Text analysis № 1

“Сat in the Rain” by Ernest Hemingway

The story I’m going to analyze is titled “Cat in the Rain”, written by Ernest Hemingway in the 1920´s. He is one of the most favourite American novelists, a short-story writer and essayist, whose deceptively simple prose style has influenced wide range of writers.

The story is interesting from the point of view of the author's approach to conveying the main idea to the mind of the reader. It is always implicit and remains unspoken. It is the reader himself who should find it behind the simple, at first sight, description of the events.

Hemingway presents only sequence of outward actions and leaves the reader to imagine more than the words themselves can convey. This is characteristic of Hemingway's manner of writing he is famous for.

The story "Cat in the rain" reflects the writer's approach to life in general. It is about an American couple on vacation in Italy. While at their hotel the woman sees a cat and the story progresses from there. During the story it is made obvious that the couple's relationship is going sour. Hemingway uses the cat stuck in the rain, with nobody to care for, to symbolize the wife who longs to be loved.

Hemingway's title to his story, "Cat in the Rain" carries more meaning than the literal cat in the rain. Indeed, the story talks about a cat stuck in the rain; however, this is not what Hemingway meant when he wrote the story. His character, the American Wife, alludes to the title of the story by presenting elements of confinement similar to that of the cat.

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. This title lacks individuality and has no special meaning, signifying that she is just a mere American Woman and nothing else. This already confines the character in a little cage, since it implies that she will never get herself out of the hole where society has placed her. George does not help much, rarely paying attention to her whenever she demands his care. This is evident when she sees "a cat...crouched under one of the dripping green tables", and points it out to her husband, who offers to help from his bed. Two points can be inferred from this event: first, George discards all the trivial things the wife says and does not provide her with any attention, making her feel that she must demand it. This lack of attention makes her feel that she does not have much freedom to express herself and keeps much of her feelings inside. Second and most importantly, she seems to connect with the cat, "the cat was trying to make herself so compact so that she would not be dripped on". She definitely feels the restraint that George has put on her, and in order to please him, she attempts to make herself compact just like the cat.

The text of the story is not homogeneous: it is interrupted with the elements of description and the characters’ dialogues. The writer’s strong sense of place is revealed by the use of foreignisms: “Si, si, signora, brutto tempo” and so on. The very structure of the story adds to the effect of implication but the actual meaning of what is going on is not clear at the beginning of the story, as the feelings suggested by the writer are not precisely determined.

The plot of the story is meant to begin before the narration itself starts. There isn't any preface to the story; the reader knows nothing about the couple’s past. Hemingway shows his characters in a certain period of their lives - his favorite device.

Concerning the setting, we can see that this story begins with the description of the hotel where they stayed. At first sight everything seems to be ideal: a cozy room on the second floor, lovely view from the window. And only the description of the rain evokes the mood of sadness in the reader. To bring home to the reader this air of melancholy, which is felt when it is raining, the author uses such stylistic device as parallel constructions: "The rain dripped from the palm trees. The water stood in pools on the gravel paths. The sea broke in a long line in the rain and slipped back down the beach to come up and break again in a long line in the rain ". One can notice that nouns rain, pools, sea belongs to one semantic sphere - the water. This stylistic device is employed by the author to create the atmosphere of inevitability. One cannot hide from the rain. Water is everywhere: it is on the ground, it is pouring from the heavens as though the nature weeps for something. All this pricks the reader's ears and makes him think that something will happen with this American couple. In this abstract the author also resorts to the help of stylistic device known as alliteration, namely the repetition of the sounds -r-and -l-: "Rain dripped from the palm trees, the sea broke in a long line in the rain" which brings the necessary measured rhythm into the utterance. Skillfully combining these three stylistic devices the writer obtains the needed effect: within three sentences he gives an exhaustive picture of one of the melancholic rainy evenings when time goes by so slowly. It is also the syntax that serves for this purpose.

The exposition is represented with following word: “The American wife stood at the window looking out. Outside right under their window a cat was crouched under one of the dripping green tables. The cat was trying to make herself so compact that she would be dripped on”.

