In "Cat in the Rain"ÃÂ, by Ernest Hemingway and "A&P"ÃÂ, by John Updike, both have a character with in it that has sexual tension. In "Cat in the Rain"ÃÂ, the husband wants his wife to have hair short like a man. In "A&P"ÃÂ the boy does what he thinks is right to get the girls that walked into the store. Both characters are stuck in a sexual dilemma. The boy in "A&P"ÃÂ does not know what to do.
As Sammy, was working the cash register at the local "A&P"ÃÂ the girls walk in with only bathing suits son. At this point Sammy is looking at the one in the front. Sammy said "She had sort of oaky hair, that the sun and salt had bleached, done up in a bun that was unraveling, and kind of a prim face."ÃÂ(79) The only reason why Sammy would say this is if he was fantasizing about her.
Ernest Hemingway's house- Key West, FL
American Author Ernest Hemingway aboard his Yacht ...
American Author Ernest Hemingway with sons Patrick...He was describing her hair and how the salt and that sand had bleached it. I would say that in some sort of a way, that Sammy thinks that there is something special about this girl to him.
In "Cat in the Rain"ÃÂ a husband and wife are on a road trip and they stop at a hotel. They are the only Americans at this place so they feel a little out of place. Wife says to the husband," I want to pull my hair back tight and smooth and make a big knot at the back that I can feel. I want to have a kitty to sit on my lap and purr when I stroke her."ÃÂ (49) The husbands reply was saying that you cannot always get what you want so listen to me so that I can get what I want. The husband implies that he likes it when her hair is short because it kind of turns him on. The wife likes the cat because it turns her on. The husband does not want her to be happy so he just worries about himself.
In both "Cat in the Rain"ÃÂ and "A&P"ÃÂ, the sexual tension is very powerful. In each story the character sets him or her with a dilemma. Should I go after my feelings? In "A&P"ÃÂ Sammy does go after his feels and over all he gets shot down. He got fired from his only job. In "Cat in the Rain"ÃÂ the wife has a very hard decision to make weather to do what her husband asks, or do what she wants. At the end she gets what she wanted when the maid brings the cat to her.
English: Ernest Hemingway on safari, Kenya, 1954
Grave markers of Ernest Hemingway & wife.JPG
Ernest Hemingway in Milan, 1918