Respect is Earned Not Given In the short story, “Cat in the Rain,” Ernest Hemingway discusses many topics that weigh heavily on modern society. Ideas of acceptance, and self worth have been a struggle for women especially. From Hemingway’s stand point the marriage roles in America have been extremely tainted. In order to gain respect in all aspects of life it first begins with self confidence. Therefore the “wife” in “Cat in the Rain”, cannot expect to be respected and valued by her husband if she doesn’t place the same expectations upon herself. In the story, the narrators view of the “wife” is not very admirable. Almost everything she either says or does is childlike. The conflict of feeling emotionally separated from her husband no doubt …show more content…
Women are a reoccurring theme in Hemingway’s stories. However most readers are not aware of what he views as a ideal woman. In Ernest Hemingway: Machismo and Masochism, Thomas Strychacz states,
Fantina argues that the "ideal Hemingway woman.. .demonstrates power and a will to dominate" (1), and, as a corollary, that Hemingway often evinces in his fiction a "respect for, even awe of, women" (9)…. that structure of submission/idealization might as easily be understood as an insidious power play in its own right-a cover for a more virulent misogyny-and Fantina does indeed note that male masochism requires the woman to be complicit in the male's fantasy structure (Strychacz 118).
As the source mentions the use of masochism and misogyny is a reoccurring theme in Hemingway’s paper. However misogynistic attitudes in any form should not be acceptable today. America’s thinking has evolved since Ernest Hemingway’s time period. Women have made great strides in marriages, and also in the workplace. However, there is still a long way to go before men and women can have equal treatment. “Cat in the Rain” is an example of a woman who wanted respect, but did not want to go against cultural and gender limitations to achieve her personal goals. To gain respect a woman must first respect herself and never allow that respect to be taken for
Ernest Hemingway is among the most unmatched of American authors. In his works, he is often said to focus on gender roles, especially those of men. Hemingway often created characters that showed the characteristics that he believed made a boy into a man. However, these characteristics are not gender-specific, and could very well apply to women as well. This collection of characteristics became the Hemingway Code Hero. The Hemingway Code Hero, more commonly referred to as the Code Hero, was an embodiment of male prowess. Most of Hemingway’s characters failed to live up to this almost impossible standard, however, all of his characters are capable of
Does deviating from one’s gender norms inevitably doom one down a spiral of moral corruption? Tim O'Brien, author of “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” and Ernest Hemingway, author of “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, certainly seem to hold this view, as evident by the fates of the major female characters in their respective works. The deviance of the major female characters in both works appears to corrupt not only themselves, but also pollute their partners, causing them to suffer injury or harm as a result. The degree of injury ranges from negligible, like Fossie’s demotion and broken heart, to fatal, like the bullet that rips through Macomber’s skull. It begs the question, are these stories meant to serve as cautionary tales for their female readers, or possibly for their husbands, so they may recognize gender deviance and stop it in its tracks before their wives transform into Margot Macomber or Mary Anne Bell? This essay will analyze what such characters say about pervading views of women, both in society and in literature.
3. Through Hemingway’s Multi-part claim and the changing of different perspectives to show how Margaret is characterized as a manipulative women.
The point of view within this short story is interesting; it shifts from third person to second, and then to first all in a short paragraph. This use puts the reader in some sort of “emotional chokehold” from this point of view strategy. The start with third person gives the reader time to take in the descriptions of everything and keep an image in their head, they can start to feel emotions. But, the abrupt second person point of view smacks the reader in the face, forcing them to feel bad for the wife and hate the husband. Once the reader is forced into this emotion, it changes to first person where the reader is now manipulated to side
During the nineteenth and twentieth century there was a number of changes made in America. Woman were looked at as less than back then and to a certain degree they still are today. There was a number of women that died or went insane because of the standards that they had to meet in order to be considered good women. In this research paper I will talk about the experience of the narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper and Blanche DuBois from the story A Streetcar Named Desire. It will be shown within these pages how the moral and societal standards for women were far different than they were for men, and how the standards changed over the years. Furthermore it will be shown how this effected the women of those two stories.
