Wife Expectation in 'Cat in the Rain' Short Story

Wife Expectation in 'Cat in the Rain' Short Story

The theme that reveal the topic of this story is Desolate Woman Endears herself to her Husband. It can be seen  or represented from the intrinsik elements of this short story especially character, plot (conflict), setting, and symbol.

The characters in this short story are described indirectly, thereby it can be called as indirect or implicit characterization. The redaer should think and conclude what the character of the person is from the statement in the story, or the movement or action of the actor. The indirects in this story can be characterized by some ways; firstly, dialogues, such as the character of the woman is sensitive and merciful can be seen from the first dialogue when she wanted to go down and got the poor kitty which was taking shelter although her husband prohibited her. Secondly, actions. Taking for example, the sentence ‘The wife went downstairs and the hotel owner stood up and bowed to her as she passed the office’ in the story represents that the woman finally go down to get the kitty. Thirdly, thoughts and feelings. We can see the husband, George’s character that is irresponsive and didn’t care with others, not only with his own wife but also with the poor kitty. When his wife wanted a kitty he didn’t do nothing, also when his wife tried to do something with her hair pretentiously, he prefered to continue his reading and didn’t care with those. Fourthly, relationships. One example, the hotel owner was very care with Signora and he didn’t want she got wet when trying to get the kitty. He ordered a hotel-keeper to bring her an umbrella. Lastly he also sent her a big tortoiseshell cat to make up the poor kitty that went away. In this case, the man as the hotel owner wanted to serve well and give the best for his customers. For this relationship between a hotel owner and the customers made him tried to do everything to make them feel comfortable in the hotel. The next is appearances; for instance, the sentence that the woman said ‘I want to pull my hair back tight and smooth and make a big knot at the back that I can feel’, represents that the woman character that is very coquettish because she wanted to endears herself to her husband. We can know from the sentence that her hair appearance can represent his coquettish character. The last is motivation. To illustrate, we can see that the condition for being desolate or loneliness could motivate Signora to get a kitty which would sit on her lap and purr when she stroke her and also some new clothes. In this case, motivation for getting kitty and some new clothes could represents her character as a spoiled woman.

Plot has two important elements, they are conflict and climax. In this story there some conflicts (minor conflicts)  and one climax (major conflict). The conflicts are about the wife expectation to get the poor kitty when her husband prohibit her, a cat which sit on her lap and purr when she stroke her, eat at a table with her own silver and candles. She also wanted it to be spring and brush her hair out in front of a mirror and she once again wanted a kitty and some new clothes, instead of her husband didn’t care with her. Implicitely she wanted her husband took care with her in her loneliness but her husband still read and read busily. Her husband said that she should shut up and he got something to read. Then, he read again and again. The climax is when she was looking out of the window. It was quite dark now and still raining in the palm trees. ‘Anyway, I want a cat,’ she said, ‘I want a cat. I want a cat now. If I can’t have long hair or any fun, I can have a cat.’ Nonetheless, George was not listening. He was reading his book. His wife only looked out of the window where the light had come on in the square. The woman was truly desolate and lonely, she also may feel dejected to her husband’s attitude. Finally, the resolution is when a maid knocked at the door and held a big tortoiseshell cat pressed tight against her and swung down against her body. The padrone asked her to bring that for Signora. The big tortoiseshell cat can make up the kitty which Signora wanted so much. I perceive undoubtedly that it can reduce the Signora’s desolate condition.

The elements of which setting is composed are place, social condition, time, and atmosphere. The actual location of this story is in detail of a room’s interior of Italian hotel. It can be seen in the first pharagraph ‘There were only two Americans stopping at the hotel’... Their room was on the second floor facing the sea...,  and third pharagraph ‘Italians came from a long way off to look up at the war monument’. Also we can see that the hotel owner spoke in Italian ; ‘Si, Si, Signora, brutto tempo... ‘Ha perduto qualque cosa, Signora?’... ‘Si, il gatto.’  Furthermore, the occupations and modes of day-to-day existence of the characters are caring about something. For example, character’s job on the hotel owner who serve the customer well. Besides, the time in which the action takes place is at night when there was raining. Just as the sentence in 3^th pharagraph ‘It was raining. The rain dripped from the palm trees...’, and 13^th pharagraph ‘His wife was looking out of the window. It was quite dark now and still raining in the palm trees’. Last, the emotional environment of the characters is desolate and loneliness because her husband didn’t care and listening her. We can see in the 13-14^th pharagraph ‘Anyway, I want a cat,’ she said, ‘I want a cat. I want a cat now. If I can’t have long hair or any fun, I can have a cat.’ George was not listening. He was reading his book’.

Symbol can be defined as words which represent unreal meaning. The symbol that appears in this short story is cat or poor kitty. As we know that cat is the most spoiled animal who always want to be cared by its owner. Likewise, we can see from the wife’s sentence that she wanted a cat which sit on her lap and purr when she stroke her. Thus, in this short story, cat symbolize spoils of the wife who wanted her husband will attend to her. The wife felt so desolate because her husband do his own activity that was focus on his reading busily again and again, he didn’t care and listening whatever what she wanted. Whereas they were wife and husband in a hotel, generally the husband should make harmonic relationship with his wife; on the contrary, he didn’t. She continuesly wish that her husband would do that after she tried to stunning him, but he still didn’t care with her.