...Ernest Hemingway’s “A Cat in the Rain”: Symbolism. AUTORA: Vanesa Duque León “A Cat in the Rain” is a non-fiction story that belongs to Ernest Hemingway’s collection. In a 1958 interview, Hemingway expressed his literary concern in a way that shows how his art both depends on and radically departs from conventional “realism”: “From things that have happened and from things as they exist and from all the things that you know and all those that you cannot know, you make something through your invention that is not a representation but a whole new thing truer than any thing true and alive. (The Harper American Literature, 1156) In “A Cat in the Rain,” Hemingway demonstrates his ability to portray real women with problems and to respond to their unhappiness with real sympathy. “A Cat in the Rain” is, on the surface, a simple tale of an American couple in Italy. Ernest Hemingway’s “A Cat in the Rain” However, the reader soon realizes that this uncomplicated story illuminates much deeper meanings. This seemingly mundane plot becomes symbolic and purposeful under the reader’s gaze. There were only two Americans stopping at the hotel. They did not know any of the people they passed on the stairs on their way to and from their room. Their room was on the second floor facing the sea. It also faced the public garden and war monument. There were big palms and green benches in the public garden. In the good weather there was always an artist with his easel...
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...An analysis about ‘Lack of Communication’ In Terms of ‘Cat in the Rain’ by Ernest Hemingway ‘Cat in the Rain’ is the short story of Ernest Hemingway written in the 1920’s. It is about an American couple that spends their holidays in an Italian hotel. In the story, ‘Cat in the Rain’ Ernest Hemingway sets the scene for his fiction in a hotel room in Italy on a rainy day. On the first reading of this short story it can be easily interpreted as a wife nagging her husband, who is lying in bed while reading a book but after analyzing the story carefully it is not difficult to see the indifference of man to the woman. This paper aims to analyze the theme ‘lack of communication’ in terms of the story ‘Cat in the Rain’. It is a rainy day and the American woman sees a cat in the rain, which she wants to protect from the raindrops. When she goes out of the hotel, which is kept by an Old Italian who really seems to do everything to please that woman, and wants to get the cat, it is gone. After returning to the hotel room, she starts a conversation with her husband George, who is reading all the time, telling him how much she wants to have a cat and other things, for instance her own silver to eat with. Her husband seems to be annoyed by that and not interested at all. At the end of the story there is a knock on the door and the maid stands there holding a cat for the American woman in her hands. In the story, the woman is an ‘isolated woman’ because of the indifference of her husband. Although...
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...Struggle in Vain In "Cat in the Rain," Ernest Hemingway portrays a woman who makes a vain attempt to take control of her own life and change her subordinate status. Though she courageously expresses her ideas and takes action to pursue what she yearns for, she fails to directly refute males' opinions and she, in the end, makes compromises to males. Throughout the story, the woman repeatedly expresses her desire for the cat in the rain. Ignored by her husband for a long time, the woman tries to save the cat to realize her self-value. Regarded as the symbol of females, cats are delicate, vulnerable and uncontrollable of their own fate. It seems to the woman that if she successfully saved the cat out of the rain, she would also be able to save herself out of the submissive position. As Yang Xi mentions, the woman "[expresses her] opinions indirectly on purpose so as to conceal [her] real intention." (Yang 184) As a matter of fact, the woman's wish of protecting the cat, caring for the cat and looking after the cat represents her wish of being protected, being well cared for and being looked after. She attempts to, through looking for the cat, arouse her husband's conscience, responsibility and love. The woman's attitude towards the hotel owner also reveals her hope for being attached importance to. In contrast to the husband's apathy and ruthlessness, the hotel owner pays respect to the woman, and provides the woman with considerate and thoughtful service. The hotel owner...
