This presentation mainly discussed about psychoanalyst theory and defense mechanism in Ernest Hemingway's "The Cat in The Rain" .

1. Created by : KhoirunnisaRakhmawati
Psychoanalyst andDefense Mechanism Reflected in
ErnestHemingway’s “TheCatintheRain"

2. In This paper, the writer tries to analyze a short
prose, entitled “Cat In The Rain" written by Ernest
Hemingway. The purpose of this writing is to
analyze this prose extrinsically. In this paper, the
writer use psychoanalyst by Sigmund Freud as a
base theory. The author use close reading as a
method. The writer found that the character in this
prose is dominated by psychoanalyst symptom, that
are defense mechanism. To be concluded, the main
characters in this story have such great influence of
defense mechanism.
Keywords: Cat In The Rain, Ernest
Hemingway, Mechanism Defense, Psychoanalyst
Theory, Sigmund Freud.
Abstract

3. According to Merriam-Webster's Learner's
Dictionary : “Prose refers simply to any written
piece of work that is built on sentences (and
paragraphs) rather than lines or verses (like
poetry).” In order to understand this fully, we
need to read the whole story and analyze what
this prose “says”. Analyzing prose is an activity
that concern in find out the the value that the
writer want to share with the readers. After
read a prose, we would found a ways to judge
for yourself. In this paper, the author choose
Cat In The Rain by Ernest Hemingway to be
analyzed. This prose, however, contains
defense mechanism and psychoanalyst theory.
INTRODUCTION

4. Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist,
short story writer, and journalist. He was born on July, 21
1899. Ernest Hemingway was the first son and the second
child born to Clarence Edmonds "Doctor Ed" Hemingway,
a country doctor, and Grace Hall Hemingway.
His economical and understated style had a strong
influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of
adventure and his public image influenced later
generations. Hemingway produced most of his work
between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s, and won the
Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven
novels, six short story collections, and two non-fiction
works. Additional works, including three novels, four short
story collections, and three non-fiction works, were
published posthumously. Many of his works are
considered classics of American literature. In 1959, he
bought a house in Ketchum, Idaho, where he committed
suicide in the summer of 1961.
Biographyof ERNEST HEMINGWAY

5. The short story "Cat in the
Rain" was written by Ernest
Hemingway in the 1920. It
is about an American
couple that spends their
holidays in an Italian hotel.
Their room faces the sea, a
public garden, and a war
monument. Many Italians
come from far away to see
the monument. That day, it
is raining, and the American
wife is looking out the
window. She sees a cat
under a table that is trying
to keep dry. She tells her
husband that she is going to
get it. He tells her not to get
wet. In the Downstairs, she
is greeted by the hotel
operator, whose
When she goes outside, he
sends a maid after her with
an umbrella. She does not
find the cat. She goes back
upstairs feeling sad. She
asks her husband if she
should grow her hair out.
He says that he likes it the
way that it is. She decides
that she wants a bun at the
back of her neck, and a cat
to stroke, and a table with
her own silver, and some
new clothing. He tells her to
shut up and to find a book
to read. She says that she
still wants a cat. Just then,
someone knocks at the
door. It is the maid. She has
brought up a cat, at the
request of the hotel
1 2
Summaryof “THE CAT IN THE RAIN”

6. The ID
The Ego
The Superego
Psychoanalyst in “Cat in The Rain”
1
2
3

7. According to www.simplypsychology.org say that
“The id is the primitive and instinctive component
of personality. It consists of all the inherited (i.e.
biological) components of personality present at
birth, including the sex (life) instinct – Eros (which
contains the libido), and the aggressive (death)
instinct - Thanatos.” The id is the impulsive (and
unconscious) part of our psyche which responds
directly and immediately to the instincts.
In this prose, the writer found The Id inside the
wife’s character. The Id appear when the wife
went downstairs passed the hotel owner at the
office. He was an old man and very tall. After
passing the hotel owner, she felt attracted with his
appearance.
The ID1

8. As we can see in this quotation:
“The wife 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. “Il
piove,1’ the wife said. She liked the hotel keeper. ‘Si, Si,
Signora, brutto tempo2. It is very bad weather.’ He stood
behind his desk in the far end the dim room. The wife liked
him. She liked the deadly serious way he received any
complaint. She liked his dignity. She liked the way he
wanted to serve her. She liked the way he felt about being
a hotel-keeper. She liked his old, heavy face and big
hands. Liking him she opened the door and looked out.”
From this quotation, we can see that the wife feels
so attracted with the hotel owner. She likes his character
and the way he treats the costumer. He was very friendly,
mature, and a profesional’s person. The feeling of being so
attracted with the other preson is what we called as The Id.
Thats why, the writer conclude that the Id in this prose is
perfectly affected the wife’s character.
The ID1

