How does Hemingway use literary techniques to create a sense of ambiguity in the reader in "Cat in the Rain"?
Hemingway uses a variety of literary techniques to produce a sense of ambiguity in the reader in Cat in the Rain. He starts by using rain to evoke feelings such as melancholy and emptiness in the reader. He then uses techniques such as characterization, repetition and symbolisms to express feelings in the characters and to further develop the text. Through her actions and words, we may find that the American wife is probably the most pivotal character throughout the text. 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.
The starting description of the Cat in the Rain is very welcoming and lively: There were big palms and green benches in the public garden. In the good weather there was always an artist with his easel. Artists liked the way the palms grew and the bright colors of the hotels facing the gardens and the sea. However, these positive feelings start to break apart with the description of the war monument and the rain that bring in themes such as conflict and grief: Italians came from a long way off to look up at the war monument. It was made of bronze and glistened in the rain. It was raining. The rain dripped from the palm trees. Water stood in pools on the gravel paths. The rainy setting that prevails during the end of the description, along with a very simple structure, invokes a tedious, monotonous and dull feeling in the reader. The sea broke in a long line in the rain and slipped back down the beach to come up and break again in a long line in the rain. The mentioning of the sea makes the setting even emptier. Hemingway also uses repetition here to reinforce the tedious feeling. He uses the changing setting to create a sense of mystery in the text.
Not only does the rainy setting reinforce the literal ambiguity, it also reproduces the marriage tension. At first, marriage was pleasurable, but a war started between George and his wife,
The starting description of the Cat in the Rain is very welcoming and lively: There were big palms and green benches in the public garden. In the good weather there was always an artist with his easel. Artists liked the way the palms grew and the bright colors of the hotels facing the gardens and the sea. However, these positive feelings start to break apart with the description of the war monument and the rain that bring in themes such as conflict and grief: Italians came from a long way off to look up at the war monument. It was made of bronze and glistened in the rain. It was raining. The rain dripped from the palm trees. Water stood in pools on the gravel paths. The rainy setting that prevails during the end of the description, along with a very simple structure, invokes a tedious, monotonous and dull feeling in the reader. The sea broke in a long line in the rain and slipped back down the beach to come up and break again in a long line in the rain. The mentioning of the sea makes the setting even emptier. Hemingway also uses repetition here to reinforce the tedious feeling. He uses the changing setting to create a sense of mystery in the text.
Not only does the rainy setting reinforce the literal ambiguity, it also reproduces the marriage tension. At first, marriage was pleasurable, but a war started between George and his wife,
Bibliography: Short Story "Cat in the Rain" by Ernest Hemingway