Cat in the Rain - Book Report/Review Example

The female character, described only as “the American wife”, is the protagonist and invokes sympathy from the reader as she struggles to alleviate her loneliness with the rescue of the cat she sees from her hotel window. When she tells her husband about her desire to rescue the poor animal, his indifference is palpable and he is obviously annoyed by her conversation, which intrudes upon his reading. The sunny conditions hinted at the beginning of the story are nothing like the stormy conditions the couple are experiencing and seem to mirror the state of the couples’ marriage.

The flattery the innkeeper pays to the wife is a direct contradiction to the boorish treatment of her husband and the wife’s pleasure at his attentions presents one of the clues to the dissatisfaction the wife feels within her marriage. However, Hemingway does not infuse her with many personalities and leaves her character rather flat except for the child-like persona she displays in referring to the cat as a “kitty”, emphasized by Hemmingway’s description of her as the “American girl” (Hemingway, 25, 60).

The husband is the antagonist, controlling, and neglectful of his unhappy wife as they vacation in Italy, one of the most romantic cities in the world. The flowing descriptive details of the square with its war monument and gravel path, the beach, palm trees, and additional scenic descriptors creates a picturesque image of the vacation site and lends an additional air of misgiving to the state of the couple in such a setting. The cold, unforgiving atmosphere outside mirrors the setting inside the couple’s hotel room, as demonstrated by George’s ordering his wife to “shut up and get something to read” (Hemingway, 112).

The disinterest he pays his wife is apparent in his nonchalance when she discusses her dissatisfaction with her appearance, hair, wardrobe, and her desire for a cat, which George summarily dismisses with his rude comment. The deference the innkeeper shows the wife by sending the maid to accompany her with an umbrella is a stark contrast to George’s reaction in tossing the command “Don’t get wet” for his wife to obey (Hemingway, 32). George’s wife’s dissatisfaction with her boyish appearance and her admiration of the maturity of the innkeeper is symbolic of her desire to grow up and her husband’s insistence that she remains as she is.

The culmination of the story with the delivery of a cat to the couple’s room, again by the maid at the behest of the innkeeper, is another representation of the older gentleman’s deference for the wishes of the wife where her husband shows none. The stormy weather, war monument, and turbulent seas are all metaphors for the dissatisfaction of the wife and her feelings regarding her indifferent husband. Hemingway’s use of narration creates a pictorial representation of George and his wife and uses the symbolism of the cat to embody the wife’s desire to love and be loved.