It isnt any fun to be a poor kitty out in the rain.

To this quotation could Ernest Hemingway reduce the whole meaning of the apparently simple story of an American couple in his work Cat in the Rain, because this thought, expressed by the female character of the short-story, is the starting point of a divergent discussion about male and female existence in the age when the short-story was written. The interpretation of the short-storys subject from the point of view of contemporary gender issues seems to be lightened by Ernest Hemingway himself, who scatters important symbols and details, concerning this subject, all through his work. Thus, from the beginning of the short-story, the reader is suggested the presence of a marital crisis by the means of description of the surroundings where the couple is spending their holiday in Italy. Two elements of the landscape the public garden with its heavenly peace and the war monument made of bronze are the obvious symbols of the problems that are threatening the quiet existence of an apparently beautiful and happy couple. It seems that Ernest Hemingway doesnt use any details at random and the presence of each symbol is well thought from the beginning. Therefore, the drops of rain, with their multiple meaning, contribute to a realistic image. One of the oldest and most well known meanings of water is that of destruction and rebirth and this is what the rain symbolizes in the work of Ernest Hemingway. Starting with that rainy day the existence of the couple will know a change and a change also takes place in the inner life of the American woman. The setting of the story is also not accidental as Italy and especially Italian men are considered very passionate persons, who enjoy love and experience it as a natural part of their daily existence. As a consequence the padrone becomes the symbol of the Italian man, always ready to help and satisfy a lady, in total opposition with the American husband, George, who seems to be more preoccupied with his reading than with the desires and necessities of his wife. All these desires and necessities could easily be interpreted as taking the shape of the cat that the American woman wants so badly to posses, although without knowing why. The confirmation of the fact that the woman is not satisfied with her life comes at the end of the short- story, when she is given the much wanted cat, not by her husband but by the maid sent by the Italian padrone.

Ernest Hemingway allows the reader to imagine the existence of the couple from that day on, as he ends his short-story in an abrupt way; but the image of the symbolism of this short-story would not be complete without making the most important observation, which is that the cat could be seen as the symbol of the American woman (who has no name), and, by extension, of the women living in the age of Ernest Hemingway.

The grass is used as a formal structuring device throughout the poem; it appears several times, having several connotations. What is the grass? The answer to the question is in many ways the entire poem. It is seen as a symbol of life and of the whole universe. It is the symbol of the individual, the flag of my disposition, of God the handkerchief of the Lord, of the cycle of life the produced babe of the vegetation, of death the beautiful uncut hair of graves.

Whitman lived in a period when individualism and self-reliance were the main principles, when each person was trying to construct something new, other than what the system had to offer. Whitman wants to be, in this respect, the spokesman of all Americans, of all their values and beliefs. It is not accidental that the child is the one asking What is the grass?. The child represents all that is pure and innocent in us, but also the part that will not cease asking questions. Adults compromised by systems somehow stop being interested in things that cannot be answered instantly. And asking what the grass is places an enquiry that doesnt foresee a clear reply. The child lives in all of us, it depends on our spiritual balance whether he can get out or not to see the world to remind us of the basis. We cant know all the answers, but instead of accepting theories made up by others we should just stop and create our ones. It is again a reminder that we are part of the world not only physically, but also spiritually. We can trace here the transcendentalist idea according to which each individual is part of the whole, having individual but also common characteristics. It is a way to return to the biblical peace and values, the basics, which we tend to forget. The rules that separate us from each other are artificial and have no real role in life or in death. The grass grows the same way on all our graves: Growing among black folks as among white.

In Flannery OConnors A Good Man Is Hard To Find, there are three major themes that one can distinguish. The first theme is the one of The Misfit himself. He is announced at the beginning as

being a dangerous criminal who had just escaped from the penitentiary. Although he is considered to be a convict, he considers himself innocent. First, the grandmother thinks that the Misfit was MISTAKEN for a criminal and thus sent to jail. In this case we can no longer call him as a MISFIT because he fits very well into society, but it is society itself that rejected him and had unjustly sent him to prison. So, even though the Misfit claimed to be innocent of all charges, he was MISJUDGED and imprisoned. He is the typical symbol of the individual rejected by society. His attitude towards life and society has become, after all the happenings quite negative; even when talking to the grandmother he is afraid to be MISUNDERSTOOD by her and the family. His life-experience is truly extraordinary, but there was this hidden part of his life when he was struck by MISFORTUNE. We cannot know for sure what had really happened or whether he killed his father or not. We can only do as much as assume what he had done. Here, the reader is presented with two choices: he must decide whether to believe the Misfits version or the one of society. From this point of view we are unable to decide which of the two versions is true. The second theme is the one of religion vs. society: The grandmother is a very religious person and somehow wants to convince the Misfit that Gods ways are the ones that should be followed in order to become A Good Man, who is hard to find in her opinion. She also believes that the Misfit is in fact A Good Man, who was unrighteously imprisoned. Since she is a follower of Gods ways, she makes use of her knowledge as a Christian in order to temper the Misfit or show compassion towards him. Even though the grandmother is very scared, she feels pity for the Misfit, because she believes that deep inside of him lies a good soul, common not the least. The grandmother is also a symbol of good, which in the modern world can perhaps have no future. The third theme is the one of madness. First of all, we have to consider that in the beginning, the Misfit claimed he hadnt killed his father, but from the first excerpt of this theme we find out that he may as well killed his father and had soon after forgotten all about it. For him, time is a healer, helping him forget all that he had wronged and shake off his feeling of guilt. From this point of view, we can see the Misfit as a madman. He once says he is a good man, but later claims the opposite. We can see him somewhere in the middle of good and evil, at the very merger of these two concepts-as a godlike individual who is judge and jury at the same time. It is his insanity that prevents him from knowing real good from evil. His point of view is different from all characters of the book, making him a unique solitary thinker that has the power to best decide the fate of those around him. Not only does he reject the ways of God and all Christian concept as well, but he has also built a world of his own around him, obviously a fictitious one that has its own laws and concepts about good and evil. It is of this world that he makes use when judging the fate of the entire family. Note that he only carries out the sentence and his two henchmen to the work for him, which is a symbol of divinity, because it is said that God doesnt usually appear, but sends his angels down on earth.