“The Cat in the Rain” by Ernest
Hemingway is a simple story about a young American couple vacationing in
Europe. Although their marriage appears unexceptional, several aspects of the
story suggest a flawed relationship beneath the couple’s façade of happiness. The
conversation between the husband and wife begins innocently enough as the woman
indicates she wants to rescue a stray cat in the street below from the inclement
weather. It does not take long before the conversation escalates into an
argument that shows the wife’s extreme dissatisfaction with her life. However,
at the end of the story the tensions dissipate as the cat is brought to the
hotel room, and the wife is at least temporarily appeased.
When
the woman first mentions the titular “cat in the rain,” her husband responds,
“I’ll go get it,” without making any move to get up from the bed or put down
his book. His apathy begins to hint at the underlying problems in their
marriage. After his wife’s initial failure in finding the cat, tensions begin
to run high. His wife expresses her general frustrations with her current life:
“I
want to pull my hair back tight and smooth and make a big knot at the back that I can feel,” she said. “I want to
have a kitty to sit on my lap and purr when
I stroke her.”
“Yeah?”
George said from the bed.
“And
I want to eat at a table with my own silver and I want candles. 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.”
“Oh,
shut up and get something to read,” George said. (…)
While
the wife’s many wants may initially seem to be frivolous, a careful reading
reveals something of substance. Her repeated desire for a cat implies that she
feels a lack of companionship with her husband. This theory is clearly supported
by his curt responses. Moreover, earlier in the story she mentions that she
dislikes her short hair, despite the fact that her husband emphatically states
that he prefers it short. She repeats this complaint in the quoted passage. I
think it is possible that her desire to let her hair grow out suggests her
yearning to break free of the control of her husband.
At
the end of the story, the woman calms down. She says, “(…) If I can’t have long
hair or any fun, I want a cat.” Almost as soon as she makes this proclamation,
there is a knock at the door and her wish is granted by a maid holding a cat,
presumably the one she noticed in the rain.
This
story, though quite distinct and seemingly simple, has the same thread of
disillusion and loss that runs through most of the stories in Hemingway's In
Our Time. Again and again, Hemingway deals with a character's
disillusionment, whether with love, marriage, war, faith, or, ultimately, life.
He somehow manages to present big emotions in simple scenes, as in this
one about a woman who wants a cat.
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A few weeks ago when we were still reading The Things They Carried I stumbled across this website that talks about a current exhibition about the book, and I figured I would share it now:
http://www.nvam.org/AboutEducation-ThingsCarried.xml
Hemingway is excellent at telling us many things without explicitly telling us anything; much of the emotions that he shares through his stories are as much from what he does tell us as what he doesn't. I think that "Cat in the Rain" is an excellent example of this, and you do a good job of showing how Hemingway, in his usual ways, depicts complex displays of emotion in such simple scenes.
ReplyDeleteIn general, there doesn't seem to be much warmth between the woman and her husband. That may be why she's seeking out the cat and that's probably the reason she enjoys her interactions with the hotel keeper.
ReplyDeleteThe hotel keeper situation is sort of sad to me, though. I get the feeling that the hotel keeper and the maid (who, I guess, is just an extension of the hotel keeper) are nice because... well, they're running a business that makes a lot of money by being super nice to rich foreigners?
DeleteYeah, her ironically portrayed "liking" of the hotel keeper's attentions does seem to reflect her (conscious?) failure to grasp that theirs is essentially an economic/service-based relationship. (Just as she seems oblivious to the maid's barely concealed eye-roll at the frivolous American wife who's making her go out in the rain to "save" a stray cat that probably hangs out at this hotel every day.)
DeleteThis is a personal interpretation, but each story in this collection seems to attack depression in a different way. The woman, to me, seems to be absolutely alone. Her husband is pretty uninterested, and the other people around her are being nice and helpful and sub-servant because that's their job and that's what makes them money. Maybe this is one of those "glass half-full" versus "glass-half-empty" moments were the hotel keeper may just be a mellow chill old guy, but I didn't get that impression (maybe I'm just too cynical).
ReplyDeleteSo the woman is super alone in this foreign country for cryin out loud, and then there's this cat! The cat is the object of fascination which the woman is CONVINCED will cure her loneliness. It's a period of mania that's only possible because of her previous state of desolate loneliness.
Is it a story of, as you say, disillusionment? I suppose we don't actually know, because we don't get the woman's reaction to the new cat, but I expect it would eventually lead to disillusionment as the woman would find that this cat isn't a plug for the existenteality (might not be a word) of her life
very sad story
I think this is a really good point. As said in the introduction to the blog, the cat may have "temporarily appeased" the woman but ultimately, obtaining the cat simply does not provide a permanent solution to her greater problem. Her desire for the cat is really a manifestation of something much deeper.
DeleteI agree that there was more to this story than just a married couple going on vacation. The woman is clearly unsatisfied in the relationship, yet Hemingway's style makes it unclear if her husband is dismissive of her. As mentioned, he tells her she's pretty many times and seems to listen to her problems, but we aren't sure if he means it. I also think it is significant that she finally gets the cat, perhaps suggesting that things are going to get better from here. Then again, the husband didn't actually do anything to help her get the cat, and we're not even sure if this is the same cat.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said. I think the cat represents her desire for more freedom or companionship from her husband. I agree that the story is about a less-than happy marriage, and the wife's very reasonable dissatisfaction.
ReplyDeleteThis was probably my favorite story in the book. I think the incident with the cat and in just all the interactions between the American man and his wife carry the message that they’re not a happy couple. I think we raised the question in class—who does Hemingway critique more, the apathetic husband or the sentimental wife? I would definitely side more with the wife—who wouldn’t want to save a hungry kitten from the rain and put it on their lap? — but I think Hemingway critiques both characters—neither of them seems to care much about their relationship. The man makes curt responses without putting down his book, and the wife seems pretty rebellious against her husband’s opinion and what she sees as oppression. I think the cat the maid brings in—I think it’s likely a different cat, not the little cute “kitty” the woman saw outside—could represent friends’ and other people’s intervention and attempts to fix the relationship. I feel like the cat’s not the right cat and won’t make the woman much happier, the same way the relationship isn’t likely to get fixed.
ReplyDelete