Talkingabouttheshortstory,ErnestHemingwayisonemustforallreaders.Ernest
Hemingwayisoneofthegreatest20th-centuryAmericanwriterswhohaveatremendousinfluenceontheliterature.His“iceberg”techniquemakesmostofhisstoriesmeaningfulandeffective.“CatintheRain”istheoneofthebest.
AcoupleofAmericanstaysinanItalianhotelinarainyday.Thewifecatchesasightofapoorcatcrouchingunderatablefromtherainoutside.Shewantstobringitin.Howeverwhenshecomestotheyardonlyfindsthecatismissing.Afterreturningtotheroomamaidsendsheranothercat.
Hemingwaysaid:“Thereisseven-eighthsofitunderwaterforeverypartthatyoushow.Anythingyouknowyoucaneliminateanditonlystrengthensyouriceberg”.Withthe“iceberg”theorygivenbyHemingway,itrevealsafactthatthedesignofeveryscene,character,plot,movementhasitsimplicitmeaning.
Thisshortstoryrevealstheunconsciousstruggleinthewife‟sheart,whichisbetweenthepursuitoffreedomandindependence,andbeingconditionedwiththetraditionalwoman
situation.Thisnotionismanifestedbythefeatureofthecharacters,theconversations,andthereactionofthefigureandsoon.Andthecats,whichcanbeconsideredthemaincharacter,arethemostimpressiveones.
Thewildcatcouchingunderthetableintheheavyrainsymbolsthefreedomandindependencewhichthewifechasessubconsciously.Intheopposite,thedomesticcat,whichissentbythehotelkeeper,representsthetraditionalwomansocialstatusorsituation—beingprotected,submissiveandtamed.Atseeingthewildcatintherain,adesireofpossessionarisesinthewife‟sheart,andevensheherselfcan‟texplainwhyshewantsthecatsomuch.Suchkindofdesirerevealsthepursuitoffreedomandindependenceofthewife.However,Hemingwaydidn‟tgiveaclearendingthatwhetherthewifereceivethedomesticcatornot.Inmypointofview,becausethewifedoesn‟trealizeherinsidefeeling,herconfusion,orratherconflictbetweenfreedomandtraditionisshowedquietclearly.
Besidesthecats,thethemedisclosedbymalefigures,thehusbandandthehotelkeeperinthestorycanbefoundthroughanalyzingtheirattitudetothewife.Concerningthe
conversationsbetweenthewifeandthehusband,theresponseofthehusband,comparedwithhiswife‟semotionalandlongdialogues,isshorterbutstronger.Takethehusband‟s
reactiontothewifeatthebeginning,whathesaysis,“I‟llgetit”,“Don‟tgetwet”or“shutupandgetsomethingtoread”atthefinal.Allofthesedialoguesareseemedmorelikeanorderthanasuggestion.
Asforthehotelkeeper,everytimethewifepassingbyhim,afeelingofaffectionarisesinthewife.Hemingwaydevotedseveralsentencestodescribethereasonwhythewifelikesthehotelkeeperatthefirsttimeshepassing.Shelikesthewayhereceivedcomplaints,hisdignity,