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...Ernest Hemingway – Cat in the Rain Ernest Hemingway was a very famous American author who managed to publish seven novels, six short story collections, two non-fiction works; Win the Nobel Prize in literature, survive two successive plane crashes and be a part of three wars, before committing suicide at the age of 61 in 1961. “When less is more”- Ernest Hemingway’s career as an author was based on that phrase. Many, if not all, of his short stories have been written in a minimalistic writing style and Cat in the Rain is no exception. Throughout the short story, it’s easy to see that the Cat in the Rain is a minimalistic short story. We see a lack of details regarding the characters. We don’t get to hear the name of the wife, we only know her as the American wife, or the American girl. We don’t get a lot of details either about the American wife or George, the husband. But in the end we do get some details about the American wife but only because she talks loudly about her appearance and desires in front of her husband. Unimportant things do in some cases have a decent description in a minimalistic story, and that’s also the case in Cat in the Rain; the settings outside the hotel and the war monument have been described pretty well. The sentences are short and the language is simple, which confirms that this is a minimalistic short story. The American wife and her husband don’t have a healthy relationship. George doesn’t really pay attention to his wife, and it is only...
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...Cat in the Rain by Ernest Hemingway | Summary The short story "Cat in the Rain" was written by Ernest Hemingway in the 1920´s. It is about an American couple that spends their holidays in an Italian hotel. It is a rainy day and the American woman sees a cat in the rain, which she wants to protect from the raindrops. When she goes out of the hotel, which is kept by an old Italian who really seems to do everything to please that woman, and wants to get the cat, it is gone. After returning to the hotel room, she starts a conversation with her husband George, who is reading all the time, telling him how much she wants to have a cat and other things, for instance her own silver to eat with. Her husband seems to be annoyed by that and not interested at all. At the end of the story there is a knock on the door and the maid stands there holding a cat for the American woman in her hands.Peculiarities of the introduction The first thing that caught my eyes was the long description at the beginning. First there is a description of the environment in good weather, which means spring or summer, then a description of the momentary situation in the rain. This description creates an atmosphere that is sad, cold and unfriendly. To create this atmosphere Hemingway uses words such as "empty" or "the motorcars were gone". Later on, by looking at the relationship of the two Americans, you can see that this description was a foreshadowing of the state of the couple´s relationship: First it was...
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...Cat in the Rain By E.Hemingway The story under analysis is written by a well-known American writer of XX century Ernest Hemingway. One of his main topics was animals as symbols and we can see this tendency in the title of the story. Cat in the Rain was written in the 1920’s. It is about an American couple who spends their holidays in a hotel in Italy. It is a rainy day and the American woman sees a cat on the street and she wants to protect it from the raindrops. When she goes out of the hotel and wants to get the cat, it has already gone. As wife returns to the hotel room, she starts a conversation with her husband George and tells him how much she wants to have a cat and a lot other things. Her husband is not interested at all. Later there is a knock on the door and a maid brings a cat for the American woman. The text of the story is not homogeneous: it presents a piece of narration intercepted with dialogues, descriptions and open ending. It is also divided into several parts according to the change of the place of narration: in the room, in the hotel and outside The general slant of the story is emotional, pathetic, depressive and tense. As the author was a war journalist and a representative of the lost generation. Cat in the Rain contains several semantic fields. The semantic field of colour: bronze, blue, green; of nature: sea, palms, rain, cat; of emotions: liked, smiled, disappointed, laughed, feeling of being of supreme importance, tired; of water: sea, rain...
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...Cat in the rain by Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American author and journalist. His economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s, winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven novels, six short story collections, and two non-fiction works. Three novels, four collections of short stories, and three non-fiction works were published posthumously. Many of his works are considered classics of American literature. The story begins with the description of the hotel where American couple stopped. It was raining, that’s why the couple stayed at their room and just a cat in the rain attracted the young woman’s attention. The man was reading and almost didn’t pay any attention on his wife. He was absolutely indifferent in that cat; but the woman wanted to get the cat inside. Then we saw the woman’s attitude to the owner of the hotel. She really liked him and there were words to prove it: “She liked the hotel-keeper. The wife liked him. She liked the deadly serious way he received any complaints. She liked his dignity. She liked the way he wanted to serve her. She liked the way he felt about being a hotel-keeper. She liked his old, heavy face and big hands.” The woman went downstairs in order to bring the cat at her room...
