Cat Person Essay; Grade 88 PDF

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An essay exploring literary themes of "Cat Person"...

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Anika Kaushal Teacher: Mary Gossage Literary Genres: Contemporary Short Fiction February 15 2018 Cat Person

Individual’s are given the ability to talk to anyone via messaging and are led to believe that they now know the person which they are communicating with. The character of Margot found in Kristen Roupenian’s short story “Cat Person” is a young girl who experiences this. The relationship between Margot and Robert begins with texting and this is when their connection starts to spark. This is an example of how relationships develop in our society today, asking for a number and developing a relationship via text. Their relationship begins to develop fast. The author uses character to show how people can misread each other when communicating via text.

Margot is a trusting young girl that depends on Robert’s text messages to reveal his personality. Margot is naive since she is trusting a stranger and talking to one via text messaging. This is how Roupenian uses the character of Margot to show how people can misread each other when communicating via text. The author decides to use a trusting and naive which all factor into Margot’s lack of judgement and leads her to misread the character of Robert. Margot believes she knows who Robert is but she is not factoring in that the two are communicating behind a screen, which is a big aspect in their relationship. It is able to hide a great amount of information and the truth. Margot believes the two are compatible and the readers are given the impression that Margot likes him. However, she does not really know who Robert is. For example, Margot tells her dad "His name is Robert, and I met him at the movie theatre. We're in love, and we're probably going to get married" (110). At the end of this short story, the readers discover that the character of Robert is very bizarre and obsessed with

Margot. He shows up at the bar he knows Margot goes to, which he was not fond of and made that clear by making a comment of the bar been a student hang out when the two met, then texts her. He asks if the male friend she was with is her boyfriend or someone she was sleeping with, followed by three "Are you?" (116). He then continues to harass her by commanding her to answer him and then calling her a whore. She is initially extremely comfortable with talking to him via texting. Although, she later discovers how uncomfortable she is with him after the two met in person, "she truly did feel sick and scared" (116), which is indicating how Margot misread the character of Robert.

Talking to someone behind a screen does not allow for individuals to experience who this person is. The screen can mask the true identity of an individual and hide their personality. This is what Margot experiences with Robert. She does not get to see the true identity of Robert until they meet in person. After meeting and having sex with him, when she did not want to but decided to anyways, she is unhappy with this choice. “This is the worst life decision I have ever made!” (114). This is an example of how the character of Margot lacks judgement. She did not want to have sex with Robert but still continued to do so. She also believed she knew who this stranger was from simply texting him, this is lack of judgement because she should take into consideration that this is a complete stranger who could be texting her anything. She finally realizes that she does not know who Robert is, “as they got on the highway, it occurred to her that he could take her someplace and rape and murder her, she hardly knew anything about him, after all” (110). The author is attempting to demonstrate how individuals can be led to believe they know someone from talking behind a screen, when in reality they have no idea who the person is.

Through the use of character, Roupenian is demonstrating how people can misread each other when communicating behind a screen. The character of Margot is extremely trusting,

naive and lacks judgement. These characteristics plays a role in Margot’s misreading of Robert’s character. Throughout her date with Robert it is clear she is uncomfortable but when texting him, she was very comfortable with him.

Works Cited Roupenian, Kristen. “Cat Person” Contemporary Short Fiction (Revised Winter 2018) English 603-102 Mary Gossage. Dawson College English Department. Montreal: Dawson College, 2018. 110-116. Print....