One of the main character of the story is the American wife. The woman does not have a name because she is simply named "The American wife, The American girl". This means that George is superior than his wife. As Hemingway does not directly characterize the American girl it emphasizes her incapacity to change something in their family. She wants a change but she cannot do anything for this. The wife's appearance is not described but her features can be deduced from her actions. The girl likes the hotel-keeper and is very satisfied by his respect and good attitude towards her: "The wife liked him.She liked the deadly serious way he received any complaints. She liked his dignity. She liked the way he wanted to serve her. She liked the way he felt about being a hotel-keeper. She liked his old, heavy face and big hands." This means that the American girl wants to be a woman, to have somebody to take care of her. The hotel-keeper is the only person at that very moment to treat the woman the way she wants.
The American wife wants her husband to demonstrate and show his love for her. The wife always complains, she repeats many times "want, new, like". She wants a child and that is why she always mentions about the cat who she wants to take care of. The wife wants to feel like a true woman, to be a woman. The example that highlights this idea can be "I get so tired of it,’ she said. ‘I get so tired of looking like a boy."
The cat "crouched under one of the dripping green tables"; "was trying to make herself so compact that she would not be dripped on " represents the symbol of loneliness. These examples create an image of that poor kitty who tries to make herself convenient in the rain, under the table. The girl wants to make herself convenient and comfortable in her family too. The fact that the author uses "she" instead of it for the cat points out the idea that the woman and the cat are alike. The woman feels lonely and insecure and she has a lot of affection to give to somebody. She wants to save that cat as she sees herself in the kitty. In such a way she believes that there will be somebody to rescue her or by protecting the cat she wants to protect herself.