Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

George

This is tricky. The husband and wife never get into an actual argument. They aren't really pitted against one another and the narrator never overtly opposes them, but Hemingway isn't really the type of author to do that. His characters rarely articulate their feelings toward each other in very direct ways. In "Cat in the Rain," the animosity and frustration between this couple is right under the surface—just think of the frustration you might start to feel towards anyone you've been cooped up with in a room all day. Part of you doesn't want to voice it because you know that you're still going to be isolated with them after any eruption—it's better to at least maintain an air of friendliness between the two of you. George is his wife's antagonist because his sedentary, intellectual state of being is directly opposed to the kind of active, material life that the wife desires. This discrepancy is what gives us the marital conflict and the inevitable "'shut up.'" She's threatening much more than his peace and quiet with her talk of silver and new clothes; they are the things that he can't give her.