The symbolic value of the cat
In the short story "Cat in the rain" by Ernest Hemingway the American girl's
deeper wish is to have a child she can care for.
One can see that by having a closer look at the things she says and the way
she speaks.
When she sees the cat in the rain sitting under a table to
protect itself from the heavy rain, she is touched by the scene and wants to
have it. She has a very strong will because her husband offers her to get it
but she wants to do it on her own. ("No, I'll get it. The poor kitty out
trying to keep dry under a table." 1,l.11-12)
Another point is that she speaks like a child which wants to have something and she does not call it a cat, but a "kitty".
By adopting the way of speaking like a child, her stronger wish, namely having a child, comes out, because you usually speak in that way when you have a little child.
The cat becomes the unique expression of her deeper feelings. One can see
that when she says that "(she) (wants) it so much..., but (she) (does)
not know why (she) (wants) it so much. (She) (wants) that poor kitty. It
isn't any fun to be a poor kitty out in the rain." (1,l.15-17)
The woman wants to have the things she sees, namely the cat. This behaviour shows her childish character trait and that she is like a girl.
Another point which makes clear that she is on the way to becoming a woman is her wish to protect this animal. The cat appeals to her "maternal instinct", because she would even go out in the heavy rain without an umbrella to get it. (The maid holds an umbrella over her. 2,l.19-20)
The most important passage in the text is the part when the woman talks to her husband after she has looked at herself in the mirror and studied her profile. Then she presents her wishes to her husband:
She wants longer hair which she can brush in front of a mirror and which she can form and wear as a "big knot at the back that (she) can feel." (3,l.35-37) This is an expression of her deeper wishes. First of all she wants to feel more feminine and by having longer hair she would see and feel her femininity.
Besides she wants new clothes and sit at a "table with her own silver" and with candles on it. This produces proof of her wish to create a real home, where she feels comfortable, which means that she wants to live like a woman as well.
The last point is her desire "to have a kitty to sit on (her) lap and purr when (she) (strokes) her." (4,l.36-37) This is the most meanful statement because here the symbolic value of the cat comes out. The cat is something like a baby for the woman and evokes the wish to care for it. (see above)
Verena Schäfer