In the short story "Cat in the Rain", Hemingway portrays/ describes a relationship at risk and infers that the relationship will not survive.
Hemingway contrasts the male and female characters against the background of a rainy day in Italy, because of the weather, the differences between them are brought out, her being restless and him being passive. The characters are an American couple apparently on vacation. The story opens with George the husband lying in bed neglecting the needs and wants of his wife The American girl. The American girl lonely and neglected spots something outside her window. By George neglecting his wife from the beginning we can reflect that the rainy day in Italy has set George's tone and show's his neglecting of responsibilities as a husband.
The American wife's feelings of dissatisfaction are focused on a cat she sees outside sheltering from the rain. At that very moment she realizes that the cat was the only thing that can make her feel warmth inside or maybe was she thinking about the padrone. Thinking about herself, she continuously annoys her husband with the idea of her having a cat. Leaving her room walking slowly down the hall she stumbled upon the padrone. "The wife liked him. She liked the deadly serious way he received any complaints. She liked his dignity. She liked the way he waned to serve her. She liked the way he felt about being a hotel-keeper. She liked his old, heavy face and big hands."(line 30-33). Was all this talking in her head the way of telling herself that there are other people that really care about her? Still walking she reaches the door, was this the door that was about to change her life. As she walks outside she noticed the table under the window but no cat. Devastated and almost heart-broken she walks back into the hotel and feels a sense of real importance from the padrone, for that one special moment she truly felt the way she's been wanting to feel but has never had a chance because of the lack of respect George has given her.