Hemingway’s Marriage in Cat in the Rain

【Abstract】Previous researches have mostly concentrated on the internal textual analyses of Cat in the Rain， one of Ernest Hemingways short stories， such as from the perspective of feminism， symbolism， metaphors and the “iceberg” principle， which Hemingway is famous for. But these researches have lost sight of linking Hemingways marriage to his creation of this story. This thesis， therefore， attempts to find out many similarities amid the American couple in the story and Hemingway couple， through a close-reading of the text. Lastly， this thesis comes to a conclusion that Cat in the Rain is， to a large extent， a reflection of Hemingways first marriage and takes the chance to explore the reasons why Hemingways first marriage comes to an end.

【Key Words】Cat in the Rain； Hemingway； marriage

【作者簡介】郭慧，安徽师范大学。

1. Introduction

1.1 About the Story

Cat in the Rain is one of Ernest Hemingways short stories， first published in 1925 in the story collection In Our Time. The plot is very simple. It is about an American couple living in a hotel in Italy， and the wife wants a cat in the rain outside. However， she cannot fulfill her wishes till last.

1.2 Literary Review

Since the publication of this story， critics at home and abroad have attempted to interpret it from various perspectives. Gao Ping （201） once analyzed the metaphors in this story. She regarded the cat as a symbol of venting desires， as cats were always compared to desire in both western and Chinese culture. Since cats can behave in a spoiled manner to their masters， purr， act in a pleasant way and express what they want and what they still need directly till they get satisfied. Similarly the American wifes desire emerged with the appearance of the cat. Besides she also noticed the color word—green appearing several times in the text： green benches， green palms， green tables. Therefore she believed that Hemingway has bestowed symbolic meaning on this color word， for green stood for desire and envy. On the other hand， Cheng Ying （45） has interpreted this story from the aspect of feminism. She conceived the wife was severely suppressed and shackled in a paternal society.

2. Contents

Just in the opening sentence the narrator creates a sense of isolation， “There were only two Americans stopping at the hotel. They did not know any of the people they passed on the stairs on their way to and from their room” （Ernest Hemingway， 129）. So the American couple is isolated culturally and socially. They are the only two Americans in strange surroundings， and to make matters worse， they do not know any other people here， so that they cannot communicate with others. Hemingway couple must have the same experience when they first came to Paris. According to J. Gerald Kennedy （198）， “eight years younger than his bride， Hemingway had married Hadley in Septempber1921， and just three months later they sailed to France on the advice of Hemingways Chicago mentor， Sherwood Anderson.

3. Conclusion

This thesis has attempted to analyze the short story Cat in the Rain from the perspective of its author Ernest Hemingways own marriage life and find out the similarities between the American couple in the story and Hemingway couple in real life， mainly from the historical background. Taking all the above into consideration， the writer holds that Cat in the Rain， to a large extent， reflects the life of Hemingway and his first wife Hadley. Lastly the writer also tries to explore the reason why Hemingway broke up with his wife， and comes to a conclusion that their marriage was died of hunger， namely their different hungers for different things. Especially in that “Roaring Twenties”， when people recovered from the WWⅠ， and everything needs reconstructing： the outside world and the inner world. Those who had reborn from the war had thrown away old values， like honor， responsibility， patriotism and so on.They might lose grip of their affairs. To conclude， apart from what has been researched， further study is suggested to concentrate more on how the “Roaring Twenties” has influenced personal relationships， especially in marriage life.

References：

[1]Griffin，Peter.“A Fool Mood， A Dirty Joke：Hemingways Cat in the Rain”in The Hemingway Review[J].Literature Resources from Gale，200120，2：99.

[2]Guerin，Wilfred L.A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. The Fifth Edition[M].New York：Oxford University Press，2005.

[3]Hemingway， Ernest.“Cat in the Rain”in The Complete Short Stories.The Finca Vigia Edition[J].New York： Scribners，1987：129- 31.