Hemingway's
Ernest Hemingway's short story "Cat in the Rain" is a portrait of a failing marriage. This idea is apparent on the surface. An American couple is staying in a foreign hotel and it is raining outside. The wife looks out and sees a cat that she wants to get. When she does make it outside, the cat is gone and she is very disappointed. She returns to her hotel room and gives her husband a list of things she desires, such as long hair, a cat, and for it to be spring; while he simply reads his book and ignores her. Her discontent and his indifference are now both obvious. While this theme of failed love is apparent on the surface, textual evidence (such as symbolism, imagery, and descriptions of setting) helps to pinpoint why the marriage has failed. This is achieved in three different ways. The first is the portrait of the American wife, the second in the way the husband treats his wife and thirdly through the role the hotelkeeper plays. At the very beginning of the story two major factors in the tumultuous relationship are identified. We find that the American couple is in a hotel where they do not know anyone else. This is, obviously, a sign of the isolation experienced in their marriage. The couple is staying in a room that "... f
Hemingway has used this American couple as a case study for failed love. The padrone made her feel very small and at the same time really important. No one can give her long hair, she simply must wait for it to grow just as she must wait for the seasons to change and bring her into spring. At the beginning, and end, of the story he is reading on the bed. Many of the traits the wife recognizes in the padrone are those of a father; she likes the safety provided by his face and hands, the fact that he wants to serve her as a father would a small child. When she returns without the cat and begins expressing discontent with her life, he is partially ignoring her and partially trying to placate her. The American husband's treatment of his wife is another telling factor in their relationship. She is turning to a hotelkeeper for admiration and care because she cannot find the same from her husband. Her hair is cut short, and she is telling her husband that she wants to grow it out and brush it in front of a mirror. She is holding a large cat and says ". And I want it to be spring and I want to brush my hair out in front of a mirror and I want a kitty and I want some new clothes," (131). The hotelkeeper is much like a father figure for the American wife. Her desire for springtime is really her desire for rebirth and rejuvenation, both in her marriage and in her womb. She had a momentary feeling of being of supreme importance," (130).
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Acceptance Essays
