Cat person essay - Grade: A- PDF

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Cat person analysis/ reflection...

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Suki Zhang Eng1012 The Cat Person Communication does a Relationship Justice The Cat Person carries the major theme of Communication between the two main characters Margot and Robert, where technology plays a huge role in their relationship. The two main protagonists meet by chance and advance into a relationship quickly while they contained no mutual understanding, and as a result, their expectations of each other weren’t met. Young Margot aimed to have a fun and free relationship that any twenty year old would, and Robert who was a middle aged man, wanted to slow down and find a long term partner. This story portrays how the role of technology and communication go hand in hand in the modern society and when they are not used to the fullest potential to their counterparts, then a series of misunderstandings can happen. This short story is a reflection of how modern relationships are built. The use of technology to communicate with someone is very convenient but doesn’t serve a positive means to obtain deeper understanding between two people. Throughout the story, texting made it impossible for Margot and Robert to have a serious conversations regarding their plans as a couple. Their texts to each other merely consisted of, “...not only jokes but little updates of their days. They started saying good morning and good night and when she asked him a question and he didn’t respond right away, she felt a jab of anxiousness yearning”(Roupenian pg.86). Questions can easily be ignored or unanswered when asked through messages because there isn’t the pressure of the person sitting in front of you. Their lack of communication led to the uncertainty of what they were thinking of each other. When you can’t get to know someone

through face to face converse, then it makes it really hard to judge one's personality. In this case, Margot, likes to think that, “She can see inside Robert; she believes she knows more about him than she does… people I know who tend to be drawn to the most troubled men are those incredibly empathetic, imaginative young women...how good they are at creating a compelling backstory for men who have done nothing to earn it”(Bromwich). These fake sides of Robert that Margot created were soon broken down when she finally noticed that their relationship wasn’t she had imagined. Robert wasn’t the gentle and caring guy she had hoped that he was, “During sex, he moved her through a series of positions with brusque efficiency, flipping her over pushing her around, and she felt like a doll again...though not a precious one now- a doll made of rubber, flexible and resilient, a prop for the movie that was playing in his head”(Roupenian pg. 96). We can see that Margot regretted her choice of having sex with Robert since he didn’t have the personality she expected him to have. In her imagination, she created a Robert that was gentle and caring but when reality hit her, she immediately wanted to rethink their relationship. As one reads this story they might ask why Margot follows through with their date plans if she has such doubt and worries of it being murder or rape. She never voices her worries but instead, we hear about these concerns through her personal monologues only. This is an appropriate representation of the warriness that a women may have during a blind date, but if Margot supposively “understands” Robert, then such ideas shouldn't emerge in the first place. This story has moments where it requires readers to put their own experiences in dating into thought. “Familiarity is what gives the story its aesthetic power. You recognize both the danger in the background and the interiority in the foreground. When they come together, there’s a pleasurable jolt: Yes, that is how it is; this is true ” (Grady). A  s the third person looking over their

relationship, many might think that it is foolish of Margot to engage in a relationship with a complete stranger. Society constantly reminds us that “Stranger Danger” is a practical issue this story just adds onto our thoughts and judgements of dating random people. The events evoke inevitable frustration as we see Margot continue to dig her own grave even while we understand what she truly wants. “When  Robert calls Margot a whore at the end of the story, it feels inevitable. You saw that one coming” (Grady). The reason that we knew what was coming was because their relationship started without a strong base in the first place. The two of them shared no knowledge of each other, besides their brief meetups and messages. If it weren’t for the miscommunications the two had, then the word “Whore” might have not been used. When Robert found out that Margot wasn’t a virgin he responded rather coldly. Following the end of their relationship, Robert meets Margot once again at the bar where she was with multiple guy friends. With his previous knowledge that she wasn’t a virgin, Robert assumes that Margot had only used him for sex, and had moved on to all the other guys that she had with her. This mishap happened due to the fact that Robert chose to text Margot instead of approaching her in person to question her. Robert also doesn’t know that the one that texted him “Hi I’m not interested, stop texting me”(Roupenian pg. 100) was Margot’s friend Tamara. This message came off as being haughty and crude therefore, causing him to use such word. Most of Margot and Roberts issues arose from misunderstandings. Technology is undeniably a very convenient form communication, but brief messages with a stranger will not sufficiently allow you to fully understand them. It is entirely possible to meet your other half by chance, but without understanding of what your partners needs or wants are, you may be wasting each other's time; just as Margot and Robert did.

Bromwich, Jonah Engel. “'Cat Person' in The New Yorker: A Discussion With the Author.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Dec. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/books/cat-person-new-yorker.html. Grady, Constance. “The Uproar over the New Yorker Short Story ‘Cat Person," Explained.”Vox , Vox, 12 Dec. 2017, www.vox.com/culture/2017/12/12/16762062/cat-person-explained-new-yorker-kristen-roupenian-sho rt-story....