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...The short story "Cat in the Rain" was written by Ernest Hemingway in the 1920´s. It is about an American couple that spends their holidays in an Italian hotel. It is a rainy day and the American woman sees a cat in the rain, which she wants to protect from the raindrops. When she goes out of the hotel, which is kept by an old Italian who really seems to do everything to please that woman, and wants to get the cat, it is gone. After returning to the hotel room, she starts a conversation with her husband George, who is reading all the time, telling him how much she wants to have a cat and other things, for instance her own silver to eat with. Her husband seems to be annoyed by that and not interested at all. At the end of the story there is a knock on the door and the maid stands there holding a cat for the American woman in her hands. The first thing that caught my eyes was the long description at the beginning. First there is a description of the environment in good weather, which means spring or summer, then a description of the momentary situation in the rain. This description creates an atmosphere that is sad, cold and unfriendly. To create this atmosphere Hemingway uses words such as "empty" or "the motorcars were gone". Later on, by looking at the relationship of the two Americans, you can see that this description was a foreshadowing of the state of the couple´s relationship: First it was nice, the spring-time of their love, and now there is only rain, their relationship...
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...Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American journalist and author. His writing style was very different from others because he didnt use that much adverbs/ adjectives or didnt really descriped the characters in his stories but let them speak through their actions. His language was really simple so averyone could understand. However, he used the ”Iceberg theory” which means that the surface of the story is simple, but below the surface is the structure more complex. He had a high degree of detail in description of places/things and his typically themes in his stories were love, war, loss, wildness etc.. Cat in the rain Writtin by Hemingway and publised in 1925. An American couple is on vacation in Italy. The American wife sees a cat outside in the rain and she wants it very bardly, so she goes out to get it but the cat is gone. She goes back to her hotel room and starts a conversation with her husband. She tells him the things she wants but her husband doesnt seem to be interested at all. But in the end, the padrone comes with a cat to her. There is a very long description of the enviroment (typical Hemingway style). ”In the good weather there was always an artist with his easel. Artists liked the way the palms grew and the bright colors of the hotels facing the gardens and the sea.” First of all, he descripes the enviroment like it’s summer but then he writes that it’s raining. It’s sympolizes their relationship. First it was great and they were happy but then it all...
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...The story under the title “Cat in the Rain” was written by Ernest Hemingway, one of the most favourite American novelists, short-story writer and essayist, whose deceptively simple prose style has influenced wide range of writers. So, the story begins with the description of the hotel where two Americans stopped. It was raining, that’s why the couple stayed in and just a cat in the rain attracted the young woman’s attention. She wanted to get the cat inside but failed and was brought another cat. The problem of the story lies very deeply and we are to uncover it. The story is written in one mood which constantly and directly increases. It starts from the beginning where it’s created by a persistent and repeated use of the “rain” with a number of phrases associating it, such as puddles, deserted square, glistening war monument. Repetition is one of the widely used and favourite stylistic devices of Hemingway. Here he applies it to reveal the relationship of the protagonist to the old hotel owner (she liked ... , she liked...). As the verb “to like” is not used to characterize relations of the wife to her husband, this contrast is full of the concealed but easily read meaning. Though the cases of repetition in the story may seem a bit obtrusive, their modifications enter into the core of the narration very organically. They carry emotional character, however penetrating the story the deep sorrow becomes evident gradually. We realize that little, as if meaningless, capricious...
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...The story under the title “Cat in the Rain” was written by Ernest Hemingway, one of the most favourite American novelists, short-story writer and essayist, whose deceptively simple prose style has influenced wide range of writers. So, the story begins with the description of the hotel where two Americans stopped. It was raining, that’s why the couple stayed in and just a cat in the rain attracted the young woman’s attention. She wanted to get the cat inside but failed and was brought another cat. The problem of the story lies very deeply and we are to uncover it. The story is written in one mood which constantly and directly increases. It starts from the beginning where it’s created by a persistent and repeated use of the “rain” with a number of phrases associating it, such as puddles, deserted square, glistening war monument. Repetition is one of the widely used and favourite stylistic devices of Hemingway. Here he applies it to reveal the relationship of the protagonist to the old hotel owner (she liked ... , she liked...). As the verb “to like” is not used to characterize relations of the wife to her husband, this contrast is full of the concealed but easily read meaning. Though the cases of repetition in the story may seem a bit obtrusive, their modifications enter into the core of the narration very organically. They carry emotional character, however penetrating the story the deep sorrow becomes evident gradually. We realize that little, as if meaningless, capricious...
