Who Are We?

In Cat in the Rain, Hemingway presents a woman in a marriage, but is in many ways trapped and restricted. While reading this piece in class, the ways that Hemingway refers to her throughout the piece drew my attention.

There are a few pivotal moments in the piece. In the beginning, the main character is “the American wife” or simply “the wife.” After she exits the hotel to look for the cat, she becomes “the American girl” or “the girl.” Finally, after she argues with George, and George tells her to “shut up,” she becomes “his wife.”

In each of these different contexts, the central female character is forced into a different identity. When her and her husband are initially introduced, they are foriegn to us and known only by their relationship to each other, referred to as wife and husband respectively. The only main significant characteristic of them is their nationality, American, which stands in stark contrast to the surrounding Italian people.

As the wife leaves her husband to go find the cat by herself, and follow what she wishes to do, we see her identity morph into something individual. She is no longer known as a wife. She is simply a girl, trying to find the cat she desires. Upon her return to the hotel, however, the power dynamic between the two is revealed. We see that her husband is the dominant leader in this unbalanced relationship. As he’s given a name, guides and limits her, and even goes so far as to be rude, she’s reduced to more of a possession in his overbearing presence. She is no longer a separate person, but “his wife.” She loses her individuality.

Like last time’s blog, Shakespeare has another quote that relates to this idea of relative identity and offers food for thought. King Lear ponders questions similar to Cat in the Rain. What are we without the labels and positions that society has assigned to us?

As the king in this story struggles to find himself without his title, and the main character in Cat in the Rain struggles to find herself within the bounds of her marriage, which has made her lose sight of her aspirations. As we’re graduating and coming of age, the century-old struggle of identity remains. Are we defined by our relationships or our backgrounds? Who are we?