Critical Analysis of “Circus Cat Alley Cat”
Critical analysis of “Circus Cat Alley Cat”
The story “Circus Cat Alley Cat” is a vivid character sketch and description of Anna, the protagonist of the story. Comparisons between the “nanny” and a circus cat or an alley cat are noticeable throughout the story.
I think that one of the less obvious themes is imagination. Anna’s fascinating and mysterious personality sparked up the children’s imagination. A plain brooch would transform her white uniform into a bright and colourful stage costume.
The fact that the nanny never spoke about her past experiences in the circus, did not stop the children from fantasizing about her death-defying acts; in fact it allowed their imagination to wander as they pictured the nanny standing on the backs of roaring lions with a ferocious tiger draped around her neck. The children’s imagination creates such vivid pictures that the reader is not certain whether they are just imagined or if they are true.
I think that the children are also compared to circus cats, trained and ruled by their “master’. At the beginning of the story we read about one of the children’s fear of the nanny. The child looks with terror through the bamboo cage. I think the cage symbolises the nanny’s control over the children and their “imprisonment”, which can be compared to the way the cat -trainer has power over his cats. The fear of the children is comparable to the way animals may be frightened of the cat trainer and his whip. When the nanny came into the children’s room with a skipping rope the children felt the trainer had arrived to practice the circus acts and order them to jump and do other things. They pictured themselves as the Nanny’s circus cats. When she fed them they imagined they were eating hunks of sanguineous meat. Any object in her hand immediately transformed into a lashing whip.
Two important themes of the story are imprisonment and hidden identity. Anna, who had been used to a poor, rough life, was taken into a proper home but in a way, imprisoned. She was trapped in the sweet “nanny” role she had been given which did not fit her. She had to be careful with the way she acted and spoke, to reveal nothing of her true personality. Anna was made...