Hate That Cat

“No, I can’t write any more

about my dog Sky.”

Jack writes a lot about Sky in Love That Dog; however, in Hate That Cat, he claims to have nothing more to say on the subject of his beloved pet whose death caused Jack a great deal of heartache. Nevertheless, Jack ends up writing quite a bit about Sky, indicating that he sees poetry as a safe place to work through his grief. His reluctance to consider the topic indicates how painful the loss of Sky still is to Jack and hints at Jack’s fears about loving and losing again.

“I wish you would tell

my uncle Bill

all those things you said today

about our own rhythms

and our own IMAGES

bouncing around in our words

and making them POEMS.”

The teachings of Miss Stretchberry and Uncle Bill, the professor, contrast greatly, and Jack much prefers his teacher’s way of discussing and writing poetry to his uncle’s. Miss Stretchberry tells Jack that what’s in his head and heart is paramount and far more important than using a slew of poetic devices for their own sake. On the other hand, Uncle Bill tells Jack that real poetry must meet a number of literary criteria, a definition Jack finds stifling and paralyzing. This juxtaposition recalls the theme of The Link Between Creativity and Artistic Freedom, showing Jack’s preference for a teaching style that advocates freedom.

“[M]y uncle Bill would probably say

we are WRONG

even though it is fun

to imagine

a purple pickle

a polished pencil

and chocolate chalk.”

Miss Stretchberry teaches poetry, in part, by asking students to play with language rather than by memorizing figures of speech and checking them off a list as they write. As a result, the children enjoy the writing process and are free to be honest without fear of their teacher’s judgment or criticism, allowing their creativity to flourish.

“Remember:

the wheelbarrow guy

didn’t say why

so much depended upon

the red wheelbarrow.”

Miss Stretchberry respects her students’ work, asking the class to study Jack’s poems as deeply as they do any other writer’s, and this process fosters Jack’s confidence as a writer and as a person. His sense of self-empowerment is evident when he says that he should not have to explain why he writes that so much depends upon a certain cat in his own poem because William Carlos Williams does not explain why so much depends on a wheelbarrow in his famous poem. Jack’s statement shows that he considers his work to be as significant as Williams’s and deserving of the same level of respect.

“Something I am wondering:

if you cannot hear

what happens when you read

purr purr purr.”

Jack is fascinated to learn about musical devices like onomatopoeia. It prompts him to wonder what a person who is deaf might hear in their head if they have never heard the tangible, auditory sound made by a contented cat, for example, which the word “purr” refers to and mimics. Jack’s pondering extends beyond onomatopoeia, though, and he contemplates how all the thoughts of a person who cannot hear might differ from his own and how their experience of the world might be significantly unlike his. His mother’s deafness inspires these thoughts. The emotional power of poetry is so complex and extensive that it helps Jack to develop a greater understanding of and empathy with his mother’s way of communicating.

“Very noisy in my head.”

Jack says that it is noisy in his head after reading and writing several poems that focus on sound. He wonders how a person who is deaf could know what sound is, and he considers how quiet their thoughts might be. His own head, he claims, is filled with noise: This apt description refers, literally, to the noisy poems he’s reading and writing, and figuratively, to the very big questions he is pondering and the often uncomfortable feelings he wrestles with.

“It reminded me of my dog Sky

how he would dance around

a skittering leaf

as if it were alive.”

Though Jack sometimes struggles to produce a metaphor or simile when attempting to do so out of context, this line is evidence that he can create both when he is simply given the freedom to be creative. He uses a metaphor to compare Sky’s mincing movements to a dance, and he uses a simile to compare the skittering leaf to a living dance partner.

“And besides

even if you had a nice cat

that you loved

it might run outside

and into the street

and get

squished

by a car

going fast

with many many miles to go

before it sleeps.”

Jack reveals his fear of what could happen to a new pet—a fear based on what happened to his dog. Sky was hit by a speeding car, and the loss devastated Jack. Now, he is afraid to love another animal because it could also die, devastating him all over again. He uses an allusion when he says the car has “miles to go / before it sleeps,” referring to lines from Robert Frost’s poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” Ironically, the mood of Frost’s poem is largely peaceful, though the speaker is tired and cannot rest for long because they have responsibilities to which they must attend. Presumably, the driver of the speeding car that hit Sky also had something important to do, but Jack doesn’t want to consider what might have been so important that it caused the death of his beloved pet.

