The Feline Sentinel – How a cat serves as a narrative anchor
In my novella Change of Lifestyle, Gabe Shaw flees London for a self-imposed exile in Jakarta. He intends to kick start the writing career he has long wanted. In exchange for staying in a friend’s empty apartment, Gabe looks after Marshall Law, a streetcat with a mean attitude and the Indonesian genetic defect of a stunted, gnarled tail.
The stump-tailed Enforcer of Routine
Marshall Law stops Gabe’s new lifestyle from becoming too one-dimensional. He offers Gabe the companionship and chaos that prevents his new writing routine from becoming overly sterile and formulaic.
In a city of “bluff and double bluff,” Marshall Law is the “living alarm clock” anchoring Gabe’s writing. Every morning, this tom cat “bullies” Gabe into action. For a writer adrift in isolation, this unsentimental, structured annoyance is vital:
“…the cat was a pain and an encumbrance, but he was Gabe’s pain and encumbrance.”
The Michelle Test
Marshall serves as a biological security filter. Usually aloof, the cat “never” lets anyone pick him up—until Michelle arrives. She’s the reason Gabe fled London in the first place, and now she’s tracked Gabe down. A journalist reporting on “frontline teaching,” she dated Gabe while secretly writing about his workplace
Marshall’s submission to Michelle is an omen, suggesting if he trusts her, maybe Gabe should too.
Jakarta’s Vanguard
Even Marshall’s gnarled tail symbolizes Jakarta’s untamable quirks. The apartment is in a residential compound that is slowly decaying, filling with cockroach corpses and rats. Nicknamed “The Beast” by children who live in the compound, Marshall reflects the jungle trying to reclaim the city. He regularly delivers “rat-presents” to Gabe. Local reptiles “probably run for cover” at his approach.
During an earthquake, Gabe jokingly thinks that Marshall caused the disaster, highlighting the cat as the only chaos Gabe truly allows into his life – until Michelle turns up:
“Deciding it was every man/cat for himself, Gabe hurried outside.“
The Ultimate Rogue Agent
In a story that parallels the plot of a Cold War spy novel, Marshall Law acts as the trusted confidante, offering the only honest relationship Gabe has amidst Michelle’s “hand grenade” arrival. In a narrative of betrayal, is the only trustworthy bond the one shared between Gabe and a stubby-tailed cat?
Comic Relief
Marshall also serves as a safety valve. During the high pressure moments of the earthquake and Michelle’s arrival, his insistent, demanding personality serves to depressurise the situation. It’s notable that the only part he doesn’t appear in, Part Two, is the most intense section of the story.
Ultimately, though, Marshall is a homage to Bertie, my own car, also known as my evil anti-muse. Bertie’s cuter than Marshall, but he’s easily as much of a menace,
Further reading
Change of Lifestyle is available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited
Why I included a cat with a genetic defect in my novella
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