Essay on Ernest Hemingway's Women's Struggles: A Study of Gender Roles in the Early 20th Century

The story underlies various aspects of gender role owing to its publication at a time when their newfound freedoms and liberations for women thereby projecting a vivid ambivalence concerning vat change in the position of women in the society. Ernest Hemingway's hypothesis was aimed at painting a picture of the earlier twentieth century in the realm of the untenable women's struggles in the nation, coupled with the structural gender roles in the organization. The first part of the story centers on the surface of the falling unhappy relationship That is seen through the first character of interest, a life without a name which is portrayed to be miserable in her relationship "it isn't any fun to be a poor kitty out of the rain..."That I a clear indication of her longing for something else and even exemplifies her life with a kitten (Hemingway 2).The ultimate ambiguity of gender role in the tore is therefore viewed in the realm of the progressiveness era that ultimately dictated the same restrictive rules for the woman's behavior and the story written during a period of radical transformation in the sexes relation.

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George's attitude to wife is condensing, and that stems from gender stereotyping as the feminine gender is viewed as weak, dependent as opposed to the male gender that is vied a powerful and able. That is evidenced in the scenario where Georg's wife informs her husband that she needed to go outside and rescue the cat from the rain, a notion that Gorge opposes and instead suggests that he, himself would do that. Again, George insists that the wife keeps her appearance according to his liking, meaning that his wife's presence existed just for his consumption. However, the wife's attitude on gender involves, albeit revolts on feminine passivity ascribed to her by her husband. Yet, she still embraces the traditional female identity. He stepping her to her passivity roles is viewed in the spheres of her instance of going out to get the cat out herself, an act of opposition to her husband's presumption of her weakness and incapability.

This marriage will not survive this trip since owing to the changes in the position of women in the society that gears their need to act independently, progressively, coupled with the adoption of a rebellious identity. With that, the wife's identity view changes, and she is fed up with the ambiguity and ambivalence towards her femininity. Worse still, there is stereotyping masculine posture towards her by the theme that surrounds her who infantilize and dismiss her desires. That is a clear indication that the marriage will not survive. The cat and the innkeeper are a symbol of that reveal the American wife's psychological and emotional desires as her feelings of loneliness and vulnerability. The cat's plight, therefore, mirrors the wife's emotion that he so much wishes to share with the unsympathetic George, thereby embodying the desire for close contacts and connection.

The story, therefore, complicates the depiction of gender roles since it is written at a time when gender roles are contested fiercely by both men and women, and there is an influence in attitude towards gender. Perhaps it could be the idealization of masculinity that encompasses the story's meaningful engagement with the female protagonist predicament. That is seen through the chauvinistic nature of George, making the life downtrodden under the tyrannical reign of her gender role imposing husband. Her feeble attempts to connect with the kitten in the rain fail owing to the fragile, gender stereotyping life as represented by the kitten. That is a clear indication that Hemingway's humanistic demonstration of the harm that the gender roles undergo in the society, prevalently on women who are perceived as incapable and vulnerable.

Work Cited

Hemingway, Ernest. "The Cat in the Rain."Shmoop.1925, https://www.shmoop.com/studyguides/literature/cat-in-the-rain