Cat In The Rain

Ernest Hemingway
Earnest Hemingway
 Ernest Miller Hemingway

 July 21,1899 – July 2, 1961.

 An American novelist, short-story writer,

journalist, and sportsman.

 Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in

1954.

 His economical and understated style had a

strong influence on 20th-century fiction.

 His adventurous lifestyle and his public image

brought him admiration from later generations.
 CAT IN THE RAIN
Genre A short story

Publish First published in

New York in 1925
year

A part of the short story collection In

Our Time
According to Hemingway’s Cats, he
wrote the story as a tribute to his wife
Hadley.
 1. Settings
Place :
 The Italian hotel near the sea
where the couple was staying.

 The events take place shortly after

World War 1.

• On a rainy day – conveys a feeling of

imprisonment and disappointment

• The scene is empty, lonely and sad in

the plaza
 2. Character Analysis

The American Wife George The Hotel Owner

(her husband)

Minor
Major
 a. The American Wife :
 Name and age ( not given )

 Short boyish hair : ‘’clipped close like a boy’s’’

 Likes to be fashionable : ‘’Don’t you think it would be a

good idea if I let my hair grow out?’’

 Unhappy, bored and lonely

 Caring and compassionate

 Seems discontented by her marriage

 Has a feeling of loneliness and longs for children

 b. George ( the husband ) :
 Indifferent to his wife’s need and desires

 Ignores his wife’s requests

 Seems to be self-involved

 Very dismissive

 The only time he pays much attention to her comes

when she expressed a desire to grow her hair long, so
she can wear it in a knot.
 c. The Hotel Owner :
 A tall, old, dignified Italian man

 Masculine traits

 Chivalrous and polite

 Sensitive and attentive

 Contrasts with the American wife’s husband

 Symbolic of old-fashioned values and traditional

gender relations.
 3. Theme

Helplessness to save oneself

( The American Wife )
‘’I want a cat, I want a cat now. If I
can’t have long hair or any fun, I
can have a cat’’
 The most important theme

The desire of freedom

( The American Wife )
‘’I want to pull my hair back tight and
smooth and make a big knot’’
 4. Summary
An American couple is staying at The maid who looks after the
an Italian hotel on a rainy day. wife outside and holds an
The American wife sees a cat that umbrella over her. When the wife
shelters from the rain. She goes out of the hotel, the cat is
decides to go out and get the cat. gone. The maid urges her to go
back inside.

1 2 3
The wife goes downstairs where
she meets the hotel owner. The
wife likes his appearance and his
attitude.
 Back in the room, she starts conservation
with her husband George who is reading
all the time and tells him that she wants to
have a cat and other things like long hair,
her own silver and candles. He seems to be
annoyed and not at all interested.

5
The maid knocks the door and brings
the woman a cat, sent by the hotel
owner.
One should pay attention to the other’s
needs.
One should have a sense of compassion
and love for animals.
Marriage should be from both sides,
caring for each other.

Moral lessons