Comparing Male and Female Relationships in Cat in The Rain and Hills Like White Elephants by Hemingway

Comparing Male and Female Relationships in Cat in The Rain and Hills Like White Elephants by Hemingway

This relationship is examined closely in two short stories. The stories, Cat in The Rain, and Hills Like White Elephants, both show a man and a woman in what seems to be a quiet and passive moment. However in both stories, Hemingway carefully uses imagery and subtlety to convey to the reader that the relationship in the story is flawed, and is quite clearly dysfunctional. Both male characters in each story clearly have trouble understanding their women, and it is this inability to see them and what they want that Hemingway is addressing and criticizng. What, in both works, appears to be a quite and passive moment, is in reality a pivotal point in each relationship, and neither man seems to realize it.

For example, Cat In The Rain tells what seems to be a simple tale of an American couple spending a rainy afternoon inside their hotel room. This simple set up serves as a great metaphor for what appears to be the couples relationship. Outside it's ugly and gray. And nothing is going on inside. Form the begging, we can see that their is a well established rift in the relationship between George and his unnamed wife. The woman sees a cat standing in the rain, and tells her husband (who is being non communicative and sits aside reading, the whole time) "I'm going down and get that kitty"(129). Hemingway writes the response of the Husband as '"I'll do it", her husband offered from the bed"(129). The fact that George seems so detached, and makes no effort in even getting up clearly shows us that his "offer" her means nothing. He is simply going through a mechanical motion of seeming to listen and care, with out even bothering ...

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...tle bit of light she needs.

In conclusion, neither of these stories really gives any hope to their respective relationships. It seems that both cases feature men who have long already ignored and under appreciated their loved ones, and have hurt them and not even seen that hurt. Hemingway seems to be telling us that they key to keep relating is to not only listen, but listen with intent. Both the women in these stories are sad, hurt and lonely. Those are traits Hemingway seems to have written about numerous times, but they come across beautifully in these tales that at first seem small and insignificant, but truly do offer a snapshot into the emotions of it's characters, and into ours as well.

Works Cited

The Complete Short Stories Of Ernest Hemingway. The Fianca Vigia Edition. Scribner Paperback Fiction. Published By Simon and Schuster. New York, NY.