PTSD and WWI
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His works are considered classics of American literature, and he is a Noble Laureate in literature. Cat in the Rain is one of his short stories in which the iceberg theory technique is very evident as it could have many interpretations, and the focus of this post will be on the psychological reading and approach.
As human psyche, in many cases, is not detached from history, the starting point of the psychological approach will be historical, which is WW1. It was indicated in the text multiple times in the phrase " the war monument" (Hemingway), and wars affect people in the most ravaging ways, especially for a war that killed more than 9 million combatants and 5 million civilians, the psychological impact was inevitable. One of the most common damages wars cause, along with economic and social damage, is the psychological one. Our brains are more complicated than we think they are, and “they give a psychological response to the experience of intense traumatic events, particularly those that threaten life” (Veterans) which is known, in psychology, as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). In this text, symptoms of having a PTSD are so obvious in the psyche of the American wife.
PTSD is one of the possible
health-related reasons of alienation which “occurs when a person withdraws or
becomes isolated from their environment or from other people” (Barclay). Over the few pages of the story, the wife
shows a lot of feelings that are related to alienation. First, feeling helpless,
which was symbolized in the cat itself while standing helplessly in the rain “a
cat was crouched under one of the dripping green tables”, and the obsessive
desire of the wife to have this cat reveals how she sees her reflection of
vulnerability on it. Secondly, feeling meaningless, from the few words she
speaks in the story, it is noticeable that she is “unable to see meaning in
actions, relationships, or world affairs, or having a sense that life has no
purpose” (Barclay); she doesn’t
even know the purpose of her only wish “I don’t know why I wanted it so much. I
wanted that poor kitty.” (Hemingway). Furthermore, she feels powerless in her marriage as when her husband
aggressively says “Oh, shut up and get something to read” (Hemingway), she does
not even talk back to ask him for respect.
Continuing with the consequences
of alienation, self-estrangement comes in the forefront; it is “being out of
touch with yourself in different ways, mostly being unable to form your own
identity” (Barclay). It
is needless to say that the wife shows this self-estrangement
throughout the story. It is brought to light in the way the narrator
addresses the wife, sometimes, he calls her " the American wife" and in
another times, he refers to her as a "girl". The wife herself speaks
like an adult and says "the cat" then, afterwards, she speaks like a
child calling it "kitty". Another sign of her self-estrangement is when
she says "I'm getting tired of looking like a boy"(Hemingway). The inconsistency of identifying the wife
reveals how she is so far away from knowing herself and her identity. Then
comes another indication, which is isolation, and isolation is like having a
sense of exclusion and solitude. Reading through her list of wishes, she
excludes any human-interaction or relations “I want to pull my hair back tight
and smooth and make a big knot at the back that I can feel. I want to have a
kitty to sit on my lap and purr when I stroke her”. Being an adult, married
woman yet not wishing for a good relation with her husband, kids, friends, or parents
or any kind of social life demonstrate the isolation she feels and lives. When
putting all of the pieces together and gathering all the clues, reaching this
conclusion and reading this story from a modern psychological perspective was in
some way challenging, and Hemingway keeps on proving that his iceberg technique
in writing is one of the unsurpassed techniques to entertain a reader.
Works cited
Alienation. Alienation: Symptoms, Types, Causes, and
More (healthline.com)
It is amazing how the impact of multiple elements are well portrayed throughout this work. Hemingway did a great job depicting several emotions and issues in a single character - whom can be analysed from many different aspects. This fact keeps the reader's mind open, and it allows different ideas and possibilities.
ReplyDeleteYes, totally agree with you! Despite being so short, I had many ideas and approaches in mind for this story. Oneday, I aspire to write using his technique, the iceberg theory.
DeleteI am not a fan of Hemingway's writings, but I really like your interpretation. As you see, Hemingway usually uses symbols to indicate further meanings to his readers and everyone relates it to different notions.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you like this one! He is one of my favorite writers. Try to read "For Whom the Bell Tolls"; it got me shocked and flabbergasted at the same time for months after reading it.
DeleteI extremely feel attached to this masterpiece by Hemingway, as he provided a clear image in the reader’s brain about how a woman can feel meaningless, powerless, and lost, in only two pages. I undoubtedly can relate those feelings to myself, and indeed every woman also could.
ReplyDeleteI guess we all related, somehow, to some of her feelings. If this is your first time to read a story written by Hemingway, I highly recommend the rest of his novels and stories, especially "For Whom the Bell Tolls".
DeleteI think many women from that time, and even now, can relate to the relationship the wife has with her husband. The lack of care causes one to be fascinated with other, perhaps trivial, ordinaries.
ReplyDeleteThis is so true! Actually, this story can be read from a feminist point of view. The wife and her husband are not leading a happy marriage, maybe that's why she is fascinated with the hotel-keeper as she sees the care she longs for in his behavior.
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