Reading a Cat in The Rain by Hemingway... The depth of detail in this snapshot and the many senses Hemingway played upon astonished me, after reading the story a second time. After the first time i finished it, i was nonplussed and a bit bored but after I zoomed in past the "like" or "dislike" level, I was satisfied. In 4 short pages, Hemingway let's us spy on this intimate scene in a private place with people i would probably never meet. The desire for a pet cat so completely envelopes the young woman's world that we are also pulled into her desire for the cat. We follow her and share her woes and then when Hemingway leaves us, he leaves us with the feeling of having found the cat! We don't have to share the sensation with the annoying young woman, we can have the cat all to ourselves. "See! Look how it feels to have someone do something nice for you and be responsible for rescuing a poor animal from the rain." Experiencing this was strange for me, I was more puzzled that satisfied with my new cat. I wondered why would someone leave me with a cat? What will I do with the cat when I leave the hotel? Now what is the next thing I can worry about because even though i have this cat, I am still so unsatisfied?
When you comment on the "he leaves us with the feeling of having found a cat" I actually felt the opposite. Because I felt that I wasn't able to "rescue" the cat for myself, similar to the woman who was not allowed the opportunity to rescue it.
ReplyDeleteWe also mentioned in class that this cat given to her, may not be the same cat. Would that change your feeling about having found the cat?
First of all, I love the picture of the cat in the raincoat! Too cute. Interesting first interpretations of the short story. Like Giulia, I felt that the cat was illusive and was never found. The "new" cat at the end of the story left something to be desired.
ReplyDeleteI like how you continue the thoughts of the young woman. She does seem to be assuming that the cat will be important to her and once she finds the cat realizes that "it" cannot fill that void. Perhaps one could look further into her relationship with her husband and the padrone to assume that the void is a much deeper complex in which she wants to leave her husband for the padrone, who is more of a fatherly figure...
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