Analysis of Cat in the Rain

What does the cat represent in Hemingway’s “Cat in the Rain”


  “Cat in the Rain” is a very short and tight novel of Ernest Hemingway. Different from Hemingway’s other novels; the leading character of “Cat in the Rain” is a tenellous woman. In the story, a couple of American stays in an Italian hotel in a rainy day. The wife catches a sight of a poor cat crouching under a table from the rain outside. She wants to bring it in. However when she comes to the yard only finds the cat is missing. After returning to the room a maid sends her another cat. We can see that the homeless cat must have several further implications. From my point of view, the poor cat in the novel “Cat in the Rain” symbols the freedom, independence and equity which the wife eagerly desires under the pressure of traditional women status and the patriarchal society.
  First of all, the poor cat in the novel represents freedom which the wife strives for. Although the poor cat in the rain is homeless and pitiful, it can choose its own existence. Obviously, the wife is not as unbound as this cat. She lives in the nice and pleasant room but she has no right to get what she really wants. In the novel what she says is, “…I want candles. And I want it to be spring and I want to brunch my hair…I want a kitty and I want some new clothes.” But how does her husband responds her? “Shut up and get something to read!” is the only comfort she can get. Here we can see that under the superiority of the male, the wife can not escape from this kind of restraint which will constrain her to pursue what she really wants. So when the wife catches a sight of a poor cat crouching under a table, her desire to freedom is aroused. However, when she comes to the yard and only finds the cat is missing, she was suddenly disappointed. The missing of the cat also reveals the impossibility for women to get freedom in a vulnerable position.
  Secondly, the pitiful kitty in the rain represents independent and shit notion is...