Mr. Kleiman’s cat A) Characterize Mr. Kleinman:
Mr. Kleinman is an old Jewish man, who lived in Germany in the 30’s. He now lives alone in England with very limited contact to neighbors and other people. The only passion he has is taking care of his cat Timmy, who he treats like a son. In Germany the SS took him and his family to Auschwitz. When they arrived they were separated and he never saw his wife and children again. This experience marked him for the rest of his life. He blames himself for it, because he had conscientiously filled in required forms and given the police details about his family. Now Mr. Kleinman doesn’t want to fill in more forms and has refused to register details about his condition with the authorities. This means that he is only allowed a small pension and doesn’t have a lot of money. He is so poor that he can’t afford things he actually needs in his daily life, as repairing the lock to the door. Mr. Kleinman is using glasses, but the glasses are not special made for him. If he would have had specially made glasses, he would have needed to fill in some forms.

B) The themes in the story:
There are a lot of themes in this story. 1) Loneliness as Mr. Kleinman lives alone with no other people apart from limited contact to his neighbor. 2) Affection as Mr. Kleinman treats his cat as his son. 3) Youth violence as Mr. Kleinman is being assaulted by two youth. 3) Physical stress caused by traumatic experiences.

C) How does the story continue?
Mr. Kleinman grabbed some of his pension money and ran down the stairs, as fastest as he could. Almost the half-day were over this Thursday, but he still had some time to get the liver.
They sat at the table, and ate together. Mr. Kleinman had forgot to buy food for himself, so it was a very indelicate meal tonight. Mr. Kleinman didn’t think about the food, he was just so happy, that he got his Timmy back.
It was time for a bath. Timmy was unkempt, and he really needed a bath. Mr. Kleinman put Timmy in the sink, with not a lot of water. He turned Timmy around to get him completely clean. The water in the sink got redder, and he had no idea where it came from. Then he looked all over Timmy’s body. A big scratch on the stomach appeared. It was difficult to see, as it was nearly evening and Mr. Kleinman had not yet switched on the lights. He lit the lamp over the table and it casted a bright light on Timmy's stomach. It was nearly an open wound. Mr. Kleinman didn’t know what to do. He realized that this was something he couldn’t solve by himself, but whom could he trust? The only one he knew was his neighbor Mrs. Fortescue, but he couldn’t leave Timmy alone. He grabbed a towel, pressed it against the wound on Timmy’s stomach and took him in his arms. He went out of the flat, lit the light in the staircase, and knocked on Mrs. Fortescue’s door. A loud woman’s voice came from inside the flat. What is it darlin’ she said. I need your help, Mr. Kleinman said. He came into the flat and explained what has happed to Timmy. ‘Put Timmy on the table’, said Mrs. Fortescue. ‘I know how to treat this. I’ve worked with a vet many years ago. We just need to clean the wound and put some salve and bandage on.’ Mr. Kleinman looked how Mrs. Fortescue effectively cleaned Timmy’s wound and put a nice bandage on. Also Timmy felt that he was in good hands and purred, as he had not done for a long time. Mr. Kleinman relaxed and also felt happier than he had been for a long time. He had trusted Mrs. Fortescue and this had helped Timmy, his one and only.

Mr. Kleinman and Mrs. Fortescue heard some sounds outside of the door. Someone was knocking on a door, but nobody seemed to react. Mrs. Fortescue opened her door, to see who it was. Two policemen were standing in front of Mr. Kleinman door. ‘Can I help you?’ She asked. ‘Yes, please. Do you know where Mr. Kleinman, who lives here, is?’ ‘Is there something wrong’, Mrs. Fortescue replied. One of the policemen explained that they wanted to talk to Mr. Kleinman about his cat. ‘Mr. Kleinman is sitting in my kitchen’, Mrs. Fortescue said, ‘please come in.’
The two policemen came inside her apartment, and sat at the table with Mr. Kleinman. They told, that they had two young men in custody and one of them had told a story about Mr. Kleinman and his cat. They wanted to know if the story was true. If it was, they informed Mr. Kleinman, then he should know that he could accuse the two of harming Timmy and himself. He just needed to fill in a form.

Mr. Kleinman assured the two policemen that nothing seriously had happened and he didn’t want to accuse anyone.