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 it the way it is”. This again shows us the lack of fellowship between them. The woman wants to be a woman; she does not want to look like a boy anymore (p.2 line. 17). In the old days, the women had long beautiful hair, kids and a great family. That is what her hair symbolizes. That she is not one of those women. And when she asks her husband if she should change her hairstyle, it is not only the hairstyle she refers to, but also having a baby and a family. And the man is clearly not interested, and answers her with “Oh, shut up and get something to read” (p. 2 line. 26).
Ernest Hemmingway writes very terse. So when a word or an action is mentioned more than one time, it is something he wants us to notice. The story tells us a lot about how good the hotelkeeper is and how much the American wife fancies and likes him. (p.1 line. 23). He gives her what she wants. He helps her finding the cat in the end, but when the assistance brings it to her, it is a tortoiseshell cat. The tortoiseshell cat is a symbol of a baby, but also of something mystical. It is a very big cat and through the whole story we get the feeling of, that this cat is a small, innocent cat. But when she sees the cat and gets to carry it, it is not the cat she expected. It suddenly becomes a burden, in a way. A burden she is not ready to take in hand. Her wish for a baby is not quite as easy as she expect it to be. The story can be put into perspective to one of the other stories by Hemmingway. The story “Hills like White elephants” is also about a woman who is going through a future abortion, because her husband is not interested in having a baby. And that is exactly what we see here in “Cat in the Rain”. A lot of the men in Hemmingway’s stories are about himself. He appreciated a man with dignity, and he did not have any children himself, and did not really wish for it either. Just like the men in these two stories. They have dignity and a personality similar to Hemmingway’s.