What are some of the symbols in the short story "The Sin Eater" by Margaret Atwood?

The very premise of this story lies on a symbolic
principle.  In fact, the story is almost held together by symbolism, so you can probably
analyze any object (or character) of importance in the story and assume that a symbolic
meaning exists there.

To get you started consider the
symbolism involved in the act of "sin-eating"
itself:

• "The sin-eater": a person who performs a
  spiritual ritual of "eating" the sins of a dead person so that his soul can go to
  heaven.


• the bread the sin-eater eats: symbolic of sin
  

Other elements in the story that could be
considered symbolic are:

• Joseph's name: possibly
  symbolically linked to the Joseph of the Bible - Jesus' earthly father.  In this way,
  the religious allusion here is a symbolic effort to show the vast
  differences between this character and the Biblical
  figure.


• Joseph's profession of psychiatry: though Joseph
  is opposed to the idea of "sin-eating," his profession is very similar in that he
  listens to and takes on his patients problems (sins) while they are still
  alive.


• flower symbolism: the calla-lillies that Joseph
  grows are symbolic of his desire for positive change; the stolen-sunflower could be
  symbolic of the "stealing" of Joseph's ability to maintain
  fidelity

There are several
other symbols throughout the story that you could add to this list.  Many of
the objects have symbolic meaning outside of the story's context that could be applied
to further understand the meaning of the story.