Reading Hemingway with George Saunders Part 5

I’m working through George Saunders Story Club “bit at a time” short story readings, this post is my notes on reading part five of the story below, see original post from George here.

CAT IN THE RAIN (Part 5)  

“Did you get the cat?” he asked, putting the book down.

“It was gone.”

“Wonder where it went to,” he said, resting his eyes from reading.

She sat down on the bed.

“I wanted it so much,” she said. “I don’t know why I wanted it so much. I wanted that poor kitty. It isn’t any fun to be a poor kitty out in the rain.”

George was reading again.

She went over and sat in front of the mirror of the dressing table looking at herself with the hand glass. She studied her profile, first one side and then the other. Then she studied the back of her head and her neck.

“Don’t you think it would be a good idea if I let my hair grow out?” she asked, looking at her profile again.

George looked up and saw the back of her neck, clipped close like a boy’s.

“I like it the way it is.”

“I get so tired of it,” she said. “I get so tired of looking like a boy.”

George shifted his position in the bed. He hadn’t looked away from her since she started to speak.

“You look pretty darn nice,” he said.

She laid the mirror down on the dresser and went over to the window and looked out. It was getting dark.

“I want to pull my hair back tight and smooth and make a big knot at the back that I can feel,” she said. “I want to have a kitty to sit on my lap and purr when I stroke her.”

“Yeah?” George said from the bed.

“And I want to eat at a table with my own silver and I want candles. And I want it to be spring and I want to brush my hair out in front of a mirror and I want a kitty and I want some new clothes.”

“Oh, shut up and get something to read.,” George said. He was reading again.

His wife was looking out of the window. It was quite dark now and still raining in the palm trees.

“Anyway, I want a cat,” she said, “I want a cat. I want a cat now. If I can’t have long hair or any fun, I can have a cat.”

George was not listening. He was reading his book. His wife looked out of the window where the light had come on in the square.

Reader questions to consider:

1. How has your understanding of the story now expanded?

2. What do you think the story is about?

3. If the story ended there, would you be happy with it? What would remain unaddressed?

With this part we finally get more details about the American husband, George.  The dialog between him and the American wife/wife/American girl/girl/his wife expands the story in how we see their relationship.  George has paid enough attention to directly ask about the cat, but once his wife starts talking about wanting the kitty he goes back to reading.  He really isn’t interested in the cat.  But one she starts talking about herself, and her looks specifically, he doesn’t take his eyes off her.  He has far more interest in her than her pursuit of the cat.

From the previous part we got a sense that the woman is young from how she’s treated and described, and here we see her wanting to have long hair and a cat and a home with her own stuff;  She doesn’t want to be traveling and staying at hotels, she wants to be free at home with a new look.  We’ve gone from seeing her as a savior, to an elitist, to a silly young girl, and now to a young woman tired of being young, or at least tired of the lack of agency in her life, someone who wants something, anything, new or different.  There has been virtually no stasis in our understanding or opinion of the wife throughout the story, she keeps moving and changing in our vision of her.

George is initially listening intently to her wants up to a point, but when she goes off the rails in wanting it to be a different season and back to the kitty and ending with a more frivolous want of new clothes, he loses interest and rudely (to a degree, maybe just an over-comfortable marriage) suggests she get over it and join him in reading a book.  Early it felt like this was a story about a woman trapped in a life/marriage like the cat, but morphed into a story about class and power.  With this latest part to me the story has morphed again to that of a woman looking for something to new or more in her life.

If the story ended here I would feel it never really landed anywhere. With each part the view of the main characters, the husband and wife, has changed but never in a way that feels complete or has a greater meaning.  We know the woman is young and restless, has a sense of herself as both small and important, but knows something is missing in her life.  So if the story ended here I wouldn’t really know what that is, what the point of reading this was.  A story about a young woman who is restless, with a most uninterested husband, who doesn’t figure out what she wants feels thin or ultimately empty.

I don’t know why they are here at this hotel in Italy, nor whether their relationship is healthy or toxic.  I don’t know exactly why the cat was so captivating to the wife, what is it driving her desire for something new or different (a kitty, long hair, a home, springtime, or new clothes)?  Does the husband only see her as a trophy to have around and look at, but mostly ignore, or does he not fully realize how restless she is at this time?  Maybe she gets likes this every time they’re stuck inside when it’s raining.  How does the rain and the war monument fit into the meaning of the story? Is it a metaphor for oppression or denial of agency?

What about the waiter just standing there waiting this whole time for nothing? Did the man in the rubber cap make it to the cafe, will he tip the waiter enough for more cigarettes?  I do think the story has gained all it really can from the hotel owner and the maid, their descriptions and actions pushed the development of the wife forward to where we are now, but something still needs to happen to pull all these things together in a way that makes the stories meaning clear.