The Female Sex-Role Stereotyping in Boys and Girls

Ernest Hemingway's Cat in the Rain is a story of an American married couple staying in a French hotel. The main character in this story is the unnamed female who is one of the two Americans in this story. Hemingway uses many methods to revel this character to the reader. Three of the main methods he uses are, through the woman's dialogue, by the use of the minor characters, and through symbolism. The main method used to develop the women to the reader is through the minor characters. The first of the minor characters in the story is the woman's husband, George, who through the whole story is lying in bed reading a story.
‘I'm going down and get that kitty,' the American wife said. ‘I'll do it,' her husband offered from the bed. ‘No, I'll get it. The poor kitty is out trying to keep dry under the table.'
This quote revels that the woman is a very caring person. When she says "No, I'll get it" The reader kind of feels that the woman really cares for and cherishes her marriage to George.
'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.
In this quote Hemingway is tying to show the carelessness of George. Seeing how George is back to his reading before the woman stops talking, Hemingway is trying to imply to the reader that George doesn't pay much attention to his wife. This makes the reader question if the marriage the woman is involved in, is a good marriage or a troubled marriage. By this quote and other remakes George makes throughout the story, Hemingway revels that the marriage is a troubled marriage. The second minor character to appear in the story is the office manager of the Hotel at which they are staying. "The wife went downstairs and the hotel owner stood up and bowed to her as she passed the office. His desk was at the far end of the office. He was an old man and very tall… She liked the hotelkeeper." Here Hemingway was trying to revel how the owner made the woman feel about herself. In that sentence the reader may feel that the woman likes the hotel owner because he makes her feel important. I think Hemingway may have revealed this feeling to the reader to make the woman seem self centered. Hemingway does this by making it appear that the woman only likes people who make her feel as if her significance is more emphasized than others.
As she stood in the doorway an umbrella opened behind her. It was the maid who looked after their room. "You must not get wet," she smiled, speaking Italian. Of course, the hotel-keeper had sent her.
Once again you can see how Hemingway is using the hotel owner to expose the woman's self centeredness. This quote also brings the third minor character in to the story, the maid. Hemingway uses the maid in the same way as he used the hotel owner, as a way to make the woman feel of importance.
Another way Hemingway exposes the woman to you is through her. Hemingway mainly does this through the use of the woman's dialogue.
‘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.'
This quote illustrates how Hemingway is trying to put forth that the woman is pampered and lavishly given over solicitous attention. "'Don't you think it would be a good idea if I let my hair grow out?' she asked." This is another statement where Hemingway uses the woman's own words to display to the reader the woman's personality. This and other passages support the idea that the woman is infatuated with herself and cares nothing for the people around her. The third way Hemingway unveils the woman's character to the reader is through the use of symbolism.
The American wife stood at the window looking out. Outside right under their window a cat was crouched under one of the dripping green tables. The cat was trying to make herself so compact that she would not be dripped on.
The insinuation that Hemingway makes in this passage leads the reader to believe that the cat is symbolic of how the woman feels, and sees herself. The cat that is caught in the rain is like the woman who is caught in a bad marriage, and has no place to go. As such, the woman is compelled to self adoration as well as material aspects of life to find solace. Even know Hemingway didn't give this woman a name, he wrote the story so that it would revel a lot about her to the reader. The way Hemingway uses 3 methods to describe the woman makes this story more interesting then just simply describing her.