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Descriptive Language in “Boys & Girls”, “Cat in the Rain”, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”

Decent Essays

Descriptive language in the stories “Boys & Girls”, “Cat in the Rain”, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and the poem “A Far Cry from Africa”. Descriptive language is a literary tool used by many great writers. We clearly see this in the stories “Boys & Girls”, “Cat in the Rain”, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and the poem “A Far Cry from Africa”. Through the use of metaphors, imagery, similes and symbolism, the authors present their issues more effectively. We see that in all these stories, descriptive language is used to demonstrate how a characters identity predicament can …show more content…

However, the reader soon realizes that this uncomplicated story illuminates much deeper meanings. This seemingly mundane plot becomes symbolic and purposeful under the reader’s eyes. We see that it is about a woman trying to find her identity in terms of a problematic relationship. Clarence Lindsay, a critic, says, “Cat in the Rain is Ernest Hemingway's subtle exploration of this American romantic quest for identity.” This is true, as we see many times throughout the story. Hemingway with his use of descriptive language shows the way the American women long for her identity. When Hemingway writes, “The American wife stood at the window looking out. Outside right under their window a cat was crouched under one of the dripping green tables. The cat was trying to make itself so compact that it would not be dripped on. "I'm going down and get that kitty," the American wife said.” Here we see that the cat represents the women and her relationship with her husband. As we all know cats detest water. Here the water represents everything that was destroying her and her relationship. Her trying to save the cat was her trying to save herself and her relationship.
“A Far Cry from Africa” was written by Derek Wolcott. Walcott discusses the conflict between his loyalties to Africa and to Britain in his poem. The title of the poem emphasizes Walcott's cultural instability as it implies a type of alienation from Africa,

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