The mood of “The Cat in the Rain” is a melancholy one, with big emotions (primarily anger and resentment) simmering beneath the surface. The following passage—which comes after the wife fails to retrieve the cat and then tells her husband about all the things she longs for her in her life—effectively captures the complex mood:
“Oh, shut up and get something to read,” George said. He was reading again.
His wife was looking out of the window. It was quite dark now and still raining in the palm trees.
“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.”
George was not listening. He was reading his book.
Though Hemingway’s writing style is minimalist and curt, there is a lot going on in this passage. For example, George’s exclamation, “Oh, shut up and get something to read,” while not explosive, certainly contributes to a change in the mood. To this point, George hasn’t expressed any emotions toward his wife. Because of this quick and reactive statement, readers can sense here the resentment that has been beneath George’s reticence the whole time. It becomes clear that he is not just a quiet person, but a man who is easily frustrated with his wife and is using his book to hide from her.
The wife, too, clearly feels angry toward her husband. Though the narrator does not state this directly, the wife's decision to continue talking after her husband has told her to “shut up” reveals her own frustration with their relationship. The fact that she continues to name everything she longs for in life—a cat, long hair, “fun”—contributes to the resentful and dissatisfied mood.
