Perspectives

Literary period

Published in 1925, the short story “Cat in the Rain” is part of the literary movement we call Minimalism. Ernest Hemingway’s style of writing has been characterised as minimalistic and he is known for coining his own term to describe his particular style: the Iceberg Theory, which focuses on a concise description of the events in a story, while the underlying themes are implied through symbols and allusions.

However, his term has a lot in common with Minimalism, as both literary styles use brief, simple language to describe the surface elements of a story, while plenty of symbolism eludes to its deeper meanings.

We notice the minimalist style in “Cat in the Rain”, as it does not give readers a traditional desc...