The author resorts to parallel constructions consisting of short simple sentences to create a downcast atmosphere of dull, monotonous evening and at the same time presentiment and alarming anticipation of something that is likely to happen in the nearest time.

The wife never speaks out about the restraint George puts on her, but rather feels it. The main reason behind this is her transformation from being the "American Wife" to the "American Girl”. To the general public, a girl seems to have less restraints due to her youth and innocence, while a wife has her (and her husband's) image to protect. Hemingway's choice of words implies that she feels the restraints being lifted once she left her hotel room, leaving her husband behind. Hemingway provides other evidence for George's restraints by presenting the hotel keeper, whom the wife has a liking for. Described as an "old man and very tall", the wife has a liking for him, especially his many qualities such as "the deadly serious way he received any complaints...his dignity...the way he wanted to serve her." Hemingway never says anything about the wife loving or liking George, further supporting the idea of him putting some sort of restraint on her.

Emphasizing the girl's attitude to the hotel-keeper the author resorts to repetition: "She liked the deadly serious way he received any complains. She liked his dignity. She liked the way he wanted to serve her. She liked the way he felt about being a hotelkeeper. She liked his old, heavy face and big hands ". Unconsciously comparing him with her indifferent husband she liked him because he displayed a kind of attention to her. He always bowed seeing her. His attention can be explained by the fact that he was the owner of the hotel and it was his due to take care of his clients, especially if they were foreigners. He just wanted them to feel comfortable and convenient. He displayed paternal care and attention to her. May be the girl was disposed to the hotelkeeper because he reminded her of her own father who was always kind to her. Anyway, it was so pleasant for the girl to feel sympathy and care. The author says: "The pardon made her feel very small and at the same time really important. She had a momentary feeling of being of supreme importance". That is the reason she liked him. He made her feel important. He listened to her every word and request, and she knew that her every little whim will be fulfilled, and that cannot be said about her husband who never worried about her feelings.

Quite the opposite picture the reader can see when the girl went upstairs in her room. The only reaction of her husband was the question if she got the cat. He did not notice her disappointment. Suddenly the girl felt unhappy. Through her sad monologue the writer shows all her dissatisfaction with the life, beginning with the absence of the cat and ending with her short clipped hair. "I get so tired of it”.

The author underlines the idea of dissatisfaction using repetition. In importunate repetition of the construction "I want" the reader can see the girl's emotional state. This stylistic device discloses her excitement; she is on the verge of hysterics. The emotional tension increases. "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 up my hair out in front of the mirror and I want the kitty and I want some new clothes ". Here is an example of polysyndeton. The abundant use of the conjunction and makes the members of enumeration more conspicuous and also serves to emphasize the girl's state of confusion.

The syntax also contributes to the effect of extreme agitation of the girl. The writer deliberately avoids the use of commas in the girl's speech to show uninterrupted, without any pauses flow of speech, which testifies to her emotional excitement.

This extract may be regarded as the climax of the story. Here the emotional tension reaches its highest degree. The girl throws out all her discontent, all her negative emotions which she accumulated during her life with her husband. Then the peak of the climax comes: "Oh, shut up and get something to read" says her husband. Estrangement grows between two people. The girl feels insulted and stays looking out of the window. It is still raining. The rain is present during the whole narration. It is the silent witness of the running high drama. The rain pierces the plot of the story and has a symbolic meaning. It symbolizes their unfortunate family life.

The main stylistic device the story is built upon is suspense. The author deliberately postpones the denouement keeping the reader in pressing anticipation. Hemingway's wonderful mastery of the language permits him to keep the reader tense till the denouement. Although everything seems to lie on the surface, but indeed the reader should make a great effort to derive the unspoken reference from the description of the facts. Hemingway's scrupulous attention to details permits him to introduce the hidden idea between the lines, without saying it directly. Hemingway's talent lies in deep psychological insight into human nature.

Altogether I would say that the theme of the story is the problem when one partner becomes dominant or repressive and the other is trying to change and improve the situation. If they are aware of their problems they might be able to save their marriage, but if they do not recognize that their relationship will become more and more like the depressive weather in this short story until their love dies.

Voloshina Alina,

Foreign Languages Department student

«The Oval Portrait» by Edgar Allan Poe