Symbolism in Cat in the Rain by Ernest Hemingway
In his short story Cat in the Rain, Ernest Hemingway uses imagery and
subtlety to convey to the reader that the relationship between the
American couple is in crisis and is quite clearly dysfunctional. In
other words, the reader has to have a symbolic reading of the images.
In fact, what seems to be a simple tale of an American couple spending
a rainy afternoon inside their hotel room serves as a great metaphor
for their relationship. This symbolic imagery, hided behind common
objects, gives the story all its significance.
This short story contains a great number of striking and literary
symbols. In a symbolic reading, the opening paragraph describes the
crisis that exists in the marriage of the couple. In other words, the
description of the bad weather, of the "empty square"[1](l.10) and of
their isolation, reflects this conflict and also sets the negative
mood. In fact, since the beginning, Ernest Hemingway insists on the
isolation of the couple that "does not know any of the people they
passed" (ll.1-2) and are "only two Americans"(l.1). Here it is
interesting to notice that they are isolated from the outside world
but also from each other. There is no communication and they have no
contact, they are distant from each other. Then this isolation is
accentuated because of the weather, it is raining. The rain is part
responsible for the fact that they have to stay in their room.
Nevertheless, the rain has a symbolic meaning together with the
description of the public garden. It represents as suggests the critic
John V. Hagopian the "lack of fertility"[2] (p.230) .
This lack is a...
... middle of paper ...
...t the
cat, the story would lose much of both their colour and clarity.
Moreover, Ernest Hemingway has succeeded very well in this story in
showing that individualism of the people living with their own problem
is in many case the cause of split and despair.
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[1]All further references are to this edition : Ernest Hemingway, "Cat
in the Rain" . The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, ed. Jackson J.
Berson (Dwham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1975).
[2] John V. Hagopian, "Symmetry in 'Cat in the Rain'", College English,
XXIV (December 1962).
[3] John V. Hagopian, "Symmetry in 'Cat in the Rain'", College English,
XXIV (December 1962).
[4] John V. Hagopian, "Symmetry in 'Cat in the Rain'", College English,
XXIV (December 1962).
In a well-written short story, different literary elements and terms are incorporated into the story by the author. Ernest Hemingway frequently uses various literary elements in his writing to entice the reader and enhance each piece that he writes. In Hills Like White Elephants, Hemingway uses symbols to teach the reader certain things that one may encounter during daily life. Symbolism may be defined as relating to, using, or proceeding by means of symbols (Princeton). The use of symbols in Hills Like White Elephants is utterly important to the plot line and to the fundamental meaning of the story. Through this use of symbolism, the reader can begin to reveal the hidden themes in this short story.
In the book The Giver, Louis Lowry uses symbolism to induce the reader to think about the significance of an object or character in the book. She uses symbolism using objects or characters to represent something when she wants readers to think about its significance. She chooses not to tell her readers directly, but indirectly, by using symbolism. For example, she used light eyes, Gabriel and the sled as types of symbols with different meanings.
“Like a river flows so surely to the sea darling, so it goes some things are meant to be.” In literature there have been a copious amount of works that can be attributed to the theme of love and marriage. These works convey the thoughts and actions in which we as people handle every day, and are meant to depict how both love and marriage can effect one’s life. This theme is evident in both “The Storm” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman; both stories have the underlying theme of love and marriage, but are interpreted in different ways. Both in “The Storm” and in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the women are the main focus of the story. In “The Storm” you have Calixta, a seemingly happy married woman who cheats on her husband with an “old-time infatuation” during a storm, and then proceeds to go about the rest of her day as if nothing has happened when her husband and son return. Then you have “The Yellow Wallpaper” where the narrator—who remains nameless—is basically kept prisoner in her own house by her husband and eventually is driven to the point of insanity.
In “Big Two-Hearted River”, he uses imagery and symbolism to add meaning to In Our Time. As Nick is walking, he observes grasshoppers whose colors have changed. Hemingway writes “he realized that they had all turned black from living in the burned-over land. He realized that the fire must have come the year before, but the grasshoppers were all black now. He wondered how long they would stay that way” (Hemingway 136). Nick notices that the grasshoppers have changed colors from yellow or green to black in order to adapt to their new, soot covered environment. Since the word “black” has a negative connotation, readers can conclude that the grasshoppers symbolize something negative. This relates to Nick because he is now “black”; he is damaged from his experience in the war. He also wonders how long the grasshoppers will remain in this state, similarly to how he wonders how long he will remain in his. Another example is in “Cat in the Rain”. He uses imagery to disclose a young wife’s desire for a child. He says “She held a big tortoise-shell cat pressed tight against her and swung down against her body (Hemingway 94). This reveals to readers the woman’s want for a baby, with the image of the cat on her stomach representing a pregnant stomach. Rather than overtly saying she wants a child in an uninteresting and colorless way, or having her say it to her husband, Hemingway chooses to reveal it in a
Throughout the story the author used objective point of view, symbolism, and irony to illustrate the theme that life and death decisions will negatively affect relationships. Going through with the abortion would have caused much grief for Jig but I believe the man would have been able to get over it much easier. She saw the ugliness of the barren valley and was slowly realizing what a mistake she’d make if she wasn’t able to enjoy the lushness of her fertility. In my opinion I believe Jig was smart enough or at least convicted enough not to go through with the abortion.