“No I cannot write

about my mother.

That would be

IM-POSS-I-BLE.”

Just as Jack felt he could not write about Sky in Love That Dog, Jack feels, in Hate That Cat, that he cannot write about his mother. He resisted writing about Sky because of the pain he felt about Sky’s death. This indicates that thinking about his mother may be causing Jack some pain or discomfort, and he shies away from writing about her for this reason. However, the fact that he does write about her, often before it is even clear to the reader that he is doing so, shows the emotional power of poetry. By writing about his mother and sharing the poetry he reads with her, Jack gains an understanding of her experiences and figures out how to share his experiences with her.

“Yes, I know

that all those bad things

could happen to a dog, too,

which is why

I

don’t

want

a

dog

either.”

Jack prefers to avoid subjects that are painful; this is why he resists writing about Sky. To avoid discomfort in his life, he doesn’t want to get another pet and risk further pain. He stresses this intention with the short lines in this poem, each one just a word long, which adds emphasis to each word. Avoidance, however, does not lessen pain, so Jack begins using writing as a means to deal with his grief.

“It is strange that now

when you read a poem to the class

I hear alliteration popping out

everywhere.”

Though Jack initially resists devices like alliteration as falling under the purview of the poetic techniques his Uncle Bill appreciates, Miss Stretchberry’s playful lessons give Jack the knowledge of how to use them and how they can enhance his writing. With this new knowledge, Jack begins to notice alliteration everywhere and to delight in it. This shapes his experience of language and the world in positive ways, and it leads him to want to share this delight with his mother, despite her inability to hear the sounds he describes.

“Those kittens of yours

surprised me

they got so big

and they are so funny

(especially for cats).”

Meeting Miss Stretchberry’s kittens softens Jack’s dislike of cats. The kittens make him laugh, just like his beloved Sky did, and he finds himself liking the kittens much more than he anticipated. This transition mimics Jack’s recognition of poetry as a powerful mode of communication after getting past his initial prejudices against it, and then again when he thought he knew everything he needed to know about poetry and learned that there was a great deal he didn’t know.

“HARD-soft HARD-soft

slow and then faster

and then she closed the book

and tapped her heart

HARD-soft HARD-soft

slow and then faster.”

When Jack taps along with the poem’s rhythm as he reads to his mother, she is very affected by it and even asks him to read it again. After tapping along with him, she closes the book and taps her heart in the same rhythm that was used in the poem. She shows him that the rhythm of the words is the same as the rhythm of her heart and that she can feel it the same as Jack. Further, her association of the poem’s rhythm with the heart’s rhythm symbolically points to the emotional power of poetry because the heart is so often associated with emotion.

“Thank you for telling me

I could FORGET

those confusing words

and that it isn’t knowing the words

that describe writing

that is important—

it is the thoughts in our heads that are most important

and that feeling the rhythm

is even more

wondrous

than hearing the rhythm.”

In contrast to Uncle Bill’s rules for poetry, Miss Stretchberry’s lessons support what Jack already knows, intuitively, to be true. She cares more about whether her students take ownership of their writing and feel that they can use writing to express themselves rather than compelling them to memorize various figures of speech and using these figures in their work. Jack has experienced how important it is to “feel” what a poem does through his own experience and through witnessing his mother’s, and so he much prefers Miss Stretchberry’s assessment of poetry over his uncle’s.

“I forgot

that I hate cats.”

Almost against his will, Jack grows to love his kitten. Despite his initial bias against cats, Jack is won over by the tiny creature and how much she purrs for him. This indicates his growth in a couple of ways: First, he allows himself to be won over, indicating that his thinking is more flexible than it once was; second, he is more self-aware due to his wry claim about “forgetting” how much he disliked the creatures. He didn’t forget that he hates cats; rather, he is simply growing out of his former opinion.

