The Indiffence reflected in “Cat in the Rain”

The Indiffence reflected in “Cat in the Rain”默认分类2009-12-27 20:06:14 阅读162 评论0字号：大中小订阅The Indiffence reflected in “Cat in the Rain”I.IntroductionCat in the Rain is written by Ernest Hemingway and it describes an American couple who live in a hotel, and the wife sees a cat in the rain, and wants to get it inside but fails in catching it. When she goes back to her room, she gossips all the time and makes her husband upsetting. Eventually, the owner of the hotel asks the maid to send the cat to her. It seems that there is no obvious and clear theme in this short story. But if we consider this question according to the background of the story---after the first world in Europe, and the major thought and feeling of Hemingway at that time. We can realize that the theme of this short story is expressing the indifference of people after the First World War.II.Literature ReviewIII.TheoryFor this short story, I choose Iceberg theory to analysis. Iceberg theory started by American writer Hemingway asfollows:＂if a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that will have a feeing of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to onlyone-eighth of it being above water. A good writer does not need to reveal every detail of a character or action.＂It means that the author just portrays the part of iceberg which appear above water, and let readers to imagine the rest beneath water in terms of the text, and makes the text more concise and brief. IV.Textual analysis1.1 The Background of the Short StoryFrom the text have described:＂Italian came from a long way off to look up the war monument ,it was made of bronze and glistened in the rain.＂we can be aware that the story happens after the first world war and provides us with the very important specific phenomenon to understand this story.1.2 The loneliness of the American couple in a Foreign CountryAs the text describes:＂there are only two Americans stopping at the hotel, they did not know any of the people they passed on their way to and from their home.＂From this descriptionof the circumstance of the American couple, we can feel that the couple have few friends in a foreign country, and people become indifferent to each other after the world war, they do not communicate with each other and you feel lonely this sort of phenomenon due to the gap among people.1.3 The attitude of the husband toward his wifeWhile the wife is looking for a cat in the rain, the husband toward his wife is quite indifferent. When his wife wants to get the cat in the rain, he says:＂I’ll do it.＂but after his wife says:＂No, I’ll get it.＂He just goes on reading and do not care his wife, just as nothing has to do with him. After she fails in finding the cat in the rain, she begins to gossip and finally trigger the anger of his husband, and his husband says to her:＂Shut up and get something to read.＂But the wife continue to gossip about wanting a cat ,however, her husband does not concern her and read his book again. It seems that there is no love between the couple and they are confronted with marriage crisis. According to iceberg theory, we can know the husband’s indifferent attitude his wife embodies the feeling that all people live in the environment of indifference, and everything has nothing to do with me including the things happen around me. Therefore, when the wife wants to get thecat in the rain, his husband does not care her, the most essential thing is that she does not bother him. That kind of indifference is caused by the world war, and people’s souls are harmed so greatly in the cruel war.1.4 The Maid’s Attitude toward the American wifeThe maid firstly cares the American wife; nevertheless, when the maid hears that she want to get a cat in the rain, she laughs at her, and then the maid’s face tightens. Because she do not understand her behavior and she is also indifferent to her. Actually, the wife does not actually want a cat, she just would like to do something to idle the boring time, yet nobody understands her inner feeling, so she feels bored and embarrassed.1.5 The Owner of the Hotel’s Attitude toward the American WomanIt seems that the owner of the hotel owner treats the American wife so well. He bows to her when she passes the office and helps her find the cat. But actually they do not communicate with each other, and there is gap between them and what the hotel owner has done to her just increase the conflict between the wife and his husband.ConclusionThe author portrays a simple story among the husband and his wife and the hotel owner as well as the maid to express the indifference among people and the lost feeling of people after the First World War. And the author does not tell us directly, but just mention some scenery and a few people’s behaviors to imply and let readers imagine the rest according to the specific background. In doing so, we can understand the profound meaning beneath words and know what the author wants to convey through his short story。