Cat in the Rain Dissatisfaction Quotes

Poor George. You get the feeling that he would be perfectly fine if it weren't for all this complaining from his wife. Let's think more specifically about why he's irked by this list of "wants" she gives: he can't really do anything to remedy all her dissatisfactions. They're material and have a lot to do with property and stability—things George might not be in a position to secure. It's like an indirect way for the wife to tell George he's just not cutting it for her.

This is an awesome example of how careful Hemingway is with his grammar. "Was reading" and "was looking" are both examples of past participle verbs—they indicate an ongoing past action. Why is this significant? Well, notice how you get the husband's past participle action and the wife's right after. There's a sense that the actions (reading and looking) are kind of ongoing and continuous. You get the feeling that the husband and wife weren't really paying attention to what the other just said. Everything has settled right back to where they started.

This book George is reading must have been a real page-turner. This small description is amazing because it gives 1) the omniscient description of what's happening 2) a hint that the wife's acknowledging that her husband isn't listening and 3) a suggestion that George himself is making a conscious effort to not listen to what his wife has to say. With this three-way perspective that Hemingway gives, it's hard not to feel that this sort of inattentiveness has happened in other "discussions" before.