Write a 150 word response to each of the discussion posts.

1. In Hemingway’s story about the cat, symbols show up everywhere in the piece, including the cat, the rain, the woman’s haircut, the war statue, and more. So, you should explore at least three symbols that illuminate how/why the relationship between the married couple seems to be faltering — is Hemingway suggesting that the female character exhibits a set of desires that may go unnoticed by her husband? And why does the padrone make her feel so … intense, as if “supremely important”?

2. Hemingway’s story about the cafe seems to take place during a time of war (how do we know?), in which a generational conflict between the young and old waiter reveals a difference in attitudes and values. Why do you think the younger waiter seems to mistreat the old man, and why does that customer choose to visit a well-lit cafe, then sit in the shadows? And what does his disability and state of mind suggest about his place in the world? Is this a story about empathy in a time of profound disruption? Lastly, if a person who is a nihilist believes in nothing (yet, in doing so, creates a belief system), then what is ironic about the older waiter injecting “nada” into the Lord’s Prayer, and how might that connect to the shadows in which the old man sits?