Hemingway is characterized by simplicity in style and language, which renders his works suitable for the EFL classroom. Nonetheless, his discourse has seldom been critically analyzed to determine to what extent it is suitable for foreign language learners coming from a distinct cultural background. Aiming to fill the niche, a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of Cat in the Rain was undertaken to not only understand the beliefs imparted by Hemingway through this short story, as understood by the Iranian reader, but also to inform teachers of the possible effects the narrative might have on readers. To this end, a number of 30 learners of English as a Foreign Language were asked to read the designated short story and respond to a series of open-ended items. The findings of this study suggest that EFL teachers should take heed of and consider a multitude of factors before choosing to use any particular literary text in the language classroom.

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