Cat in the Rain - Ernest Hemingway

          Cat in the Rain by Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) tells the story of an American couple on vacation in Italy. Hemingway describes the hotel as "facing the sea" and the "public garden and war monument". It is raining, and the couple are in their room. The husband is reading on the bed when his wife looks out the window and spots a cat under a bench in the garden, she was desperate to go and save it as it “was trying to make herself so compact she would not be dripped on". She made her way down to the lobby and was greeted by the hotel keeper, who she took very much interest in. Hemingway emphasised that she really "likes" the hotel keeper by saying the wife "She liked his dignity. She liked the way he served her" etc. The innkeeper sent the maid who looks after their room to shade her under an umbrella and lead her out into the garden, the wife was surprised to find that the cat had disappeared from under the bench. She makes her way back to her room and proceeds to have a one sided conversation with her husband. She asks him for his opinion on her growing out her hair and emphasises on the fact that she wants a cat, and what she wants in her life that she doesn't have. He does not pay much attention to her and she says "I want a cat, I want a cat now. If I can't have long hair or any fun, I can have a cat." He continues to read when suddenly there was a knock on the door, the maid appears with a tortoiseshell cat in her arms and says "the padrone asked me to bring this for the Signora." 

          I don't believe this story was supposed to be mysterious, however, the ending was quite abrupt and suggests a deeper meaning behind the action of giving her the cat. Judging by the relationship of the husband and wife, both their life and relationship had never been stable, as the wife always felt lonely- even ignored, because she said that she wanted a "kitty to sit on [her] lap", and have "a table with [her] own silver...candles" suggests that they had never really settled down in one place, and have always been traveling. I quite enjoyed this short story as it depicted the simple selfishness on both sides of the relationship, and the gradual immaturity of the wife (from "woman" to "girl" and "cat to kitty"). The ending also intrigues me, as it remains ambiguous and does not tell us the reason behind the gesture and what her reaction is.