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...Stylistic analysis of the story “Cat in the Rain” by Earnest Hemingway The author. The story under the title “Cat in the Rain” was written by Ernest Hemingway. He was an American author and journalist. His economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s, and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven novels, six short story collections, and two non-fiction works. Additional works, including three novels, four short story collections, and three non-fiction works, were published posthumously. Many of his works are considered classics of American literature. The summary. The story describes an American couple, who have a trip to Italy. The story begins with the woman, who sits in the hotel’s room and sees a cat in the window. It’s a rainy day and woman wants to protect the cat. Then she leaves the room and when she returns, she doesn’t see the cat. All the time her husband spends reading. She tries to tell him about her desire to buy a cat and some other things, but he doesn’t listen to her. At the end of the story there is a knock on the door and the maid stands there holding a cat, for the woman, in her hands. The structure of the text. Every text is organized in a specific way, and this is not identical. Speaking about its structure there is an introductory paragraph...
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...Cat in the rain The short story, “Cat in the Rain”, by Ernest Hemingway, describes the relationship between two married American tourists in Italy, where one is striving to get a cat. The American wife wants to bring the cat into they’re room, but the husband is indifferent to her wish. Under these actions, there are a lot of important points. This cat is symbolic and reveals the psychological state and emotional desires of the American wife. The cat is caught by the rain. It needs help and care, but it is ignored by others. Just like the American wife. When you have wanted something for a long time and you haven’t got it, sometimes you just do what you feel is best for you. The American wife does her best to save the cat, which is held back because of the rain. Her husband gives a courtesy and says “I’ll do it” (p. 1 line 14) but he makes no further attempt to help, which gives us a view of him being careless for this cat. The wife never catches the cat. The rain that held the cat back, stopped, and it ran away. The cat is a clear symbol of a baby and the American wife who is held back because of the rain, which symbolizes the husband. The wife is so determined to get a baby, but is unable to, because of her husband’s missing wish for a baby. When the woman comes back to the hotel, she starts mentioning all the wishes she wants in her future. “Don’t you think it would be a good idea if I let my hair grow out?” (p.2 line. 15) she asks her husband, where he answers “I like...
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...2.k spring 2016. When Less Is More. Hemingway and Beyond ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Ernest Hemingway. "Cat in the Rain" (1925) Homework: Read the story. While reading, please note down at least three points of wonder. Pinpoint the exact sentence that puzzles you and phrase a question. Task 1: Individually Summary and composition: 1. Divide the text into sections and give each a headline. 2. Now write down 5-10 keywords that will allow you to give an oral summary of the short story. Task 2/pre-reading: In groups The importance of the first paragraph Looking only at the first paragraph of the short story, please answer the questions below: 1. Describe the setting (sum up, don't just repeat what it says in the text) 2. What do we get to know about the difference between American couple and the Italians in the first paragraph of the short story? 3. What does the setting tell about the mood of the short story? And provided that the setting is used as a mirror of the characters' state of mind, what can we infer about the characters' emotional state? Task 3: In groups Points of wonder * Discuss the points of wonder that you have identified while reading the short story. Take turns to present your points of wonder. * Choose one point of wonder...
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...“Cat in the Rain” is a short psychological story by Ernest Hemingway. The plot revolves around an American couple on a vacation in Italy; there isn't any preface to the story, we know nothing about the couple’s past. The narration starts straight off when the young woman sees a cat hiding from the rain in the hotel yard. At first sight the setting is ideal: a cozy room on the second floor, a lovely view from the window. However, there is one thing which spoils the whole picture, and that is the rain, which is why the couple stays inside. Rain is also often associated with sadness; to bring home this air of melancholy, parallel constructions are used: "The rain dripped from the palm trees. The water stood in pools on the gravel paths. The sea broke in a long line in the rain and slippedback down the beach to come up and break again in a long line in the rain ". The abundance of water is not accidental either; the rain, the sea, the pool – water symbolizes something inevitable; water is everywhere: it is on the ground, it is pouring from the heavens as though the nature weeps for something. This might also be regarded as a case of parallelism, since as the story progresses we realize that the feelings of the girl are not that positive. Here author also uses alliteration of sounds [r], [l]: "Rain dripped from the palmtrees, the sea broke in a long line in the rain", it brings the rhythm to the description of the weather. The conflict starts to unfold when the girl notices a cat in the rain...
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