An Analysis of “Cat in the Rain” by Ernest Hemingway

Argument The short story Cat in the rain by Ernest Hemingway is one of my favorite pieces of short fiction written by an American writer. I read the story for the first time in my second year at the university and, ever since then, whenever I met people who shared my passion for literature, I bring up Cat in the rain. What puzzles me most is the uncertainty that I have regarding the cat. Is the cat that the American woman saw in the rain the same one with the cat that the innkeeper gave her at the end of the short story? Synopsis The short story Cat in the Rain was written in the 1920’s. It is about an American couple who spends their holidays in an Italian hotel. It is a rainy day and the American woman sees a cat in the rain,†¦show more content†¦This character provides the lonely wife the only source of encouragement. The protagonist The protagonist of the story is the American wife / girl. The woman’s spontaneous reaction after she had seen that cat stands for the conflict of the story. Usually only children want to protect cats or dogs from the rain, as a grown-up knows that rain does not do any harm to animals living on the street. The woman wants to protect the little cat, which now stands for something innocent and vulnerable, like a baby. This is the behaviour of an adult. But on the other hand she acts like a child by having this wish for a cat. It is extremely meaningful that the woman is referred to as â€Å"girl† in the following paragraph, not as â€Å"wife† like before. The sequence in which we get to know that she likes the hotelkeeper a lot follows next. She likes the way he wants to serve her. Why? Because it makes her feel like a grown-up woman, treated like a real lady. But the other reasons for liking him originate from a more childish mentality: she likes him because of â€Å"his old, heavy face and big hands†. When she talks about the cat she does not say â€Å"cat† but â€Å"kitty,† which is usually a childish expression. The two parts of her personality can be noticed in the way she perceives the innkeeper: â€Å"The padrone made her feel very small and at the same time very important. She had a momentary feeling of being of great importance.† The child in