A.S. Byatt uses symbolism in her story “The Thing in the Forest” to show how children in England during World War II, like herself, felt and reacted to the events that they knew where bad but didn’t understand. This can easily be shown through the sequencing of the plot, the deeper meanings behind characters and places, and the post effects it had the main characters.
In Ernest Hemingway’s, Hills Like White Elephants, he is able to create a tension filled dialogue between an American man and a girl, Jig, as they sit, drink, and wait for a train from Barcelona at a bar. It mentions that all that the two have been doing was traveling, looking at things, and trying new drinks (Hemingway 2). During the thirty-five to forty-minute period, the couple vaguely discusses about whether or not the “simple operation” for an abortion should take place. Throughout the story, it seems that the man has his mind made up on having the girl go through the operation and tries to persuade her to agree, while the girl is still in limbo about it. In the beginning of the story, Jig seems to be used to depending on the man to
Hemingway has created a situation where she is forced to depend on him because she is a young, immature, girl in an adult situation. It is when the American tells jig that “we will be fine afterward. Just like we were before, it is the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy” that she realizes nothing will ever be the same no matter what he says. During one discussion she says “we could have everything” the man agrees, then she says “no we can’t it isn’t ours anymore and once they take it away, you can never get it back.” He says “But they haven’t taken it away” and her response is “we’ll wait and see.” The American doesn’t realize that at this point she has discovered that if he cannot love her and be happy while she is pregnant how he will ever truly love her as much as she loves him. According to Robert Barron many critics believe that the couple’s relationship has a bleak and ultimately poor ending (Barron). The older waiter in “A clean, Well-Lighted Place” is dealing with a similar situation when a wealthy old man who is a regular at the café he works at comes in after a failed suicide
because the author is saying that you need to repent and ask for forgiveness to
There are many subtle symbols presented such as the train station, the felt pads, the train tracks and the time but the definitive symbols are the hills, the absinthe and the beaded bamboo curtains. These symbols give readers a clearer picture of Hemingway’s vision. Studying these symbols allow readers to view this story with a different lens and find a different conclusion. In fact, the symbols presented by Hemingway are more effective then the main dialogue at revealing the outcome of the American and Jig’s argument.
“The Hills Like White Elephants” is a short story that is about an American man and a girl called Jig. They are sitting at a table outside a train station, waiting for a train to Madrid. While they wait they order drinks and have a heated ongoing conversation over whether or not Jig will have an operation that would be of great significance to their relationship. “The Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway has two important symbols in the story, the hills and the drinks both of which help to give us a better understanding of what is going on between the American and his girl.
Ernest Hemingway is an incredible writer, known for what he leaves out of stories not for what he tells. His main emphasis in Hills Like White Elephants seems to be symbolism. Symbolism is the art or practice of using symbols, especially by investing things with a symbolic meaning or by expressing the invisible or intangible by means of visible or sensuous representations (merriam-webster.com). He uses this technique to emphasize the importance of ideas, once again suggesting that he leaves out the important details of the story by symbolizing their meaning.
If I had a children in my class with an exceptionality I would keep it
The Old Man and the Sea has been a time old classic by a both beloved and occasionally despised author Mr. Ernest Hemingway. In the Old Man and the Sea Symbolism and references that reflect Hemingway’s own life can be seen in many different lights, he had many ups and downs similar as Santiago’s struggles and as I have chosen to explore the suffering that can be seen in Santiago and in relation to Hemingway’s own life.
Cyclical behaviors of abuse and hatred are infinite and completely tragic. Writer and poet, Stephen Crane, in his piece, "A Dark Brown Dog," effectively illustrates the desperation for acceptance of a stray dog that is brought home by a child and beaten by his family. Crane, through the use of staggering symbolism (something used to represent something else for the sake of meaning), conveys the portrayal of a dog as a freed, black slave, still trapped under the weight of societal acceptance after the Civil War. Similarly, the rope and father are symbols of restraints that play an essential role in the tragic life of the dark-brown dog.