A zero ending is an ending that does not tie the threads of a story well. It may not even feel like an ending: In some cases, it may seem like the writer stopped in the middle of a thought or idea. The story's abrupt ending leaves many questions unanswered, such as how exactly the narrator has changed, whether his relationship with his wife will change, or how his opinion of Robert has changed. But the answers to these questions are not the point of the story. “Cathedral” is about a change in a man's understanding of himself and the world, and the narrator ends the story at exactly the moment this change flashes across his mind. The narrator has not become a new person nor has he achieved any kind of soul-changing enlightenment. Indeed, the narrator's last words, "He is truly extraordinary," reveal that he is the same brusque, inarticulate man he has always been.