Analysis on "Cat in the Rain" and "Hills Like White Elephant"

The` Pwint
ENG2012
05/15/2012


      From the two short stories of Hemingway, ‘The cat in the rain’ and ‘Hills like white elephants’, the first thing noted in his writing style is masculinity. Both stories are easy to read with simple dialogues, has similar character settings in which both hold a conversation between couples. Both stories contain a lot of meanings and symbols within them despite the simple read.
The cat in the rain is about an American couple, husband and wife, spending their vacation perhaps, in an Italian hotel. It is set on a rainy day where the American woman sees a cat in the rain that she wants to protect. She goes out of the hotel, which is operated by an old and tall Italian man that she seems to be fond of, to get the cat and by the time she got there, it was gone. After returning to the hotel room, she starts a conversation with her husband, ranting on about her materialistic desires, for instance, growing out her hair and being able to pat a cat. The husband pays very little attention and does not seem to care at all. The story ends with a knock on the door from the maid who is holding a cat sent out by the hotel keeper for the American woman. The story at first seems like merely nothing more than just about an American wife complaining and ranting on about the many things she wants to her husband but it is much more complex than that. The cat in the rain symbolizes the American woman. The cat is being restrained from the rain dripping on it and the American woman is restrained by her husband and the society she is placed in at the time. The lack of attention from the husband, George, makes her feel that she must demand it like a child. The affection and attention she lacks from him makes her feel as if she does not have the freedom to express herself, therefore keep all her feelings confined within herself. Maybe she feels that since she is not getting the intangible things that she desires, she should at least be able to have...