“After tremendous tugging

at my broken brain

I finally dug up a metaphor.”

When Jack feels he must produce a simile or metaphor on the spot, he often struggles to do so. However, he also often produces them without being conscious of having done so. In this line, in which Jack claims that he has finally produced a metaphor, Jack employs a metaphor without realizing it; he compares a metaphor itself to some kind of buried thing—something hard to find because it is hard work to reach it. It is an apt metaphor for Jack’s experience with metaphors; the more he tries to come up with one, the more laborious it seems. The idea that his brain is “broken” is another comparison that suggests his brain is a tool or machine that has stopped working; something tangible upon which he can “tug.”

“A good poet would be able

to paint, with words

things that you feel

but don’t know how to say.”

The lines hold a metaphor that Jack creates while attempting to show why his metaphor, comparing Skitter to a poet, is inadequate. Jack compares words to paint, which is a way to take something ineffable and render it visually distinct and obvious. This metaphor leads to a new way of thinking about his mother’s method of communicating with her hands, describing it as a kind of artistry.

“I will never be

a

real

poet.”

Jack cannot make the comparison of his mother to an overstuffed chair feel sincere, so he grows discouraged. When Jack’s figures of speech feel clunky and untrue to him, he tends to interpret this as a personal failure. In this way, the novel shows that the process of gaining confidence and self-awareness is not a linear one. Jack grows more confident and doubts himself in turn, which is yet another reason a teacher like Miss Stretchberry, who respects and encourages her students’ creativity, is so effective.

“[I]t would be very very hard

to explain to my uncle Bill

why those are poems

and not little notes

scribbled on scrap paper.”

The fact that “little notes” and verse often cannot be distinguished from one another plays a big role in the novel’s message about The Artistry of Communication. If art can convey ideas, like “The Red Wheelbarrow” does, then mundane and everyday communication can be artistic, too. The novel shows that there is no difference between a poem and a note on scrap paper if that note paints a picture or makes the reader feel some emotion. Such writings can have more in common than Uncle Bill is willing or able to see.

“I found myself

sticking up for

poor Mr. William Carlos Williams

and the small ordinary things

he writes about

and the small ordinary moments

that you don’t notice

until you read his poems.”

Although Jack isn’t initially impressed by some of Williams’s poems, he develops an appreciation for their verbal simplicity and depth of meaning. He has practiced authentic self-expression under Miss Stretchberry’s tutelage, so he can stand up to a college professor and argue with him. This shows Jack’s courage and also indicates just how much Jack’s thinking has developed, allowing him to be the kind of person who finds beauty in small moments as well as large ones. He can appreciate a wider variety of experiences than his much older relative because Jack has a more nuanced understanding of the world, which has been brought about by poetry’s power to inspire empathy and curiosity.

“How can you go from

hating cats

to loving one cat

in particular.”

Jack’s emotional intelligence and authenticity allow him to feel the loss of his cat profoundly and admit this pain, while he was previously hesitant to discuss unpleasant emotions. His grief is compounded by the irony that he has grown to love the kitten just as deeply as he formerly hated the fat, black cat. Jack is surprised to find himself so different from his former self, though the loss of a second pet is just as devastating as the loss of his first. He uses poetry to process all these thoughts and emotions.

“There is a big

emptiness

in our house

just like there was

when my dog Sky

died.”

Jack uses a metaphor to compare “emptiness” to something that can have size or mass. Literally, he means that there is an emptiness where Skitter used to be; figuratively, the emptiness feels so “big” that it seems to actually take up space and to be oppressive in its ponderous size. Its “big[ness]” makes it feel more inescapable and more menacing. His verse conveys how he feels, making it physical and tangible.

“[A]nd although I wish

they were all alive

[…]

their words are all still

there

waiting

for

someone

to

read

them.”

Jack’s preoccupation with death and loss is mitigated somewhat by Skitter’s return. Still, he doesn’t like knowing that some of his favorite poets are dead. However, his discomfort with death is balanced by his personification of the poets’ words and work. He imagines the words are waiting, hopefully, to be rediscovered and reread. This idea, that writing lives even if the writer doesn’t, comforts him.