“Perhaps of all creations of man language is the most astonishing” – Giles Lytton Strachey.

During thousands years of existing on the Earth man created lots of things such as cars, telephone, Internet, atomic bombs, but the most astonishing creation of man is considered language. Language is a phenomenon which has different types and that is why it is available to everybody; its origin is not known yet; language carries information about the person who speaks it and that is why it is considered to be the most astonishing creation ever.

Language is available for everybody: for those who have ability of speaking a language or some of them and for those who don’t have ability of speaking, but who use gestures to send the information. People can communicate verbally, sending and receiving oral messages, as well as non-verbally, using gestures, posture, facial expressions. At the same time people can use both types and communicate verbally and non-verbally at the same time, as non-verbal message compliments, contradicts, regulates repeats and substitutes the verbal one.

As well as the appearance of the world and of a man is unknown, nobody can tell exactly where and how language came into being. Scientists seem to know everything about the language, its types, peculiarities, total number of languages in the world; however, nobody knows the nature of human languages. There exist lots of hypothesis about the origin of language such as a Divine hypothesis, a Ding-Dong hypothesis, Lying hypothesis and the others; however there is no theory with strong evidence of how and when the language came into being. This is one more reason to consider language an astonishing phenomenon.

Language carries information about the person who speaks it as people usually pay attention on how a person speaks. If what a person wears reflects what he/she is, then the style of speech indicates a person’s thinking. Through the manner of speaking one can judge about his/her interlocutor’s mood and intensions. One can never hide his/her intensions only by the words he/she utters; one should imply soft intonation, gestures, smile, and eye contact.

Language, which is a system that combines thoughts, oral message, gestures and written symbols, is that helps people fulfil their primary need – need of communication. It is one of the most astonishing creations of a man, since nobody can live without it and everybody appreciates it. 

"Cat in the Rain" Analysis!

In his short story "Cat in the Rain" Ernest Hemingway masterly depicts how a person can feel lonely being in relationship.

The plot of the story is rather simple. The story begins with the description of a hotel in Italy where two Americans, a woman and her husband, stay. It is heavy raining and while the husband reads the book, the American wife observes a cat outside. She wants to get that cat, but it is gone. Later, the woman is brought another cat.

There are two main characters in the story: the woman and her husband George; a minor character – the hotel-keeper; and one episodic character – the maid.

There is no direct description of the woman; the only thing the reader knows exactly is that she has got short hair. The author describes her indirectly. By the way she talks to the hotel-keeper we understand she is quite polite. The American wife is unhappy, as she doesn’t have the life she wants, a simple but happy life. At the same time she is helpless, she can’t change the life herself; and, as her husband doesn’t want to change anything, she stuck in her hotel room in Italy with the person who doesn’t understand her.

By the contrast with the woman, her husband has got a name – George. He is a person who isn’t interested in anything but reading books. He doesn’t seem to be interested in his wife and her desires. When the woman expresses her wishes, her husband replies: "Oh, shut up and get something to read," that means he is indifferent towards his wife and he doesn’t even love her. The man may seem lazy, as he lies on the bed all the time. The reader doesn’t have any sentiments towards George, he doesn’t have any wishes, desires, thoughts; he likes everything and doesn’t want to change his life and his wife’s life, and doesn’t even listen to his poor wife.

By the contrast, the hotel-keeper is the one who understands the American wife better that her husband. The author describes the hotel-keeper indirectly, telling that the woman likes about him:  The wife liked him. She liked the deadly serious way he received any complaints. 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. The hotel-keeper is attentive towards the American wife: when she goes out in the rain, he sends the maid with an umbrella to help her; when the woman doesn’t get the cat, he also sends the maid to bring her a cat.

The episodic character – the maid is not described directly by the author. The reader knows she is an Italian woman; she is polite and kind towards the American woman. She is like a bridge that connects the woman and the hotel-keeper.

Reading the story superficially, the reader may think it’s a simple about an American woman and wife, who spend their vacation in Italy; the husband likes reading and the wife complains about everything. Actually, the story is full of hints, given by the author, which tell the reader that there is something hidden.

From the very beginning the author emphasizes the mood of the story by using such words as "empty", "the motor cars were gone". The author uses simple propositions in the first paragraph which tell about the monotonous mood of the story : "There room was on the ...", "There were big palms", "The rain dripped", "The sea broke", "The motor cars...". To describe the hotel, the author uses such sentences as:  «They did not know any of the people they passed on the stairs on their way to and from their room. Their room was on the second floor facing the sea». The author emphasizes that American family’s world is stuck within their room. They are not interested in anything. It seems that the characters spend almost all their time in their room, not only during the rain.

Almost all the story is based on the dialogue. At the beginning of the dialogue the woman talks to her husband, who "Went on reading, lying propped up with two pillows at the foot of the bed". The reader understands that George doesn’t feel like doing anything except reading, he even doesn’t want to stand up. Although the husband pretends to offer the help to his wife, he doesn't seem to care about her: when the woman goes to take the cat from the rain, the husband just replies: "Don't get wet".

At the same time, the hotel-keeper is more concerned about the woman and sends the maid with an umbrella to help the American wife in rain. The author opposes two men: the husband and the hotel-keeper. There is nothing said about the way the woman treats her husband and there are lots of "She liked" concerning the hotel-keeper. The author uses repetition to emphasize the way the woman treats the hotel-keeper. «The wife liked him. She liked the deadly serious way he received any complaints. 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». The woman likes almost everything about the hotel-keeper, and to emphasize this, each sentence begins with “She liked”. Unlike her husband, the padrone makes the woman "feel very small and at the same time really important".

The woman goes on telling that she wants that cat. This cat is a symbol of a home, of feeling protected. The woman wants to have her own home, that’s why she goes to get that wet cat in the rain. Unfortunately, the woman doesn’t get the cat, it is gone, like the life she wants passes by. The American wife keeps on telling her husband that she wants to grow her hair, and she wants to eat at a table with her own silver. So, by telling this, she tells the husband that she is tired of living at the hotel, she wants to have her own house, she wants to change the life. However, the author gives the reader a hint: «A man in a rubber cape was crossing the empty square to the cafe». This man represents the life the woman desires, but which she will never have.

 When the woman tells George that she wants to grow her hair, he tells that he likes the way she looks. Actually, he likes the life they live and he doesn't want to change it. The woman keeps on repeating that she wants a cat, which means she wants a new life, she wants her husband to make their living better. The man doesn't listen to her anymore, keeping on reading.

After a while, the woman understands she is not going to have that life that she dreams about. "Anyway, I want a cat," she said, "I want a cat. I want a cat now. If I can't have long hair or any fun, I can have a cat". She repeats “I want a cat” as if she tries to hold the desired life in her hands. The American wife is brought a cat, although it is not the thing she really wants.

The tragedy of this short story is that the woman wants to be listened, loved and understood by her husband, who is blind and deaf towards her, and the stranger understands her better than the husband. The woman feels lonely, although she isn't alone.