Steven Millhauser’s “Cat ‘N’ Mouse” is not a work of the fantastic so much for the unbelievable behavior of the animals but rather for the sense of uncanniness throughout the story. The term “uncanny” often refers to something that is strangely familiar or both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. This can most definitely be seen in Millhauser’s story; it his familiar because it seems to parody classic cartoons, specifically Tom and Jerry, but it is unfamiliar and a bit unnerving because of the insight we get into the characters’ heads. We expect the characters to go through a series of lighthearted, though violent, hijinks with no deeper thought, and for the majority of the story, that is what Millhauser focuses on:
The cat is chasing the mouse through the kitchen: between the blue chair legs, over the tabletop with its red-and-white-checkered tablecloth that is already sliding in great waves, past the sugar bowl falling to the left and the cream jug falling to the right, over the blue chair back, down the chair legs, across the waxed and butter-yellow floor. The cat and the mouse lean backward and try to stop on the slippery wax, which shows their flawless reflections. Sparks shoot from their heels, but it’s much too late: the big door looms. (3)
The story goes on to describe the cat and mouse trying to harm each other in ways like this, but what stands out are the small moments of reflection in between. For example, when thinking about his hatred for the mouse, the cat:
understands that his rage is not the rage of hunger and he wonders whether the mouse himself is responsible for evoking this savagery, which burns in his chest like indigestion. He despises the mouse’s physical delicacy, his weak arms thin as the teeth of combs, his frail, crushable skull, his fondness for books and solitude. At the same time, he is irritably aware that he admires the mouse’s elegance, his air of culture and languor, his easy self-assurance…. He thinks obsessively about the mouse and suspects with rage that the mouse frequently does not think about him at all. (9)
It is moments like these, when Millhauser allows readers to see inside the characters’ heads, that we begin to realize this is not a typical Saturday morning cartoon. The language he uses is slightly more advanced than that used to describe the cartoonish antics. We can see that the cat and mouse are not only capable of human thought, but deep thought, revealing them as creatures with complicated, and somewhat sad and dark, feelings and emotions. These thoughts resemble the thoughts that many readers have probably had, and because of that, it feels strange to see them thrown in amidst scenes from childhood. Though we know that cats and mice do not try to harm each other in such elaborate and human ways in real life, it is their interiority that makes this story strange and unsettling.
I agree with you that the horrific part of this story is more so the psychology of the two main characters than the violence that they unleash upon one another. When it comes to other horror stories that contain seemingly mindless violence, I think that we often tend to dismiss the perpetrators as mere psychopaths who do not possess any real depth. Until we are given a peek into their respective minds, Cat and Mouse appear to be nothing more than unthinking maniacs, constantly acting on their innate hatred for one another. However, once we start to learn about how they really feel towards one another, it makes all of the prior events even more intriguing.
The comical nature of the acts between Cat and Mouse is unnerving because it overlaps with the psychological insights of the characters and the excess use of violence and the unhealthy fixation each has for the other. They have a symbiotic relationship; neither can exist without the other which explains the ending of the story. These factors make the story unnerving and intriguing.
I never thought about ti like that. Seeing inside their heads does separate it from a classic cartoon show, and it reveals a level of horror. As kids, we’e not thinking about what these animals are feeling or thinking about, we’e too busy laughing. When we look in their heads, we can’t really tell who’s the “bag guy” or the “good guy.” In “Tom and Jerry,” we just assume Tom is the crazy cat and Jerry just wants to defend himself. But once you get to see what makes them tick, the division is less clear.
I think that your point about seeing inside of the cat and mouses heads, is very interesting as that is not what we usually see this. It is something that one may not catch right away, as they are paying more attention to the fact that it is a hunt and prey situation and not as it is an animal in another animals house.
I also agree that it is an element of horror more so than fantastic. It is surprising how we don’t pick on the horror of it at first, I think we are more captivated by the complexity of the human-like details and emotions given to the cat and mouse to even realize the true horror of it. It’s interesting how the fantastic in this story distract us from the horror.