In recent discussions, the novels “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Diaz, has given rise to a controversial question: whether women should be labeled as incomplete and an uncertainty without men. At the same time, some have argued and questioned the intention of the two authors – i.e., whether they hold any respect for women, at all. In fact, there has been a collective attempt to convey that men can control women, and by controlling them (women), men are able to regulate love itself, and keep them “protected”, as can be seen through these authors’ methodical choice of words such as “bitch’, “raging”, “useless woman”, “fea”, “idiota”, “vividness” and “worthless”. Moreover, though initially it may appear that both aforementioned authors have taken a defensive stance when they label women as imperfect human beings, setting the boundaries, and painting women as a disparaging object, in reality, however, the said authors are heavily afflicted by thoughts of death, rendering them to be in a constant internal conflict amongst themselves, in search of love, leaving us to further question whether their hostility towards women is from an obdurate standpoint, wounded by personal experience, or are they just merely trying to hypnotize their readers by confining the latter to only see 20th century’s society through his eyes.
Being such a standout masculine figure in the world of authors, Hemingway accomplishes conveying this idea through
There are countless times that women have been shown or portrayed in a negative light, whether it be in books, movies, or anything media related. This can basically be summed up by the word “stereotype” which has been used many times in the past years. Sadly, women have a set of stereotypes that many people believe, that really portrays them in a negative way. Ernest Hemingway portrays a certain set of stereotypes of women as well, through many of his stories including “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” and “The Cat in the Rain”. Hemingway portrays women as being unfit to face the realities of the real world. He suggests this by showing women as overly emotional, self absorbed, and unable to make competent decisions whether it be under pressure, or just in general.
Ernest Hemingway has been greatly criticized for a supposed hatred of women that some feel is evident in his writings. One of the primary books that critics believe shows this misogynistic attitude is A Farewell To Arms. It is counterproductive to interpret the book using such a narrow focus because the author is dealing with much more profound themes. Hemingway is not concerned with the theme of gender equality, but rather with the greater themes of the inherent struggle of life and the inevitability of death.
In the short story “Indian Camp”, by Ernest Hemingway, many controversies arise about the idea of feminism in the text. Feminism is a general term used to describe advocating women’s rights socially, politically, and making equal rights to those of men. Feminist criticism is looked through a “lens” along the line of gender roles in literature, the value of female characters within the text, and interpreting the perspective from which the text is written. Many of Hemingway’s female characters display anti-feminist attributes due to the role that women play or how they are referred to within a text by him or other characters. There are many assumptions that go along with the
Also, Hemingway was considered to be “vitally concerned with re-establishing what he felt were the proper rules of man and women in their relationship to each other” (Fiedler, 305). This is shown in his portrayal of women in
The characters in Hemingway’s stories reveal much about how he feels about men and the role they should play in society. Most of Hemingway’s male characters can be split into one of two groups. The first of which is the “Code” Hero. This is the tough, macho guy who chooses to live his life by following a “code of honor,
Without much research a reader might incorrectly conclude several statements about Hemingway’s style as it focuses on masculinity and is biased towards men. The short and choppy writing style with little emotion is deemed more of a masculine approach to writing, as it is assumed a feminine approach would be laden with more sensory and descriptive wording. Such an assumption is sexist in itself and there is no correlation linking his style to being biased towards men. Unusually long excerpts found in some Hemingway stories are justified by claiming that they are linked to male bonding scenes. While in some cases such as “The Three-Day Blow” that statement is true due to the story only being two males talking, that statement is not completely
Ernest Hemingway once said, “My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way.” So, it is no surprise that many of his stories focus on the relationships between men, and women. Hemingway himself had been in many different relationships, and that translates into his writing. Each of the women he was with had different personalities, views of the world, and ways of loving him. Hemingway was able to learn from these relationships as well as those of the people around him, and write about them openly, and honestly. All fiction has a bit of truth hidden behind it, and I believe Hemingway was aware of that. He wanted to make people think about the lives that they were living. Hemingway exposed the fact that men took advantage of women in order to get what they wanted, and that women would put up with a lot for a man they love, but they do have limits.
“Cat in the Rain” is a prime archetype of the ongoing conflict between emerging feminism and traditional gender roles in the 1920’s. Hemingway’s views insinuating misogyny are made apparent in his writing. The symbolism in this text is abundant, especially in regards to the portrayal of relationships, fertility, and women. The role that the American wife plays in “Cat in the Rain” seems to be quite obvious to the reader. However, implications in this short prose writing hint towards the notion that Hemingway was not only aware, but indirectly supportive of the women’s rights movements during his time.