Before and After

I have enjoyed reading the works of Hemingway, but I struggle with interpreting them on my own. For my responses, I have decided to write what I think when only reading the story and what I think after researching the story. So here it goes…

Before Research:

            “Cat in the Rain” is a story about a woman who is striving to get out of her relationship.  She is trapped by her husband who controls her every move.  Come to find out, as she and her husband is staying at a hotel, the hotel-keeper strikes her fancy.  The woman uses a cat in the rain as an excuse to go downstairs and see the hotel-keeper.  Although they don’t speak, he takes care of her.  He sends a maid with an umbrella while she’s outside and he bows to her out of courtesy and respect as she passes by.  The woman uses this man and his generosity to escape the life she lives now.  When she returns upstairs to her husband, she begins talking about things SHE wants.  They are small things such as long hair, a cat, new clothes, etc.  Her husband ignores all her requests and tells her to just read a book.  At the end, the maid comes to the room with the cat in her hand and tells her that it’s from the hotel-keeper.  This is a sure sign to the woman that she needs a man like the hotel-keeper, not the one she’s married to.

After Research:

            So for the most part, I understood the story.  After researching, however, there are key elements I looked over.  Yes, the woman wants many things because of her lack of a relationship with her husband, but he shouldn’t take the full blame.  He tries to compliment her and she doesn’t pay attention to it.  Also, I seemed to completely ignore the Italians in this story.  Considering it is only one line of the text, I guess I understand why.  It’s interesting how that one line contrasts the American couple so much.  Because of it, we see that Italians have a sense of adventure and learning outside of a hotel and reading books, something that the American woman seems to desire.  If the Italians go to the square to see the monument, why do the Americans just stay inside and read? Maybe if it weren’t raining it’d be different. My guess is, it wouldn’t.