In the comical short story by Erdrich,“The Big Cat,” Erdrich depicts Elida as a wily, manipulative cat. She does this by diction to show Elida’s manipulative nature that draws her husband in but also make him resent her. In the beginning of the story he casually complains and describes his wife and her family saying how they all snore in unison and it is surprisingly very scary. This is the beginning of his resentment because he has not had a good nights sleep in twenty years. Elida starts out being negatively portrayed by the author. The narrator begins by saying,“my wife’s family all snored” (Erdrich 1), instead of giving any compliments about his wife and her family. He even comes up with scenarios such as him being in a metalworking shop