The Settings of Cat in the Rain

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The Theme of Hammering ---An analysis on the function of the settings of Cat In the Rain ---By Sihan Zhou The word “hammer” in Webster’s dictionary has been defined as “an instrument for beating metals” [1]through which the impression of strength and suddenness arises. Cat in the Rain, a piece of work by Ernest Hemingway that has given rise to numerous criticisms and debates, is rather notable with its delicate settings. These settings, to the common sense, symbolize a particular sort of situation and tend to provoke corresponding emotions. However, as the story reveals, the commonly-recognized symbolizations of the settings are hammered, being changed by a sort of great and irresistible power. Therefore, the essay is going to reveal how the theme of hammering features the settings of the story and thus how these settings echo the writing purpose of Ernest Hemingway. The settings of the story could be roughly divided into two clues, the settings outside of the hotel and the settings inside of the hotel room. Thus the essay is to analyze the two clues respectively by taking a scratch on remarkable details. The outside settings of the hotel obviously convey the information that the story happened in a foreign country. By “There were only two Americans stopping at the hotel. They did not know any of the people that passed on the stairs on their way to and from their room”[2], it suggests a totally strange and isolated environment for the main roles of the story. However, the room is “on the second floor facing the sea”[3], from which we might take a wild guess---the couple were coming for holiday, since the room like this is usually quite common for relaxation and romance. For now we have pictured a most harmonious and joyful scene in our mind--the sea, the beach and an exotic delicate hotel. Then the story depicts the following that adds savor to the
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