like the rain her feelings keep falling silently The rain creates a mood of isolation It shows the distance between husband and wife The Cat Symbol of her Hidden Desires and Emotional Hunger The small cat under the wet green table is the strongest symbol in the story The cat was trying to make her body small so the rain would not fall on her This image shows weakness fear and helplessness The American wife feels the same way inside She wants the cat because she wants comfort love and softness She says Oh I wanted it so much nbsp The cat becomes a symbol of the simple things she does not have in her marriage When the cat disappears her disappointment shows her inner pain The cat she receives at the end from the hotel-keeper shows that a stranger understands her more than her own husband The Hotel-keeper Symbol of Care and Respect The padrone or hotel-keeper is a symbol of the attention she wants When she enters he stands up and bows He listens to her kindly The narrator says Padrone made her feel very small and at the same time really important nbsp He represents warmth and respect He is a symbol of the emotional care she does not receive from George His kindness adds meaning to the story because it shows what she is missing in her married life The Hair Symbol of Identity and Feminine Desire The American wife s short hair is another important symbol She says nbsp I get so tired of looking like a boy nbsp She wants long hair She wants to feel like a woman Her hair stands for her deeper wish for identity beauty and self-expression George likes the short hair because it is simple for him But she wants something more Her hair reflects the fight between who she is and who she wants to be The Public Garden War Monument and Empty Square Symbols of Emptiness The places around the hotel look empty wet and silent The war monument shines in the rain The square has no cars The garden has no people These empty places show the emptiness inside the American wife s heart They reflect her lonely marriage The symbols in Cat in the Rain help us understand the American wife s silent suffering The rain the cat the hair the hotel-keeper and the empty places all show her deep loneliness and her wish for warmth beauty and love These symbols make the story powerful and meaningful