The Connotation Short Story Cat In The Rain By Hemingway - Essay Example

The caged American Wife seems oblivious to her lack of freedom which is analogous to the cat she sees, which is being rained on crouched under a table trying to compress herself hoping not to be rained on. The woman leaves the room to go rescue the cat and the author starts referring to her as the American girl who receives some attention from a maid as she freely meanders in pursuit of the cat. She goes and does not locate the cat. She passes by the reception she encounters the padrone who makes her feel small yet of supreme importance.

‘Cat in the rain’ is the portrayal of women’s status in a male-dominated society. The story is pertinent because it displays the women’s desire for freedom to do what they want as opposed to what is expected of them by their husbands or society. Gender roles and gender-specific expectations and issues have long been developed by patriarchal societies to maintain control over them. Indeed, even the husbands rarely recognized the interests of the women. Hemingway’s story highlights the women’s desire to be free demonstrated by the great desire of the American Wife to free the cat and own it, which depicts their yearning to be free. Cat, therefore, symbolizes women’s status that at all times strives to conform to the demands of their husbands. ‘It isn’t any fun to be a poor kitty out in the rain’ (Hemingway Web) reflects the nostalgia of the woman to flee from her vigilant and domineering husband.

The protagonist in the story is first addressed as an ‘American wife’ and then as an ‘American girl’ which subtly defines the difference between a married girl and a girl who can pursue their happiness as they deem within the broader framework of patriarchal society. This depicts marriage as a form of confinement for women. Indeed, social conditioning significantly affects marital bond and makes women rebel against the restrictions that make them unequal and less worthy of their counterparts.“Hills like White Elephants” IntroductionHemingway’s story, ‘Hills like White Elephants’ revolves around social morals, particularly on abortion.

The story is about an American couple that appears to conflict with what the author calls an operation but the description portrays that it was an abortion. The author follows the iceberg principle by dealing with the issue of abortion in a concealing manner. Throughout the story, the author reveals vital details but conceals those that the reader can comprehend by reading the story. The author discusses the issue of abortion and describes the vacillating views of the two individuals who are trying to justify the abortion decision.

This could be due to the objectionable and indifferent way the world viewed abortion. It has huge moral, religious, and legal implications, which make it almost a taboo subject. This essay is a response to Hemingway’s Story “Hills like White Elephants” and attempts to discuss the projected meaning of the story. The white elephant is a symbol of the girl’s pregnancy, which she initially claims to care for when she says she likes the hill's appearance of the white elephant a comment she retracts later and says the hills only looked like white elephants at a glimpse.

Using white elephants to depict the unborn baby implies something nobody wants to be associated with. The girl referred to as jig appears not to understand Spanish, which is being used by the other characters in the story. The language disparity is analogous to her naivety since she appears not to understand much about abortion as well as the difference in the view on abortion between her and her boyfriend. The use of the word ‘man’ to refer to the male character and ‘girl’ to refer to the female character depict some form of inequality both in the relationship as well as in society.