Cat in the Rain: Marriage and Loneliness
_Cat in the Rain_ was written by Ernest Hemingway in 1925 while living in France and it is probably his best made short story. Formally and economically, this story is structured as a classic ballet.� _Cat in the Rain_ is, on the surface, a simple tale of an American couple in Italy. This paper will deal with the issues of marriage and loneliness in the story.
With the introduction of a single paragraph, Hemingway has set out the background or the setting of the story, which might be important. From the very beginning of the story many boundaries related to space are drawn. These boundaries eventually provoke sense of isolation. The couple is isolated on a cultural level being the only American couple in an Italian hotel: "_They did not know any of the people they passed on the stairs on their way to and from their room_."� This isolation may signalize that they are about to experience a crisis in their marriage. "_War monument_" is a symbolic hint, which might stand for sterility and remembrance of people 's deaths and it might imply that a conflict is to be expected. On the other hand, "_the public garden_" might symbolize fertility. "_The sea_" might stand for a wish to become a mother, to have a child. The rain restricts creativity since there is no artist with his easel. All in all, the atmosphere is sad, cold and unfriendly.
In the following paragraph, the American wife is standing at the window and it might be seen as a sign of solitude. Instead of describing the relation between the American wife and her husband, Hemingway describes the view from the hotel 's room as if there was nothing to say about them or their mutual love. The woman 's sympathy is evoked by seeing a cat crouched under the table to keep away from rain. The wife refers to the cat as "_kitty_" and she wants to get it. The husband, George, makes a poor attempt at offering to help. Unmoving and still laying in the same position on the bed, he remains focused on his book, and offers a
With the introduction of a single paragraph, Hemingway has set out the background or the setting of the story, which might be important. From the very beginning of the story many boundaries related to space are drawn. These boundaries eventually provoke sense of isolation. The couple is isolated on a cultural level being the only American couple in an Italian hotel: "_They did not know any of the people they passed on the stairs on their way to and from their room_."� This isolation may signalize that they are about to experience a crisis in their marriage. "_War monument_" is a symbolic hint, which might stand for sterility and remembrance of people 's deaths and it might imply that a conflict is to be expected. On the other hand, "_the public garden_" might symbolize fertility. "_The sea_" might stand for a wish to become a mother, to have a child. The rain restricts creativity since there is no artist with his easel. All in all, the atmosphere is sad, cold and unfriendly.
In the following paragraph, the American wife is standing at the window and it might be seen as a sign of solitude. Instead of describing the relation between the American wife and her husband, Hemingway describes the view from the hotel 's room as if there was nothing to say about them or their mutual love. The woman 's sympathy is evoked by seeing a cat crouched under the table to keep away from rain. The wife refers to the cat as "_kitty_" and she wants to get it. The husband, George, makes a poor attempt at offering to help. Unmoving and still laying in the same position on the bed, he remains focused on his book, and offers a
Bibliography: Available at http://www.bignerds.com/essays/Cat-in-the-Rain-Hemingway/ last visited on May 19, 2008 Cat in the Rain, available at http://www.geocities.com/cyber_explorer99/hemingwaycat.html last visited on May 19, 2008 Available at http://www.echeat.com/essay.php last visited on April 24, 2008 Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_in_the_Rain last visited on May 19, 2008 Hagopian, John V. Symmetry in "Cat in the Rain". College English. London. 1962 Available at http://www.wowessays.com/dbase/ last visited on May 10, 2008 � John V. Hagopian, Symmetry in "Cat in the Rain", London, 1962, p. 230. � Cat in the Rain available at � HYPERLINK "http://www.geocities.com/cyber_explorer99/hemingwaycat.html" ��http://www.geocities.com/cyber_explorer99/hemingwaycat.html� last visited on May 19, 2008 � Ibid.