9. The ego is the part of the id which has been modified by the
direct influence of the external world.' The ego develops in order
to mediate between the unrealistic id and the external real world.
Freud states that “A selfish person is a person that has a strong
dominating ego (The Ego are too dominating than the Id and the
Superego).”
Strong ego dominating can be found both inside the wife’s
and his husband character’s, George.
Strong ego dominating makes George grown up as a man
who doesnt care with the society, and even after he married, he
doesn’t give his affection into his wife. He was busy reading
magazine again and again in their honeymoon.. As we can see
from this quotation :
“There were only two Americans stopping at the hotel. They
didn’t know of any people they passed on the stairs on their
way to their room.
“The husband went on reading, lying properly up with two
pillows at the foot of the bed,”
“Oh shut up and get something to read,’ George said from the
bed. He was reading again.”
The Ego2

10. In the other side, the author found the strong
dominating ego, inside the wife’s character, when she
express her willing to have a long hair and a cat.
“Don’t you think it would be a good idea if I late my
hair grow out? She asked, looking at her profile again.
“I get so tired of it,’ she said. “I get so tired of looking
like a boy’s”
“Anyway, I want a cat,’ she said, ‘I want a cat. I want a
cat now. If I can’t have a long hair or any fun, I can
have a cat.”
From this line we can see that his husband is
aegoistic person. He likes a woman who have a short
hair, so he asked his wife to have a short hair. She
was never allowed to grown up her hair, like a lady.
Even that she wanted so much to have it, George
insisted. The author conclude that, his husband
prohibition makes her wife’s ego appeared.
The Ego2

11. The superego incorporates the values and morals of
society which are learned from one's parents and others. The
superego's function is to control the id's impulses, especially
those which society forbids, such as sex and aggression. The
superego consists of two systems: The conscience and the
ideal self. The conscience can punish the ego through
causing feelings of guilt. The ideal self (or ego-ideal) is an
imaginary picture of how you ought to be, and represents
career aspirations, how to treat other people, and how to
behave as a member of society.
Superego appear in “The Cat in the Rain” when the wife
is prohibited to take out the cat during the heavy rains. The
warn makes the wife canceled her plans to take the cat.
“Oh, O wanted it so much. I wanted a kitty.’ When she talked
English the maid’s face tightened. ‘Come Signora,’ she said.
‘We must get back inside. You will be wet.’ ‘I suppose so,’ said
the American girl. 1 ‘It’s raining.’ 2 ‘Yes madam. Awful
Weather.’ 3
The Superego3

12. After read the whole story, the author found
one of defence mechanism aspect in the
“The Cat in the Rain”
• Discplacement
The removal of an affection or affection or
emotional attachment of the actual object to
object replacement
The wife’s character experienced
displacement or the removal of an affection
to the cat. The wife realized that she
doesn’t get a child from their wedding with
her husband, so she take a removal of
affection action to displaced her willing to
have a child into her willing to have a cat.
Defence Mechanism in “Cat in The Rain”

13. When she saw the cat for the first time, she insisted to
have a cat no matter how hard the rain is. She says to
her husband that she wants to have a cat to sit in her
laps. As we can see from this line :
“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.’
“I want to have a kitty to sit on my lap and purr when I
stroke her.”
His husband’s ignorant makes the displacement in his
wife soul appear. The author thinks that one of the
reason the wife wants to have a cat is absolutely to get
the attention from his husband. Unfortunately, his
husband was very ignorant and egoistic. He didn’t care
with his wife’s willingness. He was busy reading and
reading again. At the end of this story, the wife finally
could have a cat, but she got it through the hotel
Defence Mechanism in “Cat in The Rain”

14. “ The Cat in the Rain” by Ernest Hemingway
is a short story about man, named George,
and his wife who spent their honeymoon in
a Italian Hotel. However, This short story,
contains a lot of psychoanalyst aspect to
be analyzed. After read the whole story, the
author found that the wife is strongly
affected in a one of defense mechanism
sympton, that is Displacement. The author
also found the dominating “The Ego” inside
George or the husband’s character.
conclusion

15. http://www.lingvistov.ru/blog/reading-club/reading-club-intermediate-cat-in-
the-rain-by-ernest-hemingway/
accesed on 13:10 WIB 29/05/2016
http://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html
accesed on 20:42 WIB 02/06/2016
http://www.simply.psychology.org
accesed on 10:30 WIB 03/06/2016
http://www.merriam-webster.com
accesed on 14:30 WIB 29/05/2016
S.Hall, Calvin. 1954. A Primer of FREUDIAN PSYCHOLOGY. The United States of
America : The World Publishing Company.
REFERENCES