Cat in the rain
This is a simply story of an American couple staying at an Italian hotel. It is a rainy day and the American woman sees a cat in the rain, she wants to protect it and take it with here. When she goes out of the hotel and wants to get the cat it is gone.

After returning to the hotel room, she starts talking to his husband George, who is reading all the time. She is telling him how much she wants to have a cat, own silver to eat with and other things. Her husband seems to be annoyed by that and is not interested at all. At the end of the story the maid brings the cat to the American woman. At the beginning a description about the temporary situation is made by the author, to create an atmosphere which is sad, depressive, cold and unfriendly. [“Pršelo. Z palem crčel déšť. Na cestičkách vysypaných štěrkem stály kaluže vody......Ve dveřích kavárničky na protější strane námestí stál cíšnik a hleděl ven do prázdneho náměstí” pg. 149] Later on I found out that the description was a forecast of the state of the couple's relationship. Their relationship got cold and unfriendly. In the story you can spot the childish, spoilt and arrogant behaviour of the American woman. [“A chtěla bych jíst u stolu vlastním střibrem a chtěla bych svíčky. A chtěla bych, aby bylo jaro, a chtěla bych si před zrcadlem vyčesávat kartáčem vlasy a chtěla bych ktě a chtěla bych nějaké nové šaty” pg. 151] She says that she wants the cat so much, but she doesn’t actually explain why she wants it. I can sense that she feels the need for something to care for, to be responsible for, that makes her grow up and maybe she wants a baby. George does not care anymore, because he already is grown up, which is shown by his serious behaviour and that he treats his wife like a child. [“Prosím tě, prěstaň a vem si něco na čtení”] I thing their marriage problems stem out of the different personalities and that they are mentally on different levels. He already is a man, she is still a girl. Generally I would say that the theme of the story is the problems that a relationship has, when one partner becomes dominant or repressive and the other is trying to change and improve the situation. Hemingway portrays this couple as having differences of priorities and also a difference in the amount of attention they give to one another.

The End of Something
This is another simple story. A young man, Nick, goes out with a young woman, Marjorie, at night. They are in a boat on a lake setting lines to catch fish. They draw up the boat on a beach and begin to talk. Nick is starting a quarrel with Marjorie [“Ja vím, rěkla Marjorie šťastne.....Ty víš všecko, rěkl Nick......Prosím tě, Nicku s tímhle prěstan. prosím tě, prosím tě, nebuď takový!” pg. 97], and eventually tells her that their relationship is not fun any more, and that the love is gone.


[“Ani láska už neni fajn?.....Ne, rěkl Nick. Odtlačím tě....Nemusíš, rěkla.” pg. 98] Marjorie leaves, and after a while Nick's friend, Bill, arrives. He asks about Marjorie, and I spotted that Nick already told Bill what he was going to do. Though I have to admit I did not quite get why Bill was inserted into the story. Maybe there was some kind of relationship between him and Nick which destroyed the former relationship between Nick and Marjorie. [“Cítil, jak se Bill blíži k ohni. Bill se ho nedotkl.....Odjela v pořádku_, rěkl Bill.....Ano, odpovědel Nick, vleže, s obličejem stále zabořeným do deky.” pg. 98] The story begins with a description of Hortons Bay a very busy town, which had a huge saw near the bay. But when there is no lumber left anymore, the saw is taken apart and the whole complex becomes deserted and goes to ruins. This description in my opinion is supposed to compare to the relationship between Nick and Marjorie which breaks near the former lumber compound. Well this story was about relationships between the opposite sex and if I am deducing right, also between the same sex. Indian camp

A local doctor is called to an Indian village to assist a woman in labor. His young son and uncle George are with him. When he comes to the Indian woman he determines that the only option is the cesarean section. The operation is successful. He celebrates his success but discovers that the woman’s husband has silently slit his own throat. His son Nick was a witness of all this, he was not horrified, but very interested and curious about death. Nick’s father characterizes death as no problem, and that it is quite easy to die. [“Je to těžké umírat, tati?....Ne, myslím, že to je docela lehké, Nicku. To je ruzne.” pg. 86]. I think these thoughts rise from the thing that he is a doctor, he sees lot of people dying, he is used to it, he knows the fundamentals of death and therefore he acts as if he is not scared at all. [“Je to těžké umírat, tati?....Ne, myslím, že to je docela lehké, Nicku. To je ruzne.” pg. 86] Nick’s father was in my opinion a strange personality because on the one hand he was very loving, helpful, and a huge support for Nick, but on the other hand the doctor was a bit arrogant [“Tati, prosimtě, nemužeš ji dát něco, aby prěstala křičet?, zeptal se Nick....Ne. Nemám žádna anestetika, řekl otec. Ale ty výkřiky, na tom nezáleží.