea of nothingness which has made their life miserable and they turn to cafe to escape the loneliness and despair. The other theme of the story is the struggle to tackle despair. Most of the characters in the story are unhappy with their lives and are looking for means to bring back some happiness. The old man has money but that does not make his life any better. We also come to know that he has tried committing suicide several times in order to escape the gloominess. The old waiter and the old man only turn to the Cafe to cure them of the despair. The cafe provides them with a routine which makes their life much better and predictable, very different from the nothingness present in their lives. The cafe is kept neat, clean and well-lighted and also the waiter makes sure that there is no music being played in the cafe. All of these make the atmosphere of the cafe extremely serene. The cafe in 'a clean well lighted place' symbolizes hope and comfort for those who are filled with hopelessness. Just as the light prevails over darkness, the well-lighted cafe also provides some comfort to the men living a troubled life. The men who come there are engulfed in different problems which have made them devoid of any positive emotions. The light drives away some of the darkness and the drunkenness provide them with some relaxation. Cathedral: The theme of the story is the difference between looking and seeing. In the story, looking is regarded as the superficial observation through physical vision but the act of seeing is something greater and comes from the heart. In the beginning, the narrator considers himself superior to Robert because he believes that Robert could not lead a normal life or make any woman happy because of his blindness. The narrator has the ability to look but he never really tries to see anything beyond of what meets the eye. Even though Robert is blind, he really ‘sees’ things rather than just looking. This can be seen from the narrator’s relationship with his wife. The narrator does not understand her wife really well and their relationship is one with little interaction. On the other hand Robert builds up a relationship with the narrator’s wife who confides in him through the audiotapes she sends to him. Robert therefore sees much more deeply and understands the narrator’s wife much more than the narrator. The narrator is able to gain a deeper understanding of his life and his own self when he draws a picture of Cathedral. This is an eye opening experience for him as he realizes seeing and understanding is far more important than only looking at things. This experience also proves to be very effective for Robert as he was able to achieve greater insight about the things around him.