The theme of loneliness in ‘Cat in the rain’ by Ernest Hemingway

The action of the short story ‘Cat in the rain’, written by Ernest Hemingway, takes place in Italy, in a hotel. In the very beginning of the narration we can see a long description of the setting of the story. The author draws a picture of a southern town, with a view of the sea, of the public garden with the palms which are being dripped on by the rain. To intensify the impression Hemingway uses numerous repetitions in the descriptions: ‘It also faced the public garden and war monument… There were big palms and green benches in the public garden... Italians came from a long way off to look up at the war monument… The motor cars were gone from the square by the war monument.’