Stylistic analysis of the short story Ernest Hemingway "Cat in the Rain"

      Stylistic analysis of the short story Ernest Hemingway  "Cat in the Rain".

“Cat in the rain” is a psychological story because the author investigates human characters and their relationships. The story is told in the 3rd person narrative. The text of the story is not homogeneous: it is interrupted with the elements of description and the characters’ dialogues.

The title of the story admits the fact that the cat’s image makes great play in the story. We can say that it is symbolic title.

The story begins with the description of the hotel where two Americans stopped. It was raining, that’s why the couple 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.

The story has many subtle hints of the author, by means of which he wanted to convey the basic idea. The stylistic devices which Hemingway used - tips. They help to get to the truth, correctly placing the emphasis in the text, also drawing the reader's attention on the most important parts.

Complication starts when the American young lady saw a cat in the rain.  “The cat sat under the table and tried to make herself so compact that she wouldn't be dripped on”. Suddenly the girl felt strong desire to get this cat. It must have been a miserable spectacle: wet, homeless cat crouching under the table in the empty square. The girl decided to go down and get this cat. Here we get acquainted with her husband. He is lying on the bed and reading and he has no desire to go out in such weather for the cat his wife wants so much.

Although he proposed it but sooner out of politeness and he did not insist. “Don’t get wet”- he said, but it wasn't a care - he said it just to say something. Later the reader can see that the hotelkeeper gives the girl more attention than her own husband.

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 ". 

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 listened to her every word and request, that can’t be said about her husband who never worried about her feelings.

 For example, when girl went upstairs in her room, we can see another pictures. Her husband did not notice that 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.

She says: "I want to pull my hair back tight and smooth and make a big knot at the back that I feel. I want to have a kitty to sit on my lap and purr when I stroke her".  I think she wants the children and her own house. And the cat in her dreams is a symbol of refuge, something that she corresponds with such notions as home and coziness.

The author underlines the idea of dissatisfaction using repetition of the construction "I want". This stylistic device discloses her excitement; she is on the verge of hysterics.

"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 emotional tension reaches its highest degree, when the girl throws out all her discontent, all her negative emotions. The reader can see it in the following passage.

1.  "Oh, shut up and get something to read" says her husband. Estrangement grows between two people. Then the author draws attention to the fact that It is still raining. The rain pierces the plot of the story and has a symbolic meaning. It symbolizes their unfortunate family life.

2. The girl continues: "Anyway I want a cat - she says. -I want a cat. I want a cat now. If I can't have long hair or any fun, I can have a cat". Suddenly she realizes that her marital life was not successful and the cat for her is the only possibility to feel satisfaction. This stylistic device discloses her excitement. The emotional tension increases.  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. In this story, cat is the symbol of woman. Woman feels lonely, dependent, and unhappy. Another Hemingway's talent lies in deep psychological insight into human nature.

The author realized that she needs to be loved (by her husband) and need interest, security, and comfort.  The woman wants warmth, attention, care, joy, happiness. She wants to have a kitty because wants give her love to this poor kitty.