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The Cat/Kiki-la-Doucette
Colette is Kiki’s owner in “Pigeons, a Pony, the Tomcat and I.” She’s based off of a real-life French writer and never appears in person in the story. Since Colette is such a dedicated writer, Kiki is the perfect companion for her. Kiki doesn’t demand too much of her owner, and Colette has the freedom to write. Indeed, Colette tells Kiki at one point that she’s a writer first, and everything else second. But despite this, Colette has a rich romantic life. Kiki mentions that Colette has already divorced one man and recently broke off a relationship with Missy. Now she’s married to Henri, a sergeant in World War I, and recently had a baby with him. Kiki fears that with her new life and with the pressures of World War I, Colette won’t have room in her life for a cat anymore.
Colette Quotes in Only the Animals
The Only the Animals quotes below are all either spoken by Colette or refer to Colette. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Pigeons, a Pony, the Tomcat and I: Soul of Cat Quotes
But this late autumn at the front is unlike any I have witnessed. Without the changing palette of the trees to signal the shift towards winter (the leaves have been exploded off), and the songbirds mostly gone quiet, it becomes difficult to know where I am, in what season, in which century.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Colette Character Timeline in Only the Animals
The timeline below shows where the character Colette appears in Only the Animals. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Pigeons, a Pony, the Tomcat and I: Soul of Cat (Died 1915, France)
...know, though, that the narrator has always felt she should’ve been a tomcat. Her owner, Colette, understands this. But what Colette doesn’t know is that the last time she came to...
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The narrator knows that Henri is jealous of Colette’s relationship with her, so she stays far away from him. This means she stays at...
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When she visited, Colette was shocked to see how this part of the countryside looks now. She grew up...
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...the next 15 seconds. The tom reminds her that he lived down the street from Colette. He and his owner had come to Colette’s apartment for a salon (i.e., gathering), which...
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The tomcat says his owner was in love with Colette. She pored over the newspapers and read the reviews of Colette’s performances out loud. The...
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...says that his owner hated Missy for dressing like a man. His owner believed that Colette really wanted a feminine love. Kiki thinks back to the apartment where she and Toby-Chien...
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Fufu asks if Colette put Kiki onto the streets like the tomcat’s owner did. The tom looks ashamed, but...
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Kiki explains that she and Colette have always been interested in mules. This might be because, like mules, she and Colette...
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...are missing their tails because starving mules will eat other mules’ tails. Kiki declares that Colette would adopt the mules and take them to Paris. She watches a mule bite a...
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Kiki knows that Colette would be enchanted with this scene. Colette always got a faraway look on her face...
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...how Fufu must’ve felt to watch the kitchen hands boil so many eggs, and how Colette used to eat boiled eggs with fresh cherries.
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...eggs in the trench reminds Kiki of a trip to the mountains she took with Colette. They’d take walks in the morning and could smell the sulfurous hot springs. They’d often...
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On that trip, Kiki became worried when Colette started spending time with an odd, unhappy couple staying at the hotel. They wanted to...
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In the morning, the tomcat wakes Kiki up by quoting Colette’s writing about cats. He ignores her displeasure and says that the Persians used to release...
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...spits that no cats like babies, but she doesn’t answer when the tom asks if Colette is a good mother. Colette is ambivalent about being a mother; she prioritizes her writing....
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...the day. She tells the tomcat that she has to get back to Paris and Colette. He’s been waiting for her to realize this, and they decide to leave in the...
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...her soldier and his friend sleep. She worries her soldier won’t survive; he’s too skinny. Colette, strong and flexible from exercising, would be better suited to war. Kiki recalls how Colette...
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...his friend will hold her body and as Kiki dies, the soldiers will look like Colette and Missy dressed as men. Finally, Kiki will know she’s almost home.
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