I don’t disagree with you on this but, and this is a weird position for me as an autistic person to be in, I think you might be taking it a bit too literally? (Never thought that I, me, would get to be the one saying that to someone else)
Clearly the cat is very fantasy coded. It’s a talking cat which is wise.
I feel like this is a metaphor for the artist talking about something probably internal to them where the cat represents their composed, adult self and the child represents their inner child so this feels like an internal conversation within the artist being externalised.
Obviously that’s just how I’m interpreting it but it feels like the gloom is setting in on the artist who is, on one level, going “Welp, here we go again…” and on a deeper level the artist is saying “Wait, it’s coming back? Again? What are we gonna do?? 🥺”
That’s possible, I just decided for whatever reason that it wasn’t likely to be an internal psycho-drama like that. I think because it was saying “we” and not “you,” suggesting (but not denoting) that it is its own patient and not just some figment of the artist’s mind or internal toybox, but you’re right that it could be that they are both meant to be patients via both being the main character, meaning the “we” is more literally an “I” and I was indeed being too literal in my interpretation of the dialog, too.
Anyway, I am glad I gave you the opportunity to tell someone that ;)
I read it rather clearly as depression but I guess external hardship makes more sense? It is pretty vague so I think any reading is valid, but it never occurred to me that it could be anything but SAD.
Like the cat is their companion, it looks out for them. The person is dreading the upcoming season (symbolised by the changing of the weather), the cat (stand-in for emotional support) acknowledges this, at the same time tells the person they’re not alone (hence using “we”) and that whatever is ahead the cat shares in the highs and the lows.
Or that the cat is the persons imagination, I try to look at my psyche from the outside like this when I know my rational side is not getting a word in edgewise because my emotional side is taking up all the space.
My mental illness made me think this was about depression
(I know that sounds like a mildly offensive bit but that’s genuinely what happened for me)
That’s totally a valid reading, it might even be correct
Everybody in media criticism is all like “Death of the author” this, “Death of the author” that but nobody is asking who killed the artist 😡😡
wait what is it about?
I think it’s about nonspecific external hardship (because there are functionally two people there, so it might not be depression/etc)
But it’s also probably so deliberately nonspecific that it could be about almost anything
I don’t disagree with you on this but, and this is a weird position for me as an autistic person to be in, I think you might be taking it a bit too literally? (Never thought that I, me, would get to be the one saying that to someone else)
Clearly the cat is very fantasy coded. It’s a talking cat which is wise.
I feel like this is a metaphor for the artist talking about something probably internal to them where the cat represents their composed, adult self and the child represents their inner child so this feels like an internal conversation within the artist being externalised.
Obviously that’s just how I’m interpreting it but it feels like the gloom is setting in on the artist who is, on one level, going “Welp, here we go again…” and on a deeper level the artist is saying “Wait, it’s coming back? Again? What are we gonna do?? 🥺”
That’s possible, I just decided for whatever reason that it wasn’t likely to be an internal psycho-drama like that. I think because it was saying “we” and not “you,” suggesting (but not denoting) that it is its own patient and not just some figment of the artist’s mind or internal toybox, but you’re right that it could be that they are both meant to be patients via both being the main character, meaning the “we” is more literally an “I” and I was indeed being too literal in my interpretation of the dialog, too.
Anyway, I am glad I gave you the opportunity to tell someone that ;)
I could easily be convinced of this interpretation. Who knows for sure?
This historic moment is gonna be forever memorialised in my diary lol
I read it rather clearly as depression but I guess external hardship makes more sense? It is pretty vague so I think any reading is valid, but it never occurred to me that it could be anything but SAD.
Like the cat is their companion, it looks out for them. The person is dreading the upcoming season (symbolised by the changing of the weather), the cat (stand-in for emotional support) acknowledges this, at the same time tells the person they’re not alone (hence using “we”) and that whatever is ahead the cat shares in the highs and the lows.
Or that the cat is the persons imagination, I try to look at my psyche from the outside like this when I know my rational side is not getting a word in edgewise because my emotional side is taking up all the space.