Analysis of \"Cat in the Rain\"
The short story “Cat in the Rain” was written by E. Hemingway in the 1920s. E. Hemingway, the author, is one of the most famous American novelists, short-story writers and essayists, whose deceptively simple prose style has influenced a wide range of writers. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.
\"Cat in the Rain\" is one of his famous short stories, depicting an American couple that spends their holiday in an Italian hotel. The woman in the story sees a cat stranded under a table in the rain and wants to bring it to her hotel room. When she goes to retrieve the cat, however, it is gone. So she returns to the hotel room and has a conversation with her husband about finding out the cat and then about changing her whole Life. Her husband, however, seems to be terribly annoyed by her and not interested at all. Eventually, the cat is delivered to her room by a maid at the request of the hotelkeeper. In the short story Heming Way's use of the English language makes the story easy to read and understand.
Lexically, the author uses many suitable common words and expressions, which are simple, accurate and vivid, concise such as big palms, green benches, good weather, old man, bad weather, heavy face, big hands, gravel path, feeling, fun, a poor kitty, dressing table,dripped,slipped,crouched,lying,went,opened,smiled,laughed,talked,tightened,go along, held, shifted, shut up, stood,asked,disappointed,good,small,tight,supreme,poor,tired,big.The use of these common words and expressions instantly evoke images in the reader's mind and cause reader easy to understand the story.
Syntactically, first, from grammatical classification of sentences types, in the story, the author use a lot of simple sentences, it is good for clarity and directness. Here are some examples of simple sentences:\"Don't get wet\\"The maid looked up at her\\"It's very bad weather\\"you must not get wet\\"he perduto qualque cosa\ gatto\st get back inside. You will be wethe way it isight inside the girl\\"She went on up the stairs\\"Oh, shut up and get something to read\\"Anyway, I want a cathe Signora\".
Second, from functional classification of sentences types, In this short story, Heming Way use some interrogative sentences. An interrogative sentence or a question is primarily used to express lake of information on a specific point, and to request the listener to supply this information verbally. There are a few interrogative sentences in the story such as：“Ha perduto qualque cosa, Signora?”\"A cat\idea if I let my hair grow out?\"
Third, use short sentences is a major feature of this story, such as \"The rain dripped from the palm trees\\"The wife liked him the maid laughed\in the bed\These short sentences have simplicity and directness that make the meaning easy to understand. Forth, the author use repetition enhances the rhythm and lends force to the expression. For example, \"she liked his dignity. She liked the way he wanted to serve her. She liked the way ha
felt about being a hotel keeper .She liked his old, heavy face and big hands.\\"liked\" in this sentence was repeated 4 times. \"I wanted it so much\" three times in paragraphs 16 and 24.\"I get so tired\"2 times in paragraph 29.\"I want to...\"2 times in paragraph 32. \"Cat\"3 times in paragraph 34.This high frequency of repetition surely highlights the point the author wants to stress.
Semantically, the feature of this short story is the use of language such as metaphors, irony, pun, antithesis and symbol, which lead to the context vivid, specific and impressive.
Metaphor is one of the dominant figure in the story, here are the examples: \"Water stood in pools on the gravel paths\come up and break again in a long line in the rain.\empty square to the cafe\The table was there, washed bright green in the rain\\"He stood behind his desk in the far end of the dim room\".
Irony is also reflected in the story :\"'I'm going down and get that kitty,' the American wife said. 'I'll do it,' her husband offered from the bed\\"As the American girl passed the office, the padrone bowed from his desk\read,' George said. He was reading again.\" From these examples the author satirizes the response of the husband, which is more like an order than a suggestion.
Pun is a main feature in the story, such as \"No, I'll get it. The poor kitty out trying to keep dry under a table.\being of supreme importance\much. I wanted that poor kitty. It isn't any fun to be a poor kitty out in the rain.'\it,' she said. 'I get so tired of looking like a boy.'\and make a big knot at the back that I can feel,' she said. ' I want to have a kitty to sit on my lap and purr when I stroke her.'\And I want it to be spring and I want to brush my hair out in front of a mirror and I want a kitty and I want some new clothes. ““Anyway, I want a cat,' she said, 'I want a cat. I want a cat now. If I can't have long hair or any fun I can have a cat.'\" apparently, the woman want a cat, in fact she want to have freedom.
Antithesis can see from the dialogues：\"'I'm going down and get that kitty, ''I'll do it,' her husband offered from the bed ''No, I'll get it. The poor kitty out trying to keep dry under a table. '\"'Don't get wet, \"'Did you get the cat?' he asked, putting the book down. 'It was gone.'\", \"'I like it the way it is.' 'I get so tired of it,' she said. 'I get so tired of looking like a boy. '\"'You look pretty darn nice,' he said\". \"Yeah? George said from the bed.\"
'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 my hair out in front of a mirror and I want a kitty and I want some new clothes.' 0'Oh, shut up and get something to read,' George said. He was reading again. Concerning the conversations between the wife and the husband, the response of the husband, compared with his wife’s emotional and long dialogues, is shorter but stronger.
Symbol is mainly represented in \"cat\". First, the cat symbolizes how human beings are often faced with larger, more hostile forces than they can contend with on their own. Second, the cat symbolizes the situation of the women in her relationship. The woman seeks love, comfort, companionship and nurturing from her husband which she does not receive. She, therefore, like the cat \"was trying to make herself so compact that she would not be dripped on\". And her husband like the rain makes her feel unsafe and unfulfilled, and the hotel keeper is like the table under which she hides. She needs someone to hold her, to love her and take care of her, and those
are qualities that her husband doesn't have.
