Preview

Cat in the Rain, Stylistic Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
481 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Cat in the Rain, Stylistic Analysis
Cat in the Rain, stylistic analysis

Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His distinctive writing style, characterized by economy and understatement, influenced 20th-century fiction, as did his life of adventure and public image. He produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. Many of his works are classics of American literature.
It’s a third person narration text. The description is interlaced with descriptive passages and dialogues of the characters. The text is realistic. The story is written in one mood which constantly and directly increases.
So, the story begins with the description of the hotel where two Americans stopped: we are first introduced to George and his wife, the latter is referred by as the "American Wife" in the first sentence of the story. George is rarely paying attention to her whenever she demands his care. Hemingway never says anything about the wife loving or liking George, further supporting the idea of him putting some sort of restraint on her.
It seems that Hemingway's main contrast in explaining his point is by comparing the wife with the cat. Both are in similar situations where they are kept from being free. One is restrained by the rain while the other one is being restrained by her husband. They both long to be rescued and long to break out of those cages that keep them from enjoying life.
The story symbolizes a cat that wants to be free, one that wants to go out and seek the world. Unfortunately, something is holding it back, something out of its control. Hemingway chose this title to reflect how the wife must feel about not being able to control her own life. She is just like the cat in the rain, a radical and passionate being unable to take a chance because society has placed a restraint on her.
The story reveals the author's great knowledge of man's inner world. The author makes extensive use of repetitions to render the story more vivid,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    How does Hemingway portray Mrs. Macomber in the beginning of the story? What is the difference between his portrayal of her then and at the end of the story?…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A & P Rhetorical Analysis

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages

    All throughout this text the author masters the art of imagery to the audience. With every…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The grandmother does not wish to leave the cat. “She didn’t intend for the cat to be left alone in the house for three days because he would miss her.” (O’Connor). The irony here is that cats are not the type of animals who miss people or even care about their owners. During the whole ordeal of the family the cat is not seen; however, at the closing of the story, the cat is seen cuddling up nest to The Misfit. In fact, the cat actually shows affection to The Misfit as if the cat is grateful that the grandmother has been shot. This is ironic because the grandmother took the cat because she did not want it to be lonely, however; the cat is never portrayed as lonely. He is portrayed as a normal cat loving the new owner.…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This literature was confusing however, conceptually understandable that even though this short story was written somewhere between the life-time of Ernest Hemingway. People can relate to it in someway and the style of how it is written is something it could be said to be artistic and educational that people can learn from. As this textbook was dedicated for the purpose of learning literature, it was appropriate for using this literature in the book; So that people could debate, discuss the very meaning of the contents and…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this story, the author describes the feelings of the narrator towards the house. Even though the narrator seems to fancy the house, the setting goes on to contradict with the emotional standpoints of the characters. According to page 648 “It is a big, airy room…with windows that look all ways, and air and sunshine galore,” (Stetson). Although this would typically symbolize freedom, openness, and positivity, the wife and John both have a closed minded view on things. John is the typical 19th century male who believes in the complete submission of the woman. The woman or narrator has no way of expressing herself except for writing in one room. The contradiction lies in the open, free expressive environment with close minded, traditional people. The environment is what ultimately drove the narrator to insanity.…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The narrator’s husband, John, has the idea that he knows what his wife’s wants and needs are. He thinks that isolation and confinement will cure her nervous depression. Nevertheless, this “cure” makes her weak; and transforms this woman gone mad.…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    But nobody could climb through that pattern—it strangles so; I think that is why it has so many heads” (p 325). Once again, the wallpaper is paralleled with the narrators need for escape, but unlike the woman behind the wallpaper, the narrator wishes to “climb through” the control of her husband. Yet, she knows that to overcome her husband is almost impossible, much like the deadly escape from the pattern. The “many heads” can be seen as the countless number of women who have fallen victims to their husband’s control, and wasted their lives trying to escape from this social “pattern.” The image of the woman shaking the bars shows the narrators desperate need for freedom. The narrator expresses in her secret journal, “I don’t like our room a bit. I wanted one downstairs that opened the piazza and had roses all over the window, and such pretty old-fashioned chintz hangings!” (p 316) Here, the narrator is describing her desire for another room, one that is perhaps more alive with roses and one that feels more free. The narrator’s need for an open room suggests her feeling of entrapment. John's insistence to put his wife in this room where “the windows are barred…and there are rings and things in the walls,” seems to show he perhaps wanted his wife to feel captive to his rule (p 317). The “barred windows,” portray confinement, in this case for the narrator—her confinement to the four walls of the room. Also, the narrator’s obsession for the wallpaper only makes her feel trapped within her own home. This feeling is portrayed more clearly as she describes the woman she fancies behind the yellow wallpaper who, “in the very shady spots she just takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard” (p 325). Much like the woman behind the wallpaper, the narrator is living trapped in a room surrounded by barred…

    • 1452 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hills Like White Elephants

    • 1849 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The way Hemingway introduces the main characters is rather unusual. For one, very little is revealed about the physical qualities of the two main characters, beyond their gender. In fact, the reader doesn 't even learn their names until later. This literary technique creates within the reader a unique sense of identification with the characters having the conversation. Rather than sympathizing with the emotional state of the characters, the reader more readily empathizes with the very heart of the argument itself.…

    • 1849 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    His writing deals with how he probably acted and felt in the presence of the women he cared about. According to James Mellow, "Hemingway’s divorce from Hadley and his marriage to Pauline and the convergence—would have a man, for a time, with two women in his life—would have a long reach into his fictional life" (Mellow 349).…

    • 1940 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    They started to have an intense conversation on what she was going to do with the baby. The man wants her to get an abortion while she doesn’t. He stated that “you don’t have to be afraid. I’ve known lots of people that have done it but if you don’t want to you don’t have to. I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to. But I know it’s perfectly simple” (295). In that quote, the American trying to persuade the girl, Jig, into having an abortion but using different words instead of just saying the real fact. Hemingway made the man more of a second guesser who tries to find the easy way out in life situations; in this case the abortion is his choice. While on other hands Jig thinks of it as an experience in life way she can feel more of a women. As the conversation went on tension grew between…

    • 1253 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Yellow Wallpaper Essay

    • 1026 Words
    • 5 Pages

    From a formalist perspective, one of the most important things to note about this short story is how it is composed from the entries in the narrator’s secret journal, which she keeps hidden from her husband. The result of this diary-like construction makes the story seem almost autobiographical even though the narrator is a fictional character. Because of this, everything is relayed in a very personal way and gives an in depth view of the narrator and her feelings. The reader gets very little information about other characters and there is an intense focus on the narrator and the inner workings of her mind as her mental state steadily declines.…

    • 1026 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hemingway establishes the setting and central idea of the story through point of view. He utilizes third person limited because it gives a very restricted perspective of the events transpiring in his story, which serves to magnify and intensify the dialogue. Throughout the story, the young girl appears vulnerable, confused, and indecisive. She changes her mind about the attractiveness of the surrounding hills, saying at first they “look like white elephants” to later retracting her statement and says they are “quite lovely.” She claims to selflessly care about the American when she agrees to have the operation because she doesn’t care about herself. The young girl also seems uncertain about whether she wants to have the operation as she questions their relationship, doesn’t agree to the operation right away, and her symbolic references to the hills like white elephants. Although…

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This statement by Momaday is very thematic for the book, The Way to Rainy Mountain. “A time that is gone forever, a landscape that is incomparable, and a human spirit which endures.” When this statement is broken apart, it precisely relates to the three focal points of the overall theme of the book. “A time that is gone forever,” describes the Kiowa culture dying out. Second, “a landscape that is incomparable” is the Rainy Mountain, which is of great spiritual importance to the Kiowa and the author. Third, “a human spirit which endures” refers to the Kiowa people, but can also refer to the author’s grandmother. All together, these three parts of Momaday’s statement make up the theme of The Way to Rainy Mountain.…

    • 541 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The theme of this story was somewhere around masculinity and courage. Francis has never been able to prove himself, he is rich and has always been sheltered out of any situation to do so. The result is this meek man who ended up running away when it came to encountering a lion. Wilson however is an embodiment of masculinity, a man of the land. He makes a living out of killing things. Hemingway shows Wilson as being way more courageous and masculine than Francis, and resultingly Margaret sneaks out in the middle of the night and stays the night in Wilson’s tent. This act of adultery is apparently not the first which is hinted towards when Francis says, “There wasn’t going to be any of that. You promised there wouldn’t be… You said if we made this trip there would be none of that. You promised.” Through his cowardice and immasculinity he has gained the contempt of his wife and doesn’t even have the courage to leave his cheating wife. This is not a happy situation and Hemingway is showing that if a man is not masculine or courageous he will not be happy. As when he finally no longer fears animals he is actually happy. He was changed; courageous and happy. Margaret sensed that he would leave her as said by Wilson and so she had shot him in the head.…

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    From the beginning of the story it is evident that Hemingway intends to focus on Jig and the issues at hand that will directly impact her. Through the use of third person objective, Hemingway leads the reader to believe that the couple are going through a rough patch due to Jig becoming pregnant. Jig, the only character granted a name within the story, has mixed feelings about the pregnancy on whether or not she wants to keep the child. "Well the man said, 'if you don't want to you don't have to. I wouldn't have you do it if you didn't want to. But I know it's perfectly simple'. 'And you really want to?' 'I think it's the best thing to do. But I don't want you to do it if you really don't want to'. 'And if I do it you'll be happy?" This simple sentence displays how the man is manipulating Jig into something she is not entirely sure about. Jig asks if the man…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays