When one sees the Newbery Medal printed on the book cover, one knows it is a masterpiece. It’s Like This, Cat, written by Emily Neville, talks about a 14 year old boy named Dave Mitchell living in New York City in the 1960s. Dave adopts a tomcat and names him Cat. Throughout the story, we follow the events that happen after Dave adopted Cat. We see Dave meet new friends, grow up, and strengthen his relationship with his parents. Dave experiences many new adventures, going to places such as Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Coney Island. Most of this was caused by Cat. Now, there are several factors listed to be worthy for the Newbery Award, such as language, description, relativity to the characters, etc. However, the most subtle yet most fascinating factor of all is the connections and themes woven into this literary artwork. We will be reviewing the three main themes and connections in this story that made it truly deserve the Newbery Medal.
In this story, one theme or connection is between Cat and Dave, cat behavior and human behavior. Cats like to be alone, and can perform usual necessities by themselves. One would have to walk a dog and keep it company, but cats are different. They can eat and produce waste on their own, they can sleep for long periods, and they don’t need to be walked. They also have a tendency to want to go outside, but not with the company of their owners. In general, they are fine on their own, but this independence is not complete. If they are left outside alone, they still cannot survive. One example is Dave’s Cat. When exploring by himself, Cat gets into several fights and ends up severely injured. Without Dave to heal him, Cat would never have survived. The same anomaly is for adolescent teenagers. One would want to be independent from their parents and not rely on them, but one cannot survive in the world without our parents caring for our needs. A second trait cats and men share is stress and anxiety. For cats, this can happen because they meet new and strange cats. Symptoms of cat stress are shedding, litter box avoidance, running for cover, aggression, and even death. Cats do not like meeting other new cats. Same situation as with humans. When meeting strangers, we would feel nervous and stressed. One example from the text is Kate, a woman fascinated with cats but hates meeting new people. She wants to be alone and not be bothered by others. Cats and humans share several connections in behavior.
As the story progresses, we see growth and maturity within characters. This type of maturity and growth is linked with family and one’s future. As we grow up, we learn to plan for the future and make decisions, not wandering around without a purpose. We learn to understand our parents better and thus gain a better relationship with them. As we grow and mature into adulthood, we will learn to do these things in order to progress further in life and become more successful. In the story, Dave originally had a tense relationship with his father, often arguing and yelling at each other. However as Dave matures, he understands his parents better and tries to lead a better relationship with his father. Tom, a 19 year old who left his family to live on his own wandering around the city, now knows how to make good decisions and plan ahead to have a successful future. In both cases, our characters grew and matured through improving on their previous actions and changing to lead a good life, whether it is understanding their parents better or making plans. Growth and maturity are crucial to having a good future and making the right decisions.
Family is extremely important and is crucial to our future for caring for us and educating us.
The theme of family can be recalled in both previous paragraphs. In the former, we discussed that even though adolescents might want to be independent, they cannot survive on their own without our parents caring for our needs and wellbeing. In the latter, we saw growth and maturity by understanding our parents better and having a better relationship with them. Our family is the most important thing in our childhood until adulthood, and it is essential for our survival and prosperity. In the story, Dave’s family always cared for him, even though his mother always fussed over him and his father yelled at him. Gradually, Dave understood that they cared for him, an experience some others don’t receive. Tom’s parents neglected him before and after he quit from NYU, and this led to him living on his own in the city, wandering around. Here, we can see the difference between having caring parents and having no parents. While Dave was able to live in a home with parents who cared for his necessities, while Tom had to wander around the city caring for himself. Family is one of the most important things in the world.
In conclusion, It’s Like This, Cat deserves to be bestowed with the Newbery Medal for many reasons. Using words from the 1960s to fit the setting and vividly carrying readers on a journey through part of Dave’s life, the most important factor of all is the themes and connections. It connects the behavior of cats and humans subtly in the story. Cats like to be alone and independent, and adolescent teenagers also like to be alone and independent. However, both cannot actually survive if left alone in the wild. We need someone to look after us, at least in our childhood. Cats and humans also share the feeling of stress and anxiety, often caused by meeting strangers. The second theme of the story is growth and maturity. As we grow up, we learn to understand our parents better and plan for the future, as with Dave and Tom in It’s Like This, Cat. by doing so, we will be able to lead a better future and have a better relationship with our parents. The third theme is family. OUr family will always care for our needs. Without them, we won’t be able to survive on our own, at least not in our childhood. They educate us and make us prosper, they are the most important things in our childhood, and likely through our adulthood as well. It’s Like This, Cat is truly a masterpiece of children’s literature with deep connections and themes, and I highly suggest